Economic Development Recovery and Resiliency Playbook - Flipbook - Page 7
Foreword
As California jurisdictions deal with the health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, we ofen say that
resiliency and recovery go hand in hand because recovery is not linear; in fact, it’s a process, and while you are in response
or recovery mode for one economic disruption, you may be planning to mitigate the impacts of another. President Biden’s
encouragement to have communities “Build Back Better” is an excellent example of the strategic thinking needed to address
continual improvement of our resiliency planning and mitigation practices.
With California’s “new normal” of severe weather and the ever-present risk of earthquakes, fires, floods, and other potential
economic disruptions, community leaders have to include risk assessment, preparedness, mitigation, resiliency, response,
and recovery as part of their regular work. In particular, economic developers and their networks are charged with reducing
economic risk by becoming first responders for our local businesses before, during, and afer a disaster or a downturn. In doing
so, they have become an experienced resource to assist with risk assessment, resiliency planning, and recovery.
It is with this in mind that the Economic Development Administration provided funding to the California Association for Local
Economic Development (CALED) for the creation of an Economic Development Recovery and Resiliency Playbook. As the largest
economic development professional association in California, CALED worked with federal, state, and local economic developers
in writing this guide for jurisdictions to help ensure a more resilient community in the face of disaster or economic disruption.
We hope you use this Playbook to plan and implement the right resiliency and recovery strategy to create a sustainable, thriving
economy for your community.
Your economic development partners,
Gurbax Sahota
President & CEO
California Association for
Local Economic Development
Malinda Matson
Economic Development Representative
Northern and Coastal California
U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic Development Administration
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