Quotes of the week Sunday, May 21, 2006 Here are some insightful quotes from last week. "Education is a fundamental driver of economic growth." Sean Snaith, the director of the Business Forecasting Center at University of the Pacific in Stockton. “Some states are pursuing strategies that explicitly target certain ‘desirable’ industry clusters. This plan does not propose such a strategy for Indiana as it is not appropriate for government to try to pick ‘winners’ in the game of economic competition.” Accelerating Growth, Indiana’s Strategic Economic Development Plan. "The key to economic success or business and for regions in this global economy is distinctiveness and what's different about your place." Joe Cortright from Portland, Ore.-based firm, Impresa Consulting and author of a new report for Tampa Bay. "We have to change with the times. We cannot continue like we did in the past. I told our workers this was a new age and a new way of doing things." UAW Vice President Nate Gooden in an interview with The Washington Post. "An innovative company which employed 1,700 people 20 years ago may need only 177 people to produce a better product at the same rate today. That doesn't happen by accident -- it happens when companies work smarter." Birgit Klohs, president of the Right Place Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. 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.

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