CLARKSDALE, MS – Today, the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) launched the application cycle for the 2020-2021 Delta Leadership Institute (DLI) Executive Academy.  Since 2005, DLI has provided leadership development to more than 500 community leaders from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and industries to strengthen skills development, information sharing, regional collaboration, and improve the economic competitiveness and social viability of the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) today announced plans to develop the DRA Regional Development Plan IV, a new economic development strategy that will outline the agency’s priorities and actions over the next five years.  This strategic plan will build and expand off the prior plans completed.  The DRA staff will be assisted in plan development by VisionFirst Advisors (VisionFirst), an economic development consulting firm which provides services focused on state, regional, and local economic development strategy as well as location advisory services.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA), in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the U.S Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), today announced the availability of approximately $29.2 million in a second round of grant funding for the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is hereby providing notice to its Grantees and partner Local Development Districts that they may be able to repurpose remaining balances of their DRA grants in direct support of immediate efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis in the Grantees communities.  This allowance was provided by OMB memorandum M-20-20, “Repurposing Existing Federal Financial Assistance Programs and Awards to Support the Emergency Response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)”, which allows the federal government to marshal all legally available federal resources to combat the effects of COVID-19.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) Federal Co-Chairman Chris Caldwell announced today DRA is opening the 2020 application cycle for the States’ Economic Development Assistance Program (SEDAP). 

Delta Regional Authority (DRA) Federal Co-Chairman Chris Caldwell announced today Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has been named the 2020 DRA States’ Co-Chairman.

Today, the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking contractual support for a qualified team of strategic planners, meeting facilitators, and writers to assist the agency in development of its new five-year strategic plan, the Delta Regional Development Plan IV (RDP IV).

CLARKSDALE, MS – Today, the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) announced the Delta Workforce Program technical assistance workshops, which will occur in each of the eight Delta states beginning February through April 2020. The Delta Workforce Program is a DRA initiative designed to support workforce training and education, build long-term community capacity, and increase economic competitiveness across the Lower Mississippi Delta region and Alabama Black Belt.

CLARKSDALE, MS –Delta Regional Authority (DRA) announced today a $181,931 investment to support Opportunity Zones (OZ) in communities across Arkansas. Opportunity Arkansas, an initiative of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Winrock International, will use DRA funds to bring together critical education and outreach to assist the region in developing projects that create jobs and revitalize the state of Arkansas.  Opportunity Arkansas will serve as the Opportunity Zone Investment Hub, focusing on convening education and outreach activities, assisting Delta community leadership with project development, and promoting projects via an online portal to investors inside and outside the states of Arkansas.

30 leaders from across the 8-state Delta region meet in Cambridge, MA for executive leadership training.