One stop shops for entrepreneurs Sunday, November 26, 2006 The City of East Chicago has launched a one-stop location for entrepreneurs. Read more. Good idea. But it will only work if it attracts interesting people through a mix of events and an engaging environment. If you want an interesting, creative, connected place for entrepreneurs to mix, you need to create an interesting, engaging, connected place. In Silicon Valley, the one-stop shop is a coffee house, Ritual Coffee Roasters. Read more. In Cleveland, we are taking the approach that rather than thinking about "one-stop shops", we are designing and connecting spaces around the notion of "no wrong door". We are creating these spaces in the Midtown neighborhood. Read more. We recently held an event, Martinis Over Midtown, and we regularly hold Midtown Brews. We are also working with FUTURE, an incubator at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Learn more here and here. (The environment in Cleveland is tough for this type of change. The business and foundation leadership suffers from stubborn (some would said arrogant) thought and behavior patterns that slows learning. It's only a matter of time before Cleveland reaches a tipping point, though. Powered by the Internet, the emergence of new economic development models are happening everywhere.) 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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