Finding political balance in cluster strategies Sunday, July 18, 2004 South Carolina is moving its economic development strategy aggressively toward a cluster-based approach. But one fact is clear: the approach needs to be politically balanced. In South Carolina, as in most state legislatures, the rural vote often dominates. Rural legislators will not go along with an economic strategy that they see as benefitting only urban areas. Read more. A cluster-based approach -- which focuses on building "agglomeration economies". These clusters are inherently biased toward metro areas. So, if South Carolina pursues a cluster-based strategy alone, the state will be pouring more investment into metro areas (measured on a per capita basis). One way out of the box: Look at dynamic strategies of rural economies in places like Western North Carolina. There, AdvantageWest is moving aggressively to build entrepreneurial networks. You can see another good example with The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks . In rural areas, South Carolina should be focusing on building these entrepreneurial networks. That's the best way to achieve political balance. The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship is a good place to start learning about this approach. (The worst way for South Carolina to mediate these pressures would be to carve off investment for pet projects, like spec buildings in rural counties.) posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. 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.

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