Our regional Economic Development Strategy goal for Resilient Infrastructure is to ensure communities and businesses of the Gorge have reliable, resilient access to infrastructure, including attainable housing, high-capacity broadband, sustainable sources of energy, and emergency services, among others, to support future population demands and economic opportunities.
Explore the tabs on the side of the page to learn more about our work in Broadband, Water/Wastewater, Community Facilities, Brownfield Revitalization, and Transportation.
For Affordable Housing infrastructure, the lack of available and affordable housing is clearly identified as one of the region’s primary economic development barriers. Housing is both a quality of life and an economic issue. The shortage of quality housing is a deterrent to businesses that seek to employ a local workforce. MCEDD’s work in this area includes our Attainable Housing Loan Program, regional coordination, and support for partners like Mid-Columbia Housing Authority.
Annual Infrastructure Priorities
Annually the region prioritizes infrastructure projects based on the following characteristics:
- Alignment with the Regional Strategy.
- Regional impact.
- Potential availability of funding sources.
- Economic impact.
- Readiness to proceed.
- Alignment with federal priorities.
Prioritization is designed to:
- Inventory and prioritize economic development needs and issues;
- Develop regional consensus on high priorities;
- Develop a tool to promote high priority projects or issues to state and federal funders.
View the latest prioritized infrastructure project list on our Priorities page.