The department shall cooperate with local and regional development agencies, including:
A. coordinating activities of the department and local or regional development agencies;
B. assisting in gathering information on local and regional assets;
C. assisting in the establishment of procedures for handling potential clients;
D. assisting in the development of a plan for the expansion of the local or regional economic base;
E. assisting in marketing the benefits of local communities by providing matching funds through the state cooperative advertising program, which shall include as eligible expenses travel and related costs to attract new business investment into the communities;
F. assisting in the establishment of programs to attract new labor forces or to train local labor forces; and
G. identifying barriers to local or regional economic development and developing plans to overcome such barriers.