Arthur Mann Serving As Chair Of HOTEDD

Hillsboro Economic Develop-ment Corporation (HEDC) Admin-istrator Arthur Mann recently as-sumed the chairmanship of the Heart of Texas Economic Devel-opment District (HOTEDD) Board of Directors.

The nation’s 380 Economic De-velopment Districts (EDDs) share a common vision and mission of promoting economic prosperity, regional competitiveness and quali-ty of life through regional innova-tion and collaboration.

HOTEDD is made up of Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Limestone and McLennan counties in Central Texas, and is in place to protect and improve the economic vitality of the Heart of Texas re-gion.

Formerly part of the Central Texas Economic Development District (CTEDD). Formed in 1967, the fourteen-county CTEDD was dissolved in 2000 to allow the formation of economic develop-ment districts based on Council of Government areas.

HOTEDD was organized as a corporation in October 2003 and was designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in September of 2004.

The organization was originally funded partially by a three-year planning grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and partially by local matching funds. HOTEDD re-ceived its most recent three-year grant in January of 2018.

HOTEDD developed and main-tains a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) that reflects the economic development needs and priorities of the Heart of Texas region. This is part of the EDA requirements for the three-year planning grant.

It has also developed and main-tains a revolving loan fund to as-sist rural small and growing busi-nesses in the six-county region.

Communities across the Heart of Texas region share a pro-business spirit.

Strong partnerships between lo-cal businesses, economic develop-ers, workforce training and educa-tion providers and local govern-ments ensure that businesses who locate in the area get responsive support from their communities.

The board and staff work in the six-county region to promote eco-nomic development activity.

EDA grants awarded in the six-county area are administered by HOTEDD staff.

Grants in Mexia and Bellmead are currently winding down, a grant project in Hillsboro is about to launch and an application for a project in Groesbeck is expected to be submitted in the near future.

The board is made up of repre-sentatives from the six counties, local educational institutions, utili-ties and government.

During the January board meet-ing, Hillsboro Community Devel-opment Director Jerry Barker was elected secretary-treasurer.

Also named to the board for three-year terms were Hillsboro businessman Charles Eaton and Hillsboro Oncor customer opera-tions manager Ignacio Vazquez.

The HOTEDD Board of Direc-tors meet the fourth Thursday of the month at 1 p.m. in the HOTCOG board room in the months of January, March, May, August, October and December only.

For more information, go to http://www.hoteddtx.com/.