West Virginia Development Office - Community Matters - Community Assistance

CERTIFIED DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PROGRAM

(A list of frequently asked questions is below)

Type of assistance: Community-based program with technical support.

Purpose: In the extremely competitive field of economic development, those with the highest degree of readiness are most likely to succeed. The West Virginia Certified Development Community (CDC) program prepares and equips communities across the state to respond to the needs of existing and prospective business and industry.

Successfully completing the CDC requirements and becoming certified helps prepare a community. Successful completion of CDC requirements provides significant and long-term rewards.

Program requirements: For the purpose of this program, a community is either a county or multi-county region. Successful applicants must fulfill the following objectives:

Designation or establishment of a local economic development organization and formation of a prospect handling team.
Completion of a comprehensive community assessment and community profile and development of a strategic plan to address deficiencies.
Establishment of an active business retention and expansion program.
Identification of available industrial/commercial sites and buildings.
Development of a fully served, locally controlled industrial site.

Every three years, counties with the CDC designation must submit a recertification application that includes the following:

An updated community profile
A long-range strategic plan
A long-range funding plan
An economic development evaluation

Eligible applicants: Entry into the Certified Development Community program is open at any time to any community in West Virginia. For the purpose of the program, a community is either a county or multi-county region.

Contact: For additional information about the Certified Development Community (CDC) program, please call the West Virginia Development Office at (800) 982-3386 or (304) 558-2001.

Certified Development Community Program (Frequently asked questions)

Who typically completes the work for the CDC program requirements? The county commission designates a local economic development organization as the lead entity for economic development activities. This organization typically completes program requirements on behalf of the county or multi-county region it serves.

Describe the differences between a county or a multi-county applicant. The county commission sponsors a county application. If a county chooses to participate as a single-county entity, a local development organization is designated to serve as the program coordinator in the official entry application, which can be obtained through the West Virginia Development Office.

Multi-county applications require a resolution of participation and cooperation. This resolution also designates a local development organization to represent the participating counties in a multi-county application and its economic development efforts. Multi-county applicants may share an industrial site or other community assets for the purpose of fulfilling the program requirements.

What happens if a multi-county relationship is dissolved? The individual CDC status of each county will be re-assessed. The dissolution of a multi-county relationship prohibits other counties from using the assets of each individual county to fulfill program requirements.

For example, County A and County B formed a multi-county relationship and completed the CDC program requirements. The required industrial site is located in County A and shared by County B. Both counties, through the multi-county relationship, are eligible to receive CDC status. Several years later, County A and County B dissolve their multi-county arrangement. Each county's CDC status is re-assessed. Because the industrial site is in County A and all other CDC requirements have been met, County A will retain its designation. County B, on the other hand, does not have an industrial site. County B has not fulfilled the CDC requirements and will not retain its CDC status.

Is there financial assistance available to help with completing program requirements? Local development organizations, designated by the county commission as the lead entity for economic development activities for the county and are also actively participating in the CDC program, may be eligible to apply for a matching Local Economic Development (LED) grant. Please see program information for the Local Economic Development grant program for additional details and requirements.

How long does a community have to complete program requirements? Upon acceptance into the program, a community has 18 months to complete program requirements and gain the designation of Certified Business Community.

What happens if a community is unable to complete program requirements within the specified period of time? Recognizing that many rural communities may face difficulties completing the industrial site requirement within the specified time frame, the CDC program does maintain some flexibility pertaining to this item. Communities actively participating in the CDC program are eligible to apply annually to the matching Local Economic Development (LED) grant program for financial assistance to support economic development activities. Applicants that have completed all of the CDC requirements, with the exception of the industrial site, are still eligible to apply for LED grant funds as long as they are actively working toward completion of the industrial site requirement. An annual progress report. Once the industrial site requirement is met, the CDC application is evaluated for current information and, if deemed complete, the community may receive its CDC designation.

What public recognition does the community get for completing the CDC requirements? The CDC program brings public recognition and attention to successful applicants. A special local presentation acknowledges each new Certified Development Community's accomplishment and designates it as certified. This dedication involves the placement of special highway signs at the county borders to identify it as a Certified Business Location well-suited for consideration by prospective businesses.