This brief looks at the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) and its emphasis on coordination between economic development and workforce development programs. In fact, one WIOA’s main purposes is to better align workforce and economic development systems, more tightly connecting the two than in earlier legislation. The brief provides an overview of WIOA’s emphasis on economic development, and strategies for how state economic development agencies to participate in state WIOA planning activities. This brief is part of a State and Local Finance Initiative project on state economic development strategies.