Saturday, October 09, 2004
In my view, one of the facts of our economic life is that the federal Workforce Investment Act doesn't work very well. Despite efforts to reform WIA, complaints among the business community are common.
In Buffalo, the business community sees the workforce investment board as being out of touch. As one business leader concludes,
"You have a 50-member board and one of the most difficult things for the WIB to do is get enough board members to come to a meeting to have a quorum. If you're spending most of your energy doing that, you can guess that the more important issues like economic development take a backseat. The board of directors is far too large, the organization is far too cumbersome and too risk-averse, I think. There's very little accountability, particularly to the employer segment."
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.
Buffalo's workforce system needs adjustment
