Monday, July 07, 2003
Fort Wayne, IN has been through some tough times. In 1983, the International Harvester plant closed and sent a shock wave through the community. It's a good story of how economic turbulence -- brought on by globalization -- can catch you off guard.
One obeserver described the days when International Harvester employed as many as 10,500 people in the area: "We were comfortable where we were. We were going through economic swings, but there was no compelling need to do anything other than continue to do business as usual."
Then WHAM, the big doors shut.
"The top lesson we learned was that you never take economic development for granted. You need to have a proactive strategy at all times."
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.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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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.
Fort Wayne and the lessons of turbulence
