A three-year economic development and planning campaign in North Carolina is hunting for agency help for communications and media relations via RFP.

The Connect Our Future project, encompassing a region of the Tar Heel State that is home to more than two million people, is backed by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to tackle a range of issues like the environment/land use, transportation planning, business and workforce services through public, private and non-profit partners with an eye on issues expected to arise in the future. HUD has kicked in $5M so far.

The Centralina Council of Governments, a group of 16 regional governing bodies in the state, released an RFP open through Jan. 24 for a firm to help engage the public in the Connect initiative through traditional and social media, and content-driven outreach.

Officials supporting the campaign continue to lobby other local and regional governments to sign on to the push, although some have resisted, citing its federal backing.

Proposals are due Jan. 24. View the RFP (PDF).