Being an official EDD means the federal government recognizes the area as distressed, a designation that can only be achieved by a region when its unemployment rate is higher than the national average. The Greater Portland area has been in that position for years now, and public and private agencies in the region have been working to create the CEDS document and the Regional Business Plan for the past two years, says Gertler. As of June, the metro-area unemployment rate was 6.3% and the national average was 5%.

The PDC's economic development manager Elissa Gertler tells GlobeSt.com that the consortium will submit its EDD application at the end of the month. She expects it to be approved before the end of the end of the year or in early January. After that, Gertler says a group meeting will be convened to identify priorities for federal funding. While she expects less funds to be available in the coming years as funds are funneled to states affected by Hurricane Katrina, Gertler says the region likely will submit for funding before the midway point of 2006."There are generally higher scores for transportation and land redevelopment and sewer and water and special works projects," she says. "It's very infrastructure focused."

The CEDS effort was led by the public sector and staffed by the Portland Development Commission (the city's urban renewal agency) and regional partners, which include public and private sector economic development professionals in the region organized by the PDC. The effort is intended to coordinate with the private sector-led Regional Business Plan, which will leverage private funds for economic development activities that complement and augment the resources and priorities addressed by the public side. To apply for Regional Economic Development District status, only the four counties and largest city in the region are required to formally adopt resolutions authorizing the formation of the EDD and the CEDS strategy itself. To date, formal resolutions have been adopted by the City of Portland, Multnomah County and Washington County. The remaining resolutions, by Clackamas County and Clark County (WA) Commissions, are expected to take place this week.