(New Haven, Connecticut) – The Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) is proud to announce its certification of twelve cities and towns as exemplifying best practices in economic development and land use. These communities participated in a rigorous application review process that required documentation of their procedures for development projects, community engagement, and consideration of their economic development strategies.
CEDAS created the Best Practices Certification Program in 2019 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; to accelerate sharing of best practices among community decision-makers; and to encourage more transparent, efficient, community-engaged economic development throughout Connecticut. The application contains four components: communications & marketing; coordination & collaboration; organizational capacity & strategy; and policies & programs.
The 2022 certified communities are:
Gold Level:
Town of Cheshire
City of Norwalk
Town of Orange
Silver Level:
Town of Ellington
Town of Guilford
Town of Hamden
Town of North Branford
City of Torrington
City of West Haven
Town of Willington
Town of Woodbridge
Bronze Level:
Town of Berlin
“I commend this year’s accreditation recipients. To become a certified community is an immense achievement, which is a tribute to each municipality’s dedication to reviewing existing strategies, determining areas where the community excels, recognizing areas of improvement, and actively focusing on advancing economic vitality,” said Kristen Gorski, CEDAS Board President.
CEDAS Best Practices sponsors are Presenting Sponsor the Greater New Haven Chamber, and Program Sponsors AdvanceCT, the City of Stamford, and STV. Awards will be presented to 2022 Certified Communities in June, date to be announced.