Saturday, July 19, 2003
Last week, I was in Caldwell County, KY following up with a community assessment. We got into a brief discussion of what small retailers could do to compete effectively against the local Wal Mart.
I referred the participants in our group to the Univeristy of Wisconsin Extension Service. They have compiled a range of useful reports on building local service and retail businesses. You can download these newsletters from this page.
In addition, last week, I came across a good article about the essence of competitive advantage for small businesses: staying close to your customers. Read this article. Here's an article offering additional practical advice.
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:
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.
Helping small retailers deal with Wal Mart
