Sunday, March 12, 2006
In a recent presentation in Manchester, New Hampshire, economic development consultant Angelos Angelou outlined the importance of private sector engagement in successful economic development. Read more.
His talk points to an important distinction that any people often miss.
There are two basic strategies and economic development. Publicly-led, privately-supported economic develop projects tend to focus on large-scale infrastructure development. These projects include convention centers, industrial parks, brownfield remediation and other "big things".
Economic development strategies also include another category of privately-led, publicly-supported strategies. These strategies are quite different.
The Northern states have generally been focused on publicly-led strategies, while the Southern states have generally followed the opposite path.
Transformative development happens when the two strategies work in tandem. Having worked both in the South and the North, my own view is that business leaders in the Southern states are more comfortable with the balancing. In the North, business leaders are generally still trying to figure this out.
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.
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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.
Two types of strategies
