Economic Development & Disaster Recovery
Competing in today’s economy demands data-driven strategies.
NOVACES equips state and local leaders with the critical insights they need to identify regional competitive advantages, develop winning proposals, attract strategic investment, drive economic growth, and manage disaster recovery with precision and impact.
Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS)
A well-crafted Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) can unlock significant long-term economic benefits for regions seeking sustainable growth and resilience. Having experienced professionals on your team—who understand the process, documentation, and stakeholder engagement requirements—can accelerate your CEDS development timeline by months.
NOVACES credentialed economic developers provide technical assistance in the creation and refinement of CEDS and other economic development strategies nationwide.
Example Projects:
- Produced a seven-county CEDS for the Hudson Valley Regional Council.
- Supported the Southern Puerto Rico Economic Development District’s (SPREDD) founding leadership team by conducting an industry and cluster analysis, a regional SWOT analysis, and facilitating a bilingual, hybrid workshop with leaders from 11 key industries and sectors to explore growth opportunities and barriers. These informed the regional CEDS, which led to EDA’s formal recognition of Puerto Rico’s first EDD.
Workforce Development
NOVACES partners with state and local governments to design and implement workforce development strategies that drive economic growth and align talent with employer needs, both today and for the future. We help clients:
- Analyze industry trends and supply chain data to uncover opportunities
- Conduct comprehensive labor force assessments
- Foster public-private partnerships to strengthen workforce pipelines
- Tailor training programs to meet current and future skill demands
- Implement communication strategies that promote transparency and community engagement
- Identify and secure funding sources to support long-term success
Community Outreach & Engagement
Meaningful community engagement is vital to successful economic development and disaster recovery. We partner closely with public agencies and local leaders to facilitate outreach events and conduct interviews with respect and cultural sensitivity—building trust at every stage of the process.
Our approach emphasizes collaboration, presenting actionable options and innovative strategies that reflect the voices and priorities of the communities we serve.
Grounded in rigorous analysis, we assess regional economic conditions, community-specific impacts, and business needs. We leverage existing studies and economic development strategies to inform our work and ensure alignment with local development goals.
By engaging directly with communities, we deliver targeted, sustainable recommendations that help restore businesses, create jobs, and strengthen long-term economic resilience.
Grant Writing, Proposal Development and Funding
Transform great ideas into projects that get funded.
The NOVACES Proposal Funding Learning Lab guides participants through the steps to develop a fine-tuned project proposal and provides one-on-one coaching with successful grant writers to prepare a compelling presentation. The learning lab culminates with each participant presenting a funding proposal to pre-screened grantmaking organizations.
NOVACES training programs are always tailored to the specific audience. The Proposal Funding Learning Lab Series has previously covered these topics:
- Identifying concepts for fundable projects and potential resources
- Build your project framework
- Understand your audience
- Work with a coach to develop your proposal
- Deliver your presentation to matched grant-making organizations
- Economic Assessment & Industry Research
Economic Assessment & Industry Research
Turning Data into Actionable Insight for Economic Development.
NOVACES has delivered economic analysis and industry research to support economic development and disaster recovery strategic planning for these states, territories, government agencies, and public entities.
- City of Fresno, California
- State of Louisiana
- State of Missouri
- State of Kentucky
- State of California
- State of Tennessee
- Southern Puerto Rico Economic Development District
- United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.
- Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce
- Federal and State Partners for Coastal Resilience in California
- FEMA
- U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration
Entrepreneurial Development and Incubator Initiatives
Fostering a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is a cornerstone of a thriving local economy. NOVACES equips local and regional leaders with data-driven insights to successfully design and launch business incubators and entrepreneurial development initiatives through:
- Identifying funding
- Industry Opportunity Zone mapping
- Workforce development strategies
- Transferring skills to local implementing partners
Regional Strategic Initiatives
Driving Regional Collaboration for Lasting Economic Impact.
Regional collaboration is a powerful catalyst for attracting resources, accelerating industry growth, and delivering wide-reaching economic benefits. At NOVACES, our team of Certified Economic Developers (CEcDs) brings extensive experience in designing and executing regional strategies across the United States, the Caribbean, and global markets.
We help accelerate strategic initiatives by providing end-to-end support, from targeted research and stakeholder engagement to managing logistics and documentation. With NOVACES as your partner, regional efforts gain the structure, insight, and agility necessary to achieve meaningful and sustainable results.
Support for State and Local Governments
Disaster Recovery Support That Moves Communities Forward.
In the aftermath of a disaster, state and local leaders are often overwhelmed by the surge of emergency tasks and high-stakes decisions. Instead of waiting for federal solutions, communities can take control of their own recovery strategy.
NOVACES Economic Development & Disaster Recovery services equip community leaders with critical insights into economic recovery after disasters. Our economic recovery team helps you identify the true impacts of disasters on industries, businesses, commercial areas, your workforce and government revenues.
We work as an extension of your staff to support key needs in restoring your economy, prioritizing recovery projects, identifying resources, developing winning grant concepts, and managing disaster economic recovery with precision and impact. With more than 20 years of experience and 17 disaster missions under the US EDA and FEMA, our team possesses on-the-ground expertise and knowledge of solutions from around the country to help your community navigate both short- and long-term recovery actions.
Research & Analysis
- Economic baseline and recovery dashboards
- Business retention surveys and assessments
- Priority needs assessments
Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach
- Economic recovery stakeholder mapping
- How to engage with businesses
- Facilitation support and reporting
- Special events management
Economic Recovery Consulting
- Industry-specific recovery needs and recommendations
- Downtown revitalization
- Breaking down barriers to business recovery
- Identification of essential business infrastructure needs
- Rough magnitude cost estimates of “as-is” and building back better
- Tools & technology
- Establish recovery plan priorities, identify resources and draft documents
Training for Local Governments
NOVACES economic development training courses provide tools and skills training to local government agencies. Each program is customized to align with the goals of the region or community. Often delivered in a hybrid virtual and in-person format, topics may include:
- New business marketing and attraction
- Municipal development and downtown revitalization
- Economic development project financing
- Municipal funding and finance for economic resilience
- Managing economic development organizations
- Understanding data to measure your economy
- Ethics and economic development
NOVACES team members have decades of experience developing training, information-sharing, and strategic planning events. We prepare agendas, develop customized content, recruit and prepare speakers, conduct marketing outreach, and provide logistics for a variety of workshop and webinar formats.
Our team also serves as skilled facilitators, moderators and presenters at interactive in-person, online and hybrid events.
Previous training events included:
- A series of kick-off recovery meetings conducted with federal and local officials throughout Florida after Hurricanes Irma and Michael, which helped local leaders understand the full range of support available from the federal government and NGOs.
- In collaboration with multiple Area Development Districts, we delivered 2-day workshops after tornado and flood disasters in Kentucky, which delved deeply into recovery support for agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, small business financing and downtown revitalization and rebuilding.
- “Bootcamp-style” training covering essential economic development and recovery topics to help local leaders better understand and develop strategies to support business retention and jump-start their economies.
- Recruiting and preparing webinar speakers from regional Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), federal agencies and non-profits that offered resources to small businesses.
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