“ Cities, towns, and regions across our Nation continue to face difficult economic challenges. Enhancing current Federal assistance is helping to lift communities out of distress. To allow the Federal Government to better partner with these local communities to build local capacity to address economic issues, and to support comprehensive planning and regional collaboration, my Administration established the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) pilot initiative. ”

“ By partnering with cities and regions to augment their vision for stability and economic growth, the SC2 was designed to help communities strengthen their capacity to create jobs and more competitive business climates, and implement locally driven community and regional planning approaches that lead to sustained economic growth, as well as ensure that Federal assistance is more efficiently provided and used. ”