What is the Tennessee Development District Association? 

The Tennessee Development District Association or TDDA is an association of the nine state-wide development districts, which were established by the General Assembly under the Tennessee Development District Act of 1965.

The Act established a statewide system of nine regional planning and economic development organizations to promote intergovernmental cooperation on growth and development issues, including regional and statewide concerns. The organizations also promote more effective utilization of available resources in dealing with these needs.

The Board Membership for each Development District is made up of the chief elected officials from member counties and cities, a designated economic development professional from each county, and one Senator and one State Representative from within each region.

The Tennessee Development District Association was established to serve as a statewide forum for the diverse problems the Districts must solve in their mission to serve 95 counties and some 350 municipalities.

What Tennessee's Development Districts do for you? 

The nine Development Districts located throughout the state worked collectively during the 2015 program year on issues ranging from economic development to housing. In total, during 2015, $21 million dollars were secured on behalf of local governments in Housing & Urban Development Community Development Block Grant or CDBG funding for critical infrastructure serving 786,901 Tennesseans.

In total, 2015 saw Tennessee's Development Districts obtain $33 million dollars in economic development grants that leveraged over $1 billion dollars in new capital investment creating 5,000 new jobs. Districts across the state also loaned $20 million dollars to small businesses which created or retained 2,040 jobs. 

Development Districts also assisted homeowners with repairs or rehabilitations in 500 sub-standard houses. They also saved tax payers $47 million dollars by providing in home services to 1,769 Medicare eligible citizens.