Tricky politics of regional economic development within a state Friday, March 14, 2003 Tennessee, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts all have new governors, and all of them have launched initiatives to define regional objectives for economic development within their state. Governor Bredesen in Tennessee is looking to his newly created Jobs Cabinet to define regional approaches. In Pennsyvania, Governor Rendell started holding regional summits shortly after he got elected. He called on regional leaders to submit a "wish list" for state action. In South Carolina, Governor Sanford is launching a regional cluster analysis with Michael Porter (due to be completed, I'm told, in the summer). Massachusetts' Governor Mitt Romney is the only one who appears to have tripped on a few political wires. His regional economic councils are being criticized for rounding up the usual suspects ignoring some key constituencies. (That's not his only headache. Gov. Romney's proposal to restructure the Univeristiy of Massachusetts -- in order, in part, to make it more flexible for regional economic development agendas -- is being trashed as a "dismantling" of UMass. Welcome to the brass-knuckle world of Massachusetts politics.) My bet goes on Bredesen and Rendell. They are both former mayors of big cities. They understand the complexities of identifying and integrating political agendas. For this reason, they are most likely to be successful in defining regional approaches that work. 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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