Regional Development Plan
The Delta Regional Authority in 2008 completed a landmark update of its strategic plan for the region.
Pete Johnson, the DRA federal co-chairman, said traditional economic development strategies are no longer working.
"Economic development programs that encourage communities to offer cheap land, buildings and labor aren't effective in the knowledge-based economy of this century," he said. "We now realize that the Delta's problems can't be solved simply by spending more government money on the same programs. We must totally rethink economic and community development in the Delta. Members of Congress have made it clear that they want the DRA to be more than an agency that administers a grant program."
Johnson said the authority is committed to becoming a focal point for resources in the region and an originator of ideas.
"We want to work with local, state, regional and private-sector partners to build critical mass in communities," he said. "We're departing from the old economic and community development models. We must have fresh, creative approaches in the Delta. We're a region where people, communities and businesses can flourish if we're innovative."
The members of the DRA board have asked themselves why income growth in the region has fallen so far behind the rest of the country. They determined that a major reason is the Delta's continuing dependence on a declining industrial and agricultural base. While most of the nation has made the transition to information technology and a growing professional service sector, the Delta has adhered to a failing economic model. This has forced many of the Delta's most educated people to leave the region.
Meanwhile, far too many of those residents left behind lack access to the resources necessary to become competitive. As the nation moves forward, dozens of Delta communities will fall further into decline and the population will grow increasingly dependent on public assistance unless there's a shift in the economic and community development strategies.
"In order to be an effective federal-state partnership, the DRA's mission can't be limited to attempts to reduce unemployment and poverty in dying communities," Johnson said. "We must instead concentrate on developing the assets needed to sustain long-term growth."