PlaySpace pitch: EDA program emphasizes community‑led planning and long‑term capacity building

Presenter (S1) opened the briefing by saying, “My colleagues estimate about $80,000,000,000 of what we call place based industrial policy investments.” Presenter (S2) framed the initiative commonly referred to as PlaySpace as work rooted in local communities: “PlaySpace is the places we call home. The places where individuals, everyday American, live, and work and raise their kids.”

According to Presenter (S2), the PlaySpace approach asks communities to identify their assets and outline “the arc of the economic future” so federal and local actors can design investments around those priorities. The presenter described the federal role as a seed investor that provides assurance to private capital that “this is a long game,” stressing that economic development should not be episodic or handled by a single entity.

The briefing also emphasized workforce development as a necessary wraparound service. Presenter (S2) said, “It’s not possible to, create new industries if we’re not also, making sure that we are bringing the workforce right along,” and argued that large federal funding flows require local capacity building to ensure communities can absorb and implement funds effectively.

Presenter (S2) announced that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has established an economic development core and recruited 65 fellows to be embedded in organizations for 30 months to help build that capacity. The speaker added that the fellows were “actually in town today” and thanked the Brookings Institution for its partnership on the effort.

The presentation tied the PlaySpace approach to broader federal initiatives, noting Build Back Better principles as influencing the emphasis on wraparound services and sustained investment. No formal motions, votes, or binding decisions were recorded during the briefing; presenters described program design and capacity goals and outlined next steps for local engagement and deployment of fellows.