On Wednesday, the Town of Southbury was awarded the 2024 Gold Level Certified Community in Best Practices in Economic Development and Land Use Planning by the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS). The Town of Southbury was one of three communities in the state achieving the distinction of gold for 2024, joining ten others from the previous two years.
“This is a significant achievement and a testament to the dedication of our team,” said First Selectman Jeff Manville accepting the award. “From Kevin Bielmeier our Economic Development Director, the Land Use department under Jordan Marcinko, and the building department led by Mark Cody, it is their collaboration and coordination that make this possible. Together, we’ve put Southbury on the map. It’s a place people want to live, raise their families, start their businesses, and lay down roots. We will continue to carefully plan, organize, and implement exciting economic development projects for our community.”
In March, the Town of Southbury applied for the CEDAS Best Practices Certification Program in Economic Development and Land Use. CEDAS reviews each applicant’s existing economic development and community strategies to determine areas where a community may excel or need to improve, and rates their overall economic vitality. The application contains four components: communications and marketing; coordination and collaboration; organizational capacity and strategy; and policies and programs.
The award was presented at CEDAS’ Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, October 23rd at the Windham Golf Club. In addition to Southbury, the municipalities that earned the 2024 Gold Level recognition were the Town of Manchester and the Town of Windham.
CEDAS is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to advancing the practice and process of economic development in Connecticut. It created the Best Practices Certification Program in 2019. Its goal is to improve the overall quality of economic development services by creating process standards; to drive communities to pursue excellence in land use and economic development by recognizing communities with best practices throughout Connecticut. Learn more here: www.cedas.org/Resources/CT-Best-Practices-In-Land-Use-and-Economic-Development.
