Ravalli County formalizes Economic Development District

Ravalli County commissioners did their part Monday to reincarnate
the Five Valleys Economic Development District after a nearly
20-year respite.

By JAMIE OGDEN Staff Reporter Ravalli Republic

Shared with Mineral and Missoula Counties, the federal designation
as an economic development district coincides with the creation of
a tri-county Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy – both
fostered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic
Development Administration.

John Rogers, Montana’s field representative of the U.S. EDA, said
Wednesday that although there is no provision for an area to lose its
designation as an economic development district, Five Valleys
became inactive in the early 1980s.

First the Human Resource Council, then Bitter Root Resource
Conservation and Development, tended the district’s fire for the next
couple decades. The agencies kept regional economic
development plans up to date so that any time a project eligible for
federal EDA funding came up, it was covered by those plans, a
prerequisite for receiving federal economic development
assistance.

Even though the groups did a commendable job of keeping plans up
to date, according to Rogers, the organizations, alone, don’t really
meet the U.S. EDA’s requirements for overseeing the tri-county
economic development strategy.

The reincarnated economic development district, on the other hand,
will. The district will be overseen by three county commissioners,
one from each county, and three mayors, one from a city in each
county, along with five other RC&D members.

"I think the idea is that it needs to be something that’s a full, formal,
functioning entity," said Allen Bjergo, who worked with RC&D to
assemble the grant project and serves on the county’s Economic
Development Authority.

Bjergo said he expects the district and its board will act as a
"parallel, sister organization," working hand in hand with Ravalli
County’s EDA as well as the Montana Community Development
Corporation, the Missoula Area Economic Development
Corporation and the Mineral County economic development group.

The tri-county economic development district, however, will have the
power to get federal dollars for projects like the expansion of sewer
and water to Corixa near Hamilton.

Estimated at $1.4 million, supporters were under the gun to get the
district formed in order to have the Corixa project considered for
federal dollars. With the commissioners’ resolution in hand, Bjergo
said the application for the Comprehensive Economic Development
Strategy (CEDS), too, was on its way to Rogers’ office in Helena.

The creation of a CEDS for the region follows guidelines provided
by the U.S. Department of Commerce and is intended to help
communities generate new jobs, help retain existing jobs and
stimulate commercial growth in economically distressed areas.

About a year ago, the U.S. EDA granted RC&D $20,000 to create a
CEDS – the first time since the 1980s, according to Rogers, that the
agency has provided financial assistance to update Ravalli County’s
economic development plans.

With the CEDS application in and an economic development district
formed, Rogers said it’s just a matter of time before the tri-state
area can start taking advantage of some other perks offered by the
U.S. EDA.

The Five Valleys Economic Development District will qualify for what
Rogers’ calls the "10 percent economic development district
bonus," which means that grant projects will be eligible to receive 10
percent more of project costs from federal dollars.

The formation of a district also makes Five Valleys a contender for
administrative grants to fund staff, generally in the $55,000 range
annually, Rogers said.

The "new" district will also qualify for U.S. EDA grants to capitalize
the formation of local revolving loan funds, he said.

Moreover, the collective maintenance of a regional economic
development strategy, Rogers said, allows counties to take
advantage of more opportunities with a greater chance of long-term
success.

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