Boone County endorses Region 1 Planning Council five-year economic development strategy

Boone County formally endorsed the Region 1 Planning Council’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy at its Sept. 18 meeting, a staff-backed plan intended to help the three-county region win federal infrastructure grants.

Isaac Guerrero, director of economic development at the Region 1 Planning Council, described the SEDS as a five-year economic roadmap that aggregates regional priorities and provides a mechanism for ranking and pursuing infrastructure projects such as roads, water and sewer improvements.

“Every project that you give to us will be in here, and the ones that rank the highest will kind of get highlighted,” Guerrero said, explaining that project lists will be refreshed annually when the council issues a call for projects from counties and municipalities.

Guerrero told the board the SEDS bolsters the region’s ability to secure Economic Development Administration funds for multi-jurisdictional infrastructure projects and that Region 1 has already used the process to secure several million dollars for engineering work on a grade crossing in Belvidere.

Board members who spoke supported the endorsement and emphasized the value of regional coordination. Rodney Riley said working with Region 1 “opened my eyes a lot” to resources and context the council provides. The resolution passed unanimously.

The endorsement means Boone County will remain part of the Region 1 Economic Development District and may submit candidate projects for the SEDS project list, which Region 1 staff will use when pursuing federal and other grant funding.