The Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) has been awarded a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) support grant which will assist the CRC in developing a CEDS.

“As you can finally see, Bob Gittler did let us know we have been awarded; we’re supposed to receive an official award from their system, their computer system, but as he’s been saying all along, their new system kind of has some glitches,” said CRC Executive Director Melody Foster. “I still have not received the official award through the system. I just confirmed with him again the other day.”

She said the grant will be forthcoming, “and I will let you know what our next steps are.”

The grant was $60,000, which requires the CRC to match the funds given.

“Some of that we matched in cash, some in kind from some of the localities,” Foster said.

She said a portion of the funds will go toward hiring an outside consultant to help develop the CEDS.

A CEDS could mean more grant money from the federal government.

According to a letter in 2016 from former executive director Mary Hickman, about $3.8 million has been allocated on projects in central and Southside Virginia since 1980 using CEDS. The latest project was in 1998, according to Hickman’s letter. Examples of grant money being allocated to projects, she said, include public works and economic development projects.

“This supports construction, expansion or upgrade of public infrastructure facilities, which we all know are the building blocks of any economy,” she said during a previous meeting. “Through the CEDS process, this will be a mechanism to coordinate with efforts … concerned with economic development that’s in the CRC footprint…”