NEO fund makes its first investments Saturday, July 31, 2004 A new collaboration among foundations in Northeast Ohio, the Fund for Our Economic Future, released the list of its first investments last week. Read more. Collaboration among our regional foundations is a good step forward. The next opportunity for the Fund will come in establishing an on-going collaborative partnership with our region's colleges and universities. Right now, the Fund considers our region's higher education institutions as vendors, not partners. Instead of inviting colleges and universities into their strategy discussions, the Fund is asking our colleges and universities to bid on two Requests for Proposals. This approach is largely a legacy of industrial economy thinking: the notion that you get your "best ideas" from a competition among your vendors. A more appropriate approach for the Fund arises from a different starting point. The best ideas on regional economic transformation come from collaboration and networks. The foundation community in Minnesota is taking this more open, collaborative approach to regional economic development. Learn more. Minnesota foundations see their role as "realigning systems" through expanded collaboration. The McKnight Foundation, which is leading the Minnesota alliance, could provide some useful insights to the Fund for Our Economic Future. (To understand, in part, why colleges and universities are central to regional economic development, read this article.) 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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