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Clearwater Economic Development Association outlines broadband, workforce and loan programs to Lewiston council
Summary
Dodd Snodgrass, executive director, reported on CEDA's regional economic strategy, community development block grant work ($12M since 2015), broadband backbone projects (including a $4.2M Port of Lewiston award and an $11M Idaho County project), workforce programs and a small-business gap financing loan program.
Dodd Snodgrass, executive director of the Clearwater Economic Development Association, gave a quarterly report to the Lewiston City Council on regional projects, funding and programs intended to support economic growth across North Central Idaho.
Snodgrass said CEDA has helped secure more than $12 million in community-development funds since 2015 for water, sewer, public-facility and park projects and highlighted broadband efforts that include a $4.2 million U.S. Economic Development Administration award to the Port of Lewiston and an $11 million project in Idaho County to extend open-access fiber. "Bridal Mile is the critical element that we've been missing... we think of it as dark fiber open access," Snodgrass said, describing the backbone that will enable private ISPs to serve communities.
He described workforce programming — early-learning kits (about 1,200 distributed regionally), the Dream It Do It career conference for high-school students, and the Clearwater Basin Youth Conservation Corps — and a small-business loan program that provides gap financing (recently increased capacity up to $1.5 million in micro loans). Snodgrass also summarized CEDA's role in project development, grant coordination and regional planning, and said an updated comprehensive economic strategy would be available after outreach concludes this winter.
Council thanked Snodgrass and noted long-standing partnerships between Lewiston and regional economic-development efforts.
Next steps: CEDA will finalize the updated regional plan and continue outreach and grant support for member communities.
