Fostering Collaboration
IMAGINE Berks was More Than a Planning Process
It continues as an opportunity for the community to direct actions to realize our vision of Berks County as a place where all residents and businesses can thrive, entrepreneurship and innovation flourish, and the region’s diversity is celebrated and supported, enabling all Berks County residents to prosper.
Sure, the result of the work was an Economic Development Action Plan, but that was just the first milestone. From there, we invested time and resources into implementing the plan with our community partners. This website is an evolving resource to share information about the upcoming IMAGINE Berks Comprehensive plan and its goals. Let’s work together and build a better Berks County.
What We Look To Achieve
Goals, Strategies, and Metrics
The IMAGINE Berks planning team gathered valuable insights and feedback from the community members and reviewed this information in conjunction with quantitative data to form a comprehensive understanding of Berks County’s economy – both its current state and future outlook. The planning team used this information to assess the community’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities. Based on this analysis, five focus areas were identified:
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Placemaking
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Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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BuiLD
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Talent & Economic Mobility
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Housing
For each of these focus areas, the project team prioritized goals and strategies based on their potential impact on economic development and feasibility for implementation.
Metric were assigned to each focus area to track the progress of implementation and overall state of the economy over the course of this 5 year plan.
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01 Mar, 2023
January 23, 2020
Current Comprehensive Plan was adopted by Berks County Commissioners
01 Mar, 2023
July 2021
PY 2021-2024 WIOA Multi-Year Local Area Plan
The Berks County Workforce Development Board adopted a 4 year plan that highlights existing and projects future workforce challenges.
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01 Mar, 2023
August 2021
IMAGINE Berks kick off
01 Mar, 2023
May 2022
Reading Area Transportation Study
This report addresses how we can meet the expectations for the Berks County transportation system over the next 20+ years. Â Reading Area Transportation Study (RATS) has considered all locally available modes of transportation in compiling this plan, including the existing and future highway system, railroads, air travel, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian travel, and methods for improving intermodal connections for freight.
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01 Mar, 2023
August 2022
IMAGINE Berks Strategic Economic Development Action plan Adoption
IMAGINE Berks Strategic Economic Development Action plan was officially adopted by the Berks County Board of Commissioners in August 2022.
01 Mar, 2023
October 2022
Broadband Plan Adoption
Berks County adopted the broadband plan in 2022 identifying the number of residents who lack sufficient broadband access. This report helped guide the work in the community for digital navigation programming and was supported by State and Federal Funding for increased construction of fiber and wireless networks.
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01 Mar, 2023
December 2022
Green Way Plan Adoption
In 2022, Berks County adopted the Greenway, Park, and Recreation Plan. The plan outlines a 5-year blueprint for state and local officials to invest in outdoor recreation.
01 Mar, 2023
May 2024
2025 – 2028 Transportation Improvement Plan Adopted
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the regionally agreed on list of priority projects required by federal transportation legislation. Â It lists all transportation projects in Berks County that intend to use federal funds over the next four years (FFY 2025-2028). Â The list is multi-modal, meaning that it includes highway, bridge, and public transit projects as well as non-traditional bicycle & pedestrian projects.
The FFY 2025-2028 TIP for Berks County contains 112 projects totaling $365.8 million for the phases to be advanced during the next four years. Â It includes 95 projects valued at $284.2 million addressing the highway system and bridges and 17 projects valued at $81.6 million addressing the transit system.
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01 Mar, 2023
August 2024
Launch of Infrastructure Loan Fund
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01 Mar, 2023
January 2025
Growing Berks Plan
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01 Mar, 2023
March 2025
IMAGINE Berks Comprehensive Plan Kickoff
01 Mar, 2023
July 2025
PY 2025-2028 WIOA Multi-Year Local Area Plan
The Berks County Workforce Development Board adopted a 4-year plan that highlights existing and projects future workforce challenges.
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01 Mar, 2023
October 2025
IMAGINE Berks Rebrand with Comp Plan/Year 3 Update
