Milwaukee's launches new strategy today Monday, October 07, 2002 Milwaukee is an old manufacturing city (home of Harley-Davidson, for example) that is facing the twin challenges of globalization and an emerging "knowledge-based" economy. Today, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce is releasing a strategic action plan to address these issues. The draft report is well-written: clear on themes, strong on specific targets. The biggest weakness: it does not provide a context; it does not explain; it does not tell a story. It does not help educate people on the shifting dynamics we face. Instead, the action plan reflects the political compromises needed to publish it. You can tell this from the headings. It is a "laundry list" not a strategy: "Education", "Infrastructure", "Diversity", "Taxes", "Health Care". One other gap: The integration of global markets is eroding the low end of Milwaukee's manufacturing sector, a trend you can see all over the country. At the same time, the region has a relatively strong university base, but it is not fully integrated into an economic development strategy. There's a big gap between the patents generated out of the universities and the number of start-ups. The draft report does not address this issue. Milwaukee could learn a lot from Pittsburgh, where efforts to integrate Carnegie Mellon into the region's economic development strategy are farther along. Philadelphia is another city with important lessons. Coincidentally, Innovation Philadelphia is releasing its Innnovation and Entrepreneurship Index today. At the same time, Milwaukee struggles with a burned out political leadership. In the vacuum, an entrepreneur in postsecondary education (Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) is emerging as a leader in the region. This is a trend we are seeing elsewhere: in the knowledge economy, some of the best new ideas are coming from leaders in colleges and universities. Read more about Milwaukee. Go posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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