What are Regional Planning & Development Councils?
The 1971 Regional Planning & Development Act and reenacted West Virginia Code, Chapter 8, Article 25, mandated that West Virginia be divided into 11 regions to serve as "development districts" to more effectively utilize funding resources and maximize small communities' chances of attracting funds from federal, state, and local organizations to foster community and cooperation throughout the state.
The Regional Councils focus on expansion and improvement of water and sewer facilities, infrastructure, transportation, employment, industry, small business development, housing, health care, education, and recreation. By coordinating closely with our affiliates in the region, we promote stability, growth, and progress in West Virginia, especially assisting local jurisdictions too small to maintain staff for grant writing and planning.
RPDCs offer local jurisdictions innovative solutions to growth-related problems by identifying and prioritizing goals; creating proactive strategies to realize these objectives; applying for funding packages; soliciting engineers, architects, attorneys, bond counsel, accountants, and other consultants, as needed, for each endeavor; and administering the projects to ensure funding is properly managed and all program guidelines are followed.
To accomplish these tasks, the RPDCs provide a multitude of services, varied by Council, including grant writing, labor compliance, Section 3 and Title VI adherence, 5G solicitation assistance, workforce development, intergovernmental reviews, census report updates, public and governmental engagement strategies, environmental reviews, financial administration, drawdowns, account maintenance, income surveys, mapping capabilities, aging services and programs, revolving loan funds that assist new and expanding businesses, and a wealth of programmatic knowledge.
