Sunday, September 04, 2005
The Boston Herald carries a story that is particularly disturbing. It turns out that Michael Brown, head of FEMA, has no professional experience with emergency management.
Before coming to FEMA, he spent 11 years or so as a lawyer with the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado. He was asked to resign, according to the story.
FEMA outsourced the planning for the disaster to a consulting firm in Baton Rouge, IEM, Inc. FEMA provided a $500,000 contract to the firm to lead the planning effort. Read more here and here.
Meanwhile, looking at Mayor Nagin's press conference last Saturday, he advised people to get out of town. As for those who would unable to evacuate, the article notes: "Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town. Nagin said the Superdome might be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pick-up points around New Orleans." Read more.
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.
New Orleans: Inexperience
