National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)

🚗 🛣️ Join your rural transportation peers at the 2025 National Regional Transportation Conference (NRTC) July 15-17, 2025, in Des Moines, IA. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the field, this event offers a unique opportunity to engage in dynamic panels, workshops, and discussions covering a wide range of transportation topics. You'll connect with peers from regional planning organizations, transit agencies, state and federal agencies, and more. Registration is now open, and we encourage you to secure your spot early. Don't miss out on this chance to be part of a collaborative environment dedicated to advancing transportation solutions for communities nationwide. Register for the conference and make hotel reservations here. 👉 Register Now and Learn More: https://lnkd.in/e-7-3tZM

On Thursday, May 1, NADO's Economic Development District Community of Practice (EDD CoP) and the Manufacturing Community of Practice will host a webinar on the Manufacturing Community Ecosystems Metrics (MCEM) Playbook, a practical tool designed to help economic development districts assess and strengthen regional manufacturing ecosystems. The playbook was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and provides a framework to evaluate key areas like workforce development, supply chain resilience, and innovation, enabling regions to identify gaps and align stakeholders for targeted action. 🔗 Learn more and register online: https://lnkd.in/eWJ32DhX

Our NADO team was on the ground in Denver, Colorado this week executing the 2025 Economic Development Conference for the EDA Denver Region. 🥾 🌆 💪 Nearly 200 conference attendees participated in mobile workshops, plenary sessions, conversation cafés, and many networking opportunities while in Denver. 📸 Enjoy these photos from our staff and conference attendees ⬇️

We are pleased to offer a new digital resource, "Building Prosperity: How EDDs are Enhancing CEDS with Wealth Creation Strategies," on our website. Explore this resource for insights and examples into how Economic Development Districts (EDDs) can incorporate wealth creation into both their Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) process and content. There are also examples of how individual EDDs have accomplished this, along with links to tools that can help organizations get started on this type of work. 🔗 : https://lnkd.in/e7sNkmNd #CEDS #EconomicDevelopment #WealthCreation #ComprehensiveEconomicDevelopmentStrategy #EDD #EDDs #DevelopmentDistricts

This morning, the inaugural cohort of the Training Program for Emerging Leaders (TPEL) from the EDA Denver Region embarked on their first peer learning site visit to Northwest Colorado Council of Governments in Silverthorne, CO. This year's cohort consists of nine regional development professionals from eight different states: 🔸 Edward Dunn, West Central Nebraska Development District, Inc. (NE) 🔸 Shannon Ellig, Roosevelt Custer Regional Council (ND) 🔸 Tracy Gutierrez, Southern Colorado Economic Development District (CO) 🔸 Christopher Hess, Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission (MO) 🔸 Mistalynn L. Meyeraan, Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (CO) 🔸 Lauren Mortensen, Region XII Council of Governments (IA) 🔸 Jade Powell, Southeastern Regional Development Agency (UT) 🔸 Hannah Sparks, Great Plains Development Inc (KS) 🔸 Carly Wheatley, Snowy Mountain Development Corporation (MT)

Visit our website for a new resource from the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) and the NADO Research Foundation team.

Headed to the Southwest Region Economic Development Association (SWREDA) Annual Conference in Las Cruces, NM this May? Don't forget, this year's conference will offer two free, pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, May 6: 📓 Executive Directors Leadership Institute (for EDD executive directors and those in line to become executive directors in the near future); 📓 and Storytelling and Grant Writing Workshop (for staff that want to learn creative ways to tell their region’s stories in grant applications). While there is no additional charge to attend either of these, you must pre-register. You can register at conference registration check out, or email kgrant@nado.org to add them to an existing conference registration. Learn more nado.org/swreda2025.

Missed our Aging Populations and Regional Economic Development panel during the 2025 NADO & DDAA Washington Conference? Read a recap of the session, including advocacy notes from USAging CEO Sandy Markwood and policy discussion with AARP's Brendan Flinn at the link below. Annnette Gutierrez of the Rio Grande Council of Governments also shared commentary about her organization's work in the aging space.  https://lnkd.in/ehMEE3ry

Our Economic Development District Community of Practice (EDD CoP) has recently launched a Tribal Engagement microsite showcasing all of our Tribal Engagement resources in one place, including case studies, a tipsheet, external resources, past webinars, and more. Also included is a new interactive map that allows users to locate the Tribal lands in their regions or to see what EDDs serve a particular Tribal Nation. Explore the microsite here: https://lnkd.in/e-U2Wynw

Last week, our EDA Austin Emerging Leaders cohort met up in Arkansas at Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, Inc. and West Central Arkansas Planning And Development District, Inc. for site visits to Port of Little Rock, the Southwest Trail Sabine River Bridge Project (a NADO Impact Award-winning project), the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, and Hot Springs' Bathhouse Row. Learn more about our Emerging Leaders program: https://lnkd.in/ePwqwvsy