Helping Left-Behind Communities Make a Comeback
This Executive Order establishes a “whole-of-government” approach to support left-behind communities through place-based economic development. It defines what counts as covered communities and economically distressed regions, and it directs multiple federal agencies to coordinate, streamline access to funding, and improve local engagement and capacity. The order aims to increase private investment, strengthen local and regional assets, and bolster resilience—especially in communities facing persistent poverty, disaster risk, or economic distress—by enhancing collaboration, technical assistance, and streamlined access to Federal grants and programs. Key actions include creating a more intentional interagency network for local economic development, prioritizing and coordinating resources across agencies, offering targeted assistance to grant applicants, and delivering post-disaster support that helps communities recover and build long-term economic strength. The order emphasizes community input, local ownership, and the use of place-based strategies, while ensuring actions comply with existing law and do not create new legal rights.
Key Points
- 1Definition of covered communities and place-based focus: The order identifies who is covered (economically distressed municipalities, disaster zones, regions served by specific federal programs, and rural communities identified by federal agencies) and outlines what “place-based economic development” should accomplish (infrastructure, workforce, connections to opportunities, building local capacity for negotiations with investors, and strengthening rural/Tribal/community systems).
- 2Strengthened federal coordination and leadership: The Secretary of Commerce, via the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development, is tasked with coordinating investments across implementing agencies (a broad group including Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, HHS, HUD, Transportation, Energy, Homeland Security, EPA, and SBA). This includes policy recommendations and meaningful community engagement.
- 3Improved engagement and access to resources: Within one year, the Commerce Department must improve engagement with State, Tribal, territorial, local, and non-profit organizations; support localized economic development; create an interagency technical assistance network; and identify overlapping programs to enable better coordination and post-award implementation.
- 4Preference and access to funding: Implementing agencies are directed, where appropriate and lawful, to incorporate preferences or incentives to favor applications from entities in or serving covered communities. The order supports efforts to help applicants understand and compete for Federal grants, including proactive outreach, guidance, and centralized access to information and resources.
- 5Post-disaster resilience and long-term development: Agencies with field offices in economically distressed regions or Community Disaster Resilience Zones that experienced a major disaster within the past three years should, where appropriate, gather local input on resilience needs, identify funding opportunities, and provide targeted guidance to navigate and secure funding.
- 6Non-creation of rights and budget guardrails: The order emphasizes consistency with applicable law and appropriations, and it clarifies that it does not create enforceable rights. It relies on existing authorities and funding streams to implement its goals.