FRESNO COUNTY – After more than a year of research and community engagement, Fresno County is ready to move forward with its new economic development plan.
The 2025-2030 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), approved by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5, highlights county strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to outline future plans for economic growth in the region. It was developed by the public works department, the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation and third-party consultant TIP Strategies, Inc.
Strategies outlined in the CEDS are based on input from over 200 participants across 16 community meetings and 24 roundtables, in addition to over 600 responses from online surveys.
“We started in June of last year, and we had an extensive amount of stakeholder engagement during that 15-month period,” said a consultant from TIP during the item presentation. “We also conducted a comprehensive economic and demographic analysis, and all of that information was used, with the partnership of the strategic committee, to develop the strategic plan you have in front of you today.”
The strategy is focused on four key objectives: business growth, workforce development, infrastructure and real estate, and quality of place.
To improve business growth, the plan emphasizes recruiting new companies to the area and investing in startups. The plan also supports investing in small businesses and utilizing community benefit agreements to help ensure that residents’ lives improve alongside the economy.
In regards to workforce development, the CEDS aims to continue ongoing training opportunities while creating a new workforce pipeline through educational and organizational partnerships. The plan also hopes to address barriers to employment and develop better retention within the county.
To enhance local infrastructure, the plan places a heavy emphasis on making better use of vacant lots and creating more sustainable utility services to open more spaces for businesses to come into the county. In addition, this plan aims to improve the region’s connectivity by expanding public transit, supporting the Fresno Yosemite International Airport as a transportation hub and enhancing existing highway and rail structures.
The final objective, improving quality of place, refers to the desire to create more vibrant communities that attract talent and visitors. The first way of achieving this is to make housing more affordable by diversifying housing stock, strengthening pathways to home ownership and encouraging home development near commercial centers to improve job access. The plan also suggests beautifying downtowns, creating more green spaces and supporting local events to create stronger community identity.
Besides creating new goals for the county to achieve over the next five years, the CEDS also gave a look into the current economic state of the county.
According to the city council agenda item submitted by public works, the median household income in Fresno County is significantly lower than state and national figures, with the only exception being Clovis which has numbers above the national median.
Looking at housing affordability, over a quarter of homeowners spend more than 30% of their income on housing, despite median home values being lower than the statewide average. This statistic goes in tandem with the fact that nearly one in five residents are living below the poverty line, a rate higher than both the state and national averages.
While these numbers are certainly bleak, the CEDS hopes to target these areas of opportunity and potentially turn them around. Approval of this strategy now means that county projects that fall in line with the CEDS’ objectives can now be eligible for EDA funding once again.
Following the board’s approval, TIP will professionally format the document, only making visual changes to graphic design elements and section dividers. Once completed, the document will be sent to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for approval.
The new CEDS is replacing the previous one, which was supposed to last from 2016-2021. However, the county was able to continue operating under the plan through an extension approved by the EDA. It was also noted that, without the approval of a new strategic plan, the county would not have been eligible for EDA grant funding.
