Saturday, January 28, 2006
Last week's release of Michael Fortier, an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing, demonstrates the healing power of what we do.
The bombing took place just as we were rolling out our economic development initiatives, Forward Oklahoma City. I had spent over a year redesigning the business community's economic development strategy. Combined with the city's bold investment in physical infrastructure, we hoped to remake Oklahoma City.
We obviously delayed the launch of our strategy as the residents of Oklahoma City tried to come to grips with the enormous tragedy.
But the business and political leadership in Oklahoma City did not hesitate to move on with bold plans to remake the city.
Now, ten years later, we can see the healing power of economic development. As the head of the United Way notes, "Oklahoma City is a different city, completely, than it was in 1995." Read more.
Oklahoma City is now on to Forward Oklahoma City III. I'll be heading out to OKC at the end of next week, and I'll give you an update.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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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:
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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.
The healing power of what we do
