Your community will see an improved quality of life and a better economy when there’s an EDA (Economic Development Authority) working for you. Communities with EDAs have increased job opportunities. They give existing businesses help to grow and attract new businesses with grants and other opportunities.
How EDAs Build Communities
Imagine a small, lively town with paved roads, abundant sidewalks, and tons of small, local businesses that enrich the town with new cuisine, painting classes, and much more. EDAs help make this a reality. Economic Development Authorities give business owners the tools they need to help their businesses succeed through grants and resources. Then, thriving businesses boost the economy and give local government more resources to work for the community. Additionally, they provide community members opportunities to develop their town into a beautiful place to live, work, and raise a family.
EDAs offer solutions to small business owners and those looking to start new businesses. For instance:
- They assist with funding and applications for grants.
- They help revitalize a business district with a coordinated strategy for community development improvements, such as walkable downtown districts.
- They provide economic development programs and consultation services.
They’re there to ensure that you and your business have all the support you need to create a success story for your community, whether you’re a business owner, employee, or a community member. We all do better when we all do better.
How Economic Development Can Help You
Economic Development Authorities finance development projects by lending money, issuing bonds, and managing grants. That means an EDA can help your business by helping you find tax incentives, tax credits, lodging exemptions, research and development, sales tax exemptions, and more. These can help kickstart a new business—and are often tied to job creation. EDAs can also assist during disaster recovery so your community can get back on its feet more quickly when catastrophe strikes.
One of the perks of an EDA in your community is that you’ll have a new support network.
- As a business owner, an EDA can connect you with all kinds of vendors, clients, partners, and suppliers. These networking opportunities are a big part of getting your business started and off the ground, and they can play a crucial part in your success. In some cases, EDAs even help conduct promotion and marketing efforts, bringing in new customers for businesses in your town and more awareness to community members.
- For community members, businesses will be fiscally healthier— and incentivized to create more and better job opportunities. Ideally, this is a bottom-up development strategy: as more people have jobs with good wages, they have more money to spend at local businesses. This, in turn, offers more business development and job opportunities—a growth spurt for your hometown.
The People that Build your Town
Your local EDA is made up of a board of members who are also community members.
Board members are the driving force of your local EDA. The board is generally appointed by local governments, such as your town council or county commission. The board members work together with your local governments and business leaders so that your community becomes a thriving location. They’re your friends and neighbors and work hard to create, maintain, and increase good job opportunities that are the foundation of prosperous communities. They care because they live here, too! They want a healthy economic climate for workers and businesses both. When good-neighbor businesses are looking to open, you want them to choose your town.
If you’re interested in starting a small business or are just a curious community member and would like to learn more about your local EDA, contact us. We’ll help you get in touch!
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