Montezuma County Residents are invited to join in developing a five-year "Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy," or CEDS.

Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwestern Colorado assists Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan counties, as well as the communities within those counties, with community and economic planning and implementation. Funded by local governments, the Economic Development Administration, and the State of Colorado, Region 9 facilitates business expansion, relocation, investment, and job creation and retention.

Region 9 is holding meetings throughout those five counties to gather public contributions for the CEDS, which will guide Region 9 involvement in the economic strategies of those counties. The meetings are meant to engage residents in setting economic goals and identifying projects compatible with their desires for the future of towns and the county.

The Montezuma County meeting will be held at the courthouse on Monday, June 5, beginning at 2 p.m. Citizens will be able to suggest additions and changes to Community Development Action Plans, or CDAPs, which are being drafted for each county as part of the CEDS. The CADPs outline projects in the areas of tourism, business development, agriculture, health care, schools, infrastructure, public lands, and land use. Region 9 uses them in providing grants, loans and technical assistance.

Region 9 director Ed Morlan will give a slide presentation of demographic and economic trends and projects, covering data collected through an "economic base analysis" of the flow of dollars in and out of communities. The analysis helps communities identify what percent of their economies are: "direct base," which is money coming from outside the community; "indirect base," which are businesses that support direct base business; or "residential services," where residents buy goods and services.

The CEDS and the CDAPs help "ensure that public dollars are spent on what counties want and need and identify through a community involvement process," said Marsha Porter-Norton, of Operation Healthy Communities, who is coordinating the CEDS process.

When published this fall, the CEDS will describe county and regional problems, needs and resources; include data on what comprises local and regional economies; provide county- and region-level economic vision and goals; outline a local and regional action plan; list local and regional projects; and identify ways to measure success.

It will be useful for new residents and businesses, and even grant writers, in addition to planners, chambers of commerce, and government officials, said Porter-Norton.