Thursday, September 18, 2003
Illinois Governor Blagojevich has announced a new appraoch to state economic development strategy. He is dividing the state into ten regions. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will then assign four employees to each region.
This team will help each region define and implement plans to achieve strategic goals. The teams will be able to draw on the resources of other agencies of government. The governor is thinking of these teams as "account managers" for each region.
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.
Illinois launches new regional approach
