Sunday, February 12, 2006
A new national report explores how to revitalize older urban cities. The report focuses on innovations in Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
In Cleveland, the report cites the work of the Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network (WIRE-Net) that helps companies stay competitive. While the region as a whole experienced a 21% decline in manufacturing jobs between 1993 in 2000 the Westside community experienced a 9% increase.
WIRE-Net represents a national model for developing effective manufacturing assistance programs. For two years I was privileged to us to sit on the wire net a board. Read more. You can download the report from this page.
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.