AngelouEconomics was retained by the Centralina Council of Governments in 2004 to develop a regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) – referred to as No Boundaries – for the nine-county region surrounding Charlotte. AE led the region through a comprehensive assessment of the area’s business climate, labor pool, workforce development and education, economic development efforts, sites and infrastructure, and entrepreneurial efforts.

The final action plan included a vision for economic development in the region, validation of regional target industries, and identification of regional strategies and key projects that should be considered for EDA funding. Regional projects were identified that can provide the most significant impact for growth and development of the region’s economy. One of the recommendations offered in the CEDS report was for the region to incorporate advanced manufacturing into every sector of the regional economy and called for the development of an Advanced/Applied Manufacturing Center in the region to support the industry’s growth. As a result of this recommendation, the Centralina COG is moving forward with assessing the feasibility of the Center and identifying the type of support that manufacturing enterprises and other innovative technology firms will need in the future, and the level to which local companies would use the Center.