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The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, established in 1968, is a non-profit, multi-county, multi-purpose, and multi-funded Planning and Development Organization serving Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, Faulkner, Pulaski and Saline Counties. The District is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of each respective County Judge, the Mayor from the largest city, and a representative of the business and minority community from each of the designated counties. Every incorporated municipality within the designated counties are members of the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District.
Congress first established the Planning and Development District concept in 1965 by Public Law 89-136, known as the Public Works and Economic Development Act. The Development District Program, as a major instrument of the Economic Development Administration, is designed to foster economic growth through multi-county planning and investment.
The Planning and Development Districts in Arkansas, because of the control and accountability maintained through the local governing body, are being used as a service delivery system by both the federal and state government. This is indicated at the federal level through various forms of legislation, that mandate implementation on a regional basis, such as the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District currently administers the following federal and state programs throughout the six county service area that includes Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, Faulkner, Pulaski, and Saline counties.
The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District is awarded an annual Planning Grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop, maintain and implement an “Economic Development Plan” for the Central District. Participation in this planning process ensures local government an additional 10% grant award for any grants received from the Economic Development Administration (EDA).
The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District administers a Title IX Revolving Loan Fund that provides loans to business and industry. This is an effective economic development tool for expanding the economic base, supporting economic growth and development of the region, and to creating a diverse economic base on which industry can build. The District uses these RLF funds in joint public/private ventures to finance acquisitions, and establish or a modernize businesses or industries as a means of saving or creating employment opportunities.
Three laws of the 1991 Legislative session changed the direction of solid waste management within the state of Arkansas. These are Act 749, which established recycling goals for the state, Act 751 which banned the disposal of yard waste in landfills, and Act 752 which mandated regional management of solid waste.
The CAPDD administers the Central Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District (CASWMD). The responsibilities include planning and regulating management of solid waste within Faulkner, Lonoke, Prairie and Monroe Counties. In addition, the CASWMD Board of Directors directs spending, ownership, operation, and acquisition of all components of solid waste management within their borders.
For more information about solid waste management, click here.
The Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program (ACEDP) is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program and is administered for the State by the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED). The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District administers these grants for cities and counties throughout the six county Central Planning District.
Projects eligible for ADED funding include water, wastewater, infrastructure needs for industry, loans to industry and categorical projects such as public health, senior citizen’s programs and day care needs that benefit low-to-moderate income citizens.
The District is committed to providing grant writing, grant management, and staff services needed by our member municipal and county governments. These services include the acquisition and implementation of grants available through the Economic Development Administration, FEMA, Department of Parks and Tourism, Department of Rural Services, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, the Department of Pollution Control and Ecology, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, Entergy, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Department of Rural Development and the Soil and Water Conservation Commission.
CAPDD’s Community Services Department provides planning, technical assistance, mapping, and GIS (Geographic Information System) services to the six (6) county Central Arkansas area.
CAPDD serves as the areawide clearinghouse for grants and provides census information to constituents in the six (6) county Central Arkansas area, upon request.
The Central Arkansas Planning and Development District is the agency that manages the Workforce Centers in Central and Southeast Arkansas.
The Central Arkansas Workforce Investment Board was created in 2000 as required by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
The daily activities of the District are mandated in the special terms and conditions of the respective federal and state programs that are operated by the District. The purpose of the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District is to achieve the goals and objectives of these programs by functioning as a service delivery system. This system provides citizens and local units of government with programs that are designed to generate community and economic development and growth, alleviate unemployment, and increase the overall quality of life.
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