Central Shenandoah pandemic recovery and resiliency plan now available

The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission has published a new pandemic recovery and resiliency plan.

The purpose of this economic development plan is to assist local governments in the region with their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and their resiliency efforts to protect their communities from future economic shocks.

In the summer of 2020, the CSPDC applied for and received Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop this plan.

The planning process included capturing critical data about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and gathering success stories and best management practices from local governments, the business community and stakeholder organizations.

The overwhelming advice collected from these groups was, “be nimble.”

“While the impact of the pandemic was ever-changing, our local governments, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations found creative solutions to communicate, provide services, and stay open,” said Elizabeth McCarty, CSPDC deputy director.

As a result of this planning process, long-term recovery and resiliency strategies were developed to provide tools and resources for local governments that can be used for current pandemic recovery and future resiliency.

These strategies focused on four areas: resilient people, places, businesses, and services.

The pandemic recovery and resiliency plan can be found here on the CSPDC website.