Services Community Development

Community development is a major goal for most of GHCOG members, and the region as a whole has significant community development needs. The Grays Harbor economy is transitioning from its traditional natural resource-based industries to a service and tourist-based economy, as the area attracts increasing numbers of retirees and vacationers.

GHCOG provides additional resources to help communities identify and attain their goals. We offer a wide range of services to address these goals including: grant and loan research and writing assistance, community consensus building, research and collecting community demographic data, and house a library of local and regional plans and research materials. Examples of projects the GHCOG can assist with include downtown revitalization, regional development, community development needs analyses, and infrastructure plan development.

In 2008 GHCOG will conclude a 2 1/2 year process working with local cities on community development capacity-building. Numerous library materials on community development and downtown revitalization, such as Main Street program materials and case studies, have been collected which are excellent up to date resources. Our staff can assist local governments in getting started, recruiting partners and volunteers, funding, and finishing your community development projects.