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involvement in the process, thus a seven member board was formed with two Council <br /> members serving on the EDA. <br /> Mary Ippel, of Briggs and Morgan, describes the forming of an EDA as a way to <br /> provide a great deal of flexibility to a City to pursue economic development. Economic <br /> development authorities may exercise their own powers,the powers of housing and <br /> redevelopment authorities, the powers of cities in connection with city development <br /> districts and the powers of municipalities or redevelopment agencies in connection with <br /> municipal industrial development. The purpose for which these powers may be exercised <br /> is expanded to embrace economic development throughout a City and not just in areas <br /> deemed blighted. The concentration of various economic development powers and <br /> purposes in one Authority therefore provides a valuable tool to a City for the promotion <br /> and financing of economic development. <br /> An EDA is provided, by State Statute, the greatest level of power and freedom to <br /> participate in economic development. An EDA possesses the most ability and the widest <br /> variety of tools to work towards closing financing gaps. Simply put, an EDA is the most <br /> effective tool at solving problems of economic development. <br /> Tools of the EDA <br /> There are two categories of tools utilized by EDA to foster business growth in <br /> Cities. These tools can be broken down into marketing tools and financial assistance <br /> tools. The marketing tools exist as a means for the City to sell itself as a quality location <br /> for business to locate or expand in. The financial assistance tools exist to assist business <br /> in closing financial gaps, which would otherwise cause them not to locate in your city. <br /> Because these two categories represent the backbone of the activities of the EDA, they <br />