Albion College starts building an innovation economy Monday, December 02, 2002 On the surface, it appears that not much is happening in Albion, Michigan. It appears to be yet another old industrial city that has failed to make the transition to a new economic base. Last June, the city's largest employer, a foundry closed its doors. The City faces a 10% budget shortfall next year. But look deeper, you see the promising beginnings of an economic transformation, led largely by creative leadership at Albion College. The college organized an economic summit attended by about 36 alumni, students, faculty and community leaders. The college hatched the Briton Business Consultants, a nonprofit organization that allows students to apply what they've learned about business to the community. Thirty-one students work for the firm, which is owned by the college and managed by students. The consulting firm has taken on the task of marketing the city's incubator. The students are not the only ones involved. An active alumni network is contributing ideas. During the October economic summit, alumni from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, California and Canada participated in discussing some of the problems facing the city and ways to push economic development forward. Albion will be a good community to watch as they build an innovation economy, brick by brick, project by project. Read more. Go Read more about Albion, MI's economic challenges. 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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