Friday, March 25, 2005
When politics gets too close to economic development, bad things happen.
Take the case of the mayor of Toledo. Facing a re-election bid, he has launched a new ad campaign -- funded in part with public money -- proclaiming that "Toledo Works". The logo for the campaign includes the words, "Jack Ford, Mayor".
There's even a web site: www.toledoworks.org. Visit the site and the first thing you see is a picture of the mayor and a long letter. From a high point in 2000, the Toledo metro area has lost 18,000 jobs, but you wouldn't think it to look at the mayor's web site: all the graphs are going up.
You can even download your own Toledo Works sign, for whatever that's worth. And you have to chuckle at the limp effort at interactivity to this site, a request for testimonials. (Send in your stories, boys and girls.)
Politicizing economic development in this way does no one any good.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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.
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.
Don't try this at home
