Economic development in the big city Saturday, October 02, 2004 Economic development is often a contact sport in big cities. Good economic development balances public participation with leadership direction. You need to design a process that includes public comments and ideas. But your process also needs clear definition and direction, if it is to lead anywhere. Take the case of Philadelphia. The mayor recently held an economic summit to which 150 people were invited. The summit did not include the media or the general public. The mayor's economic development staff indicated that they would publish an interim report in six to eight weeks. Not good enough, according to one member of the city council. He has gotten the city council to approve the issuance of a subpoena to get control of documents prepared for the summit. Now move to Cleveland. Mayor Jane Campbell is trying to rally the leadership to do something about the city's dismal record on poverty. At her summit -- also an invitation only event, but open to the press -- she has organized working groups to tackle different dimensions of the problem. Not good enough, according to a member of the city council, who plans to hold his own "grass roots" summit. Meanwhile, in Detroit, the city council has endorsed a really bad idea: create a publicly funded development agency that would benefit only black business owners. Read more about Philadelphia. Read more about Cleveland. Read more about Detroit 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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