Delta Regional Authority
Regional Development Plan
The Challenge
The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a federal-state partnership serving a 240-county/parish area encompassing portions of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Led by a Federal Co-Chairman and the governors of each participating state, DRA is charged with improving the standard of living for the more than 9.5 million people living in the region. Relative to the overall economic well-being of the United States, the Mississippi River Delta region continues to experience pervasive economic and social distress. While many areas of the American South have prospered in the modern economy, growth and prosperity in the Delta has remained largely uneven. Indeed, only 10 of the region’s 240 counties and parishes are not defined as economically distressed.
Approach
With our partner on the project – Taimerica Management Company – TIP is developing a plan that includes large-scale initiatives designed to address regional challenges, such as developing a healthy and productive workforce, strengthening physical infrastructure, and expanding information technology capacity and access. The plan will also provide locally-focused tools that promote civic leadership, entrepreneurship, and quality of place. Emphasis within the plan is being given to designing policies, systems, and measures that enable DRA’s programs to stimulate additional private investment. As part of our stakeholder input process, the TIP team has traveled to all eight states in the Delta region to meet with state and local economic development officials about the project.
Outcome
TIP Strategies is currently in the final phases of plan development. The team is also assisting the DRA with implementation and outreach activities.
The people at TIP Strategies have been instrumental in convincing those of us at the Delta Regional Authority to think differently about how to achieve a better economy for this region. This new way of thinking is driving the development of a strategic plan that hopefully will be a guiding document for federal, state and local government agencies. TIP has helped us see how the world has changed and how we can best respond to the challenges of the new century. Federal Co-Chairman Pete Johnson Delta Regional Authority
