Before applying for CCI participation, interested communities are required to demonstrate they have a sponsor, support of the appropriate local government, ability to involve a broad spectrum of individuals and interests and are willing to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the community, DCEO and any third party participants. A strong commitment is the most critical factor used to determine acceptance into the CCI program.

Each community accepted into the program is assigned a CCI Specialist to facilitate the community development effort.  CCI communities generally follow these steps:
   1. Organizing a local leadership structure.
   2. Completing a self-assessment to gain input on community strengths and weaknesses.
   3. Developing an action plan based on information from the self-assessment
   4. Implementing the action plan.
   5. Review and update of the action plan to keep the community moving forward.
The self-assessment can take several forms including surveys, public meeting or focus groups.  A list of projects and activities develops from the assessment.  This list is organized around common themes and assigned to teams to create goals and strategies.  These teams are encouraged to compare and match these goals with the CCI “Six Foundations of Growth” listed below.
   1. Skilled and Adaptive Workforce
   2. Basic and Advanced Infrastructure
   3. Access to Capital
   4. Access to Technology
   5. Pro-competitive Business Policies
   6. Social Infrastructure  
Teams will write goals and strategies based on community input that will be included in a larger CCI Action Plan.  The plan will identify the goals, individuals and/or agencies responsible for implementation, resources needed for achievement and basic time lines for completion.
When accomplished successfully, the CCI Action Plan serves as a blueprint for the future that can be reviewed and updated by the community.  CCI Specialists continue to assist as the community implements the action plan.  Communities complete the CCI program by moving through five stages:
   1.  Entry Level
   2. Development Ready
   3. Prepared
   4. Competitive
   5. Graduate
Graduate communities are expected to advise other CCI communities as they move through the program.