Friday, March 05, 2004
Continuing a trend that I see all over the country, Toledo is streamlining its economic development organizations.
There's a risk here, though. Economic development organizations can become bigger and less responsive to change, even as leaders try to end duplicaation. Mashing organizations together is not always the right answer.
Confronted with fragmentation, we have three choices: 1) Do nothing; 2) Consolidate to build scale; or 3) Expand networks to achieve scale. Most economic development leaders faced with a choice of doing something, opt for Number 2. But the real frontier in economic development -- the place where economic transformations are taking place -- is under Number 3.
Read more about what is going on in Toldeo. Go.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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.
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.
Cutting economic development overheads
