Choices for Cleveland and Ohio Sunday, September 24, 2006 Casinos are a twenty year old economic development strategy that does not work very well. In rural areas close to metro regions, casinos can boost incomes. Rising Sun, Indiana next to Cincinnati is a good example. But urban casinos are a different story. Unless they have a clear target market outside the region, their impact is more negative than positive. They also generate damaging social costs. Read more. These issues are currently being discussed in Northeast Ohio, where I live. Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer does a good job in outlining the different perspectives on the isssues. Read more. Here's an outline of the issue. Opponents to the Cleveland business community include the The Columbus Partnership, the Ohio State University Board of Regents, The Akron Beacon Journal, The News Herald, Senator Voinovich, and Governor Taft. You can read more on Cleveland 2.0, a blog I set up to explore economic development alternatives for my hometown. Sadly, the casino issue is isolating Cleveland's business leadership within the state. It comes away looking self-absorbed, manipulative, greedy. As a result, the leadership is even less effective, in my view, in helping Ohio define a productive economic development strategy around issue that really matter: education, innovation, and collaboration. 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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