Maumee Valley Planning Organization
Serving Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, and Williams Counties in Northwest Ohio
comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS)
The Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) is pleased to announce the update of the
region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The Maumee Valley CEDS is a
regional strategy covering Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, and Williams Counties in Northwest
Ohio. The CEDS document creates an action plan to unite local governments, organizations, businesses,
and residents to develop and diversify the economy, improve quality of place factors, efficiently utilize resources, and protect the environment. The vision of the CEDS is to increase the resiliency and prosperity of the Maumee Valley Region by providing resources to retain workforce, supporting key infrastructure improvements, and marketing the region as a place to live, work, and visit.
The Economic Development Association (EDA) approved MVPO's 2018 CEDS update due to the strong standards and stakeholder collaboration identified throughout the strategy. As the CEDS is updated every five years, the 2023-2028 CEDS is now available for review.
ABOUT THE CEDS
Purpose of the CEDS
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy or CEDS is a strategy-driven plan for regional economic development, which is designed to build capacity, and guide economic prosperity and resiliency in a region (EDA). The CEDS planning process brings together individuals, organizations, local government, higher education, and private industry to discuss the best ways to build capacity and serve economic development in a region. CEDS should also include the efforts of regional planning initiatives, in order to leverage federal, state, and private funds.
Adoption of a regional plan is the first step to establishing a recognized Economic Development District, which provides additional funding opportunities from the EDA for the participating counties to support economic development efforts.
Background & Update
In 2011, Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) applied for and was awarded a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the purpose of creating a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, and Williams counties. At the time, no regional Economic Development Strategy existed. In late 2012, the completed CEDS was approved by regional leaders and the EDA. In 2016, MVPO applied for and received a grant from the EDA to update their existing CEDS. The updated document will be completed in September 2018.
Strategy Committee
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee meets quarterly to discuss items in the CEDS process. Committee meeting minutes can be found below.
The next Strategy Committee meeting is TBA.
All Committee meetings are open to the public and take place at the following address:
Maumee Valley Planning Organization
1300 E. Second Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room
Defiance, OH 43512