Economic Development for Elected Officials COSTEP Offers Training Session to Strengthen Best Practices in Economic Development

Economic Development for Elected Officials COSTEP Offers Training Session to Strengthen Best Practices in Economic Development

COSTEP, Council for South Texas Economic Progress will be hosting its next Friends of COSTEP meeting on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in person at the offices of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC) from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. This will be an extended session as both COSTEP and LRGVDC have partnered up with Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services (TEEX) to provide a training session titled “Economic Development for Elected Officials.”

COSTEP understands there are opportunities for economic development stakeholders to receive training on economic development throughout the year. Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) offers Economic Development Sales Workshops hosted in different parts of the state. TEDC in partnership with TEEX offers a Basic Economic Development Course recognized by the International Economic Development Council twice a year.

However, this session is intended to assist and enrich elected officials unable to attend out-of-region economic development sessions due to their schedules.  Economic development professionals are also encouraged to attend. COSTEP and LRGVDC strongly believe that it is important for local economic development stakeholders to understand the basic precepts of economic development and adopt best practices.

Lisa M. Mutchler, Division Director at Business and Cyber Solutions (BCS) will be conducting the session. Ms. Mutchler’s position has her serving many roles. Among these, she serves as the Program Director for the Cybersecurity Readiness Center and Economic & Workforce Development. With expertise in federal and state grants, she manages various programs aimed at economic growth in Texas.

COSTEP, Council for South Texas Economic Progress is a nongovernmental organization advocating regional economic development for the seven-county region of Rio South Texas. Servicing the counties of Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Jim Hogg, Zapata, and Webb, COSTEP focuses on business recruitment services and provides regional market data to host site selector tours, regional familiarization tours, and area economic development enrichment sessions. To learn more about how you can support our work visit COSTEP.org or contact Adam Gonzalez at agonzalez@costep.org.