Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Now this might be taking this cluster business a step too far.
The mayor of Harrisburg, PA is moving ahead with plans to establish a National Museum of the Old West. He's invested $4.8 million in public money (but not from the taxpayers, he carefully adds) for memorabilia. He sends a couple of city employees out West to rent a pick-up and drive stuff back to Harrisburg.
He's adding his Wild West museum to the State Capitol Museum, a National Civil War Museum, and the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum to create what the mayor calls "a critical mass".
The mayor's strategy raises an interesting question for EDPros to ponder: When does a vision become an hallucination?
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.
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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.
A museum cluster in Harrisburg
