Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Federal earmarks are here to stay. (That's when Congress passes an appropriations bill with a budget for a specific project.)
From an economic development view, some of these earmarked projects are simply silly. Iowa's $50 million rain forest or Alaska's $200 million "bridge to nowhere" come to mind.
Chattanooga, however, has used federal earmarks to build a technology-led economic development strategy. Now there's a move to the separate initiatives into one place. Read more.
There's one big risk in pouring so much federal money into technology-led economic development. The ability to translate these investments into prosperity depends on having a strong entrepreneurial base of companies and a technically skilled workforce. .
These are the serious challenges facing Chattanooga. Eighteen months ago, the University of North Carolina issued a very good report outlining these challenges. Download the report. Go.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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.
Chattanooga's challenge: more than federal dollars
