The Southcentral Michigan Planning Council (SMPC), a regional planning organization representing Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and St. Joseph counties, aims to improve the economic, environmental, and fiscal health of the region through transportation, land use and environmental planning, economic development, and efficient local staffing. SMPC was reorganized in the fall of 2012, and this Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is its top economic development priority for the region.The reconstitution of the SMPC provides opportunities to the communities in the five-county area to think regionally about opportunities and concerns. The Upjohn Institute was contracted by SMPC to facilitate and develop the CEDS.