Developed through county meetings, regional discussions, public surveys, economic data analysis, and input from businesses, local governments, community organizations, and residents, the CEDS identifies the shared priorities, challenges, and opportunities of Northwest Colorado’s five-county region. The public is encouraged to review the draft and submit written comments.
The draft reflects an in-depth review of the previous CEDS, extensive regional research, asset analysis discussions, community survey responses, economic and demographic analysis, and guidance from the CEDS Committee.
It identified the region’s strategic framework around five regional goals:
The public comment period will remain open from August 20, 2026 through September 20, 2026 you can submit comments through our CEDS Public Comment Form or email communitydevelopment@region10.net.
Following the close of the public comment period, Region 10 will review the comments received, make appropriate revisions, add appropriate photos and visual effects, and then prepare the CEDS for approval by the U.S. Economic Development Administration and will submit it by September 30, 2026. Region 10’s Board of Directors conditionally approved the Draft of the CEDS at their regular Board of Directors meeting scheduled on August, 11, 2026 pending updates from the public comment period.
Region 10 is a designated Economic Development District and thus is responsible for creating and implementing a regional economic development plan.
This plan is called a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and is the region’s playbook for engaging in a collaborative, region-wide transformation of the economy in order to raise productivity, create wealth, and increase prosperity for residents. A CEDS is the result of a “regionally-owned” planning process designed to guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of a region.
It provides a coordinating mechanism for individuals, organizations, local governments, and private industry to engage in a meaningful conversation and debate about the economic direction of our region.
In 2020-2021, Region 10 updated the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy including updating for pandemic resiliency. This document will guide our region’s economic development work for the next five years. It was submitted to and approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration to guide the Region’s Economic Development from July 2021 through June 2026. Annual reviews and updates to the CEDS will also be submitted in July of each year.
