INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZONA, INC
TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (TEDP)
Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) For the Cocopah Tribe
The Cocopah Tribe has partnered with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (ITCA) Tribal Economic Development Program (TEDP) to develop a Tribal Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) specifically for Cocopah. The Cocopah Tribal Council has approved the Memorandum of Agreement for the development of the CEDS – at no cost to the tribe.
The ITCA TEDP was awarded a grant from the United States Economic Development Administration (EDA), Department of Commerce. The goal of the EDA grant award is to assist the ITCA twenty-one member tribes in the development or updating of a Tribal CEDS to promote long-term economic development initiatives and opportunity on tribal lands in Arizona. The CEDS will be a roadmap for tribes to articulate, diversify, and prioritize the strategic economic goals specific to each tribe from a regional perspective. The CEDS will also qualify tribes for EDA and federal funding. Each EDA funding period, (this is ITCA’s first funding period), two Tribes will receive the technical assistance in the development of the CEDS – the Cocopah Tribe and the Kaibab-Paiute Tribe.
The process of development of the CEDS begins with Tribal Council designating an Economic Development Committee. The ED Committee will direct the gathering of the Cocopah Tribal data for the development of the CEDS, and will coordinate activities with ITCA CEDS Team, including availability of email and conference call communication. The ED Committee will meet regularly and determine what they would like to see in the CEDS, and confirm previous economic development reports and activities and regional economic cooperation and competitive topics. The ED Committee will prepare outreach to Community Members on the CEDS Project, to include information on date gathering requests, community survey, and other data analysis and publication activities.
