§ 230. Economic development regions. 1. The department shall establish
economic development regions of the state and shall establish within
each region at least one regional office.

2. The boundaries of regions shall be based on factors including, but
not limited to: (a) interdependence and commonality of economic and
social interests; (b) previous cooperation in economic development
related matters; (c) intraregional commuting and transportation
patterns; (d) geographic proximity to and dependence on centers of
employment and economic opportunity, population concentration and
markets; (e) unifying topographic characteristics; (f) labor markets;
and (g) geographic size.