Ramsey County receives Excellence in Economic Development Award

On October 5, 2021, Ramsey County won a prestigious Silver Rank award in the category of Economic Equity and Inclusion for its Economic Competitiveness & Inclusion Plan (ECIP) from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world's best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials and the year's most influential leaders. The ECIP, developed in partnership with the Center for Economic Inclusion, FourthEconomy, NEOO Partners, Urban3, and MZ Strategies serves as an important step toward achieving two longstanding county goals:

• Cultivating economic prosperity and investing in neighborhoods with concentrated financial poverty through proactive leadership and inclusive initiatives.
• Enhancing access to opportunity and mobility for all residents and businesses through connections to education, employment and economic development throughout the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region.

“If we’re successful with this plan, we won’t just be providing affordable housing for our residents and building stronger neighborhoods, we’ll be closing the wealth gap and addressing a whole host of disparities that tens of thousands of our residents struggle with every day,” said Ramsey County Commissioner Trista MatasCastillo.

This Economic Competitiveness and Inclusion Plan is comprised of eight strategies within two strategy areas:  1) place-based inclusion and resilient and equitable communities; and 2) fostering economic competitiveness and transformation. The plan was completed March of 2021 after 18 months of data compilation and community engagement; it will serve as a roadmap for the next four years and to guide future investments as part of Ramsey County’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to think about how to invest so all are welcomed and all participate,” said Channon Lemon, Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce’s Vice President of Economic Development. “That is something Ramsey County did differently with this plan – the county really thought through what community engagement and outreach needed to happen to ensure a broad representation of community voices were heard.”

The award was presented by IEDC President and CEO Tom Kucharski to Kari Collins (Ramsey County Department of Community and Economic Development), Trista MatasCastillo (Ramsey County Commissioner, District 3), Tawanna A. Black (Center for Economic Inclusion) and D'Angelos Svenkeson (Neoo Partners.

Fourth Economy interviewed key partners in the development of the ECIP for a blog post on their web site.