Raise Your Level of Economic Development (Part II)

Previously we provided five steps that you can take to raise the level of how you do economic development. Here’s four more:

Start a newsletter – an inexpensive way to stay in the forefront of your prospects and to maintain communication with your existing businesses is through a newsletter. You determine the frequency and the content but keep in mind what your expectations are and make sure you are providing interesting and valuable information to your subscribers.

Maintain relationships – whether this is with your stakeholders, local businesses, prospects or media, make sure you have strong relationships. That means you have to actually work on it. Invite a business or media contact to lunch. If you are in another city, schedule a meeting with a prospect. Consider hosting an annual event where your businesses and stakeholders are invited.

Lead by example – the current push is towards green and it’s no different for economic development. Many communities are developing green strategies for attracting and encouraging home-grown green businesses. Take the lead and do something green. Here you can find two simple ways to help your organization become more environmentally friendly – green is the new black.

Upgrade yourself – a key element to successful economic development is being aware of the current best practices and knowing what works and what doesn’t. Professional development should be seen as a requirement for you and your staff. Most times professional development is an add-on to a conference, make sure you take the time to attend. Conferences themselves can provide valuable information and key networking opportunities that can go a long way. But dedicated professional development will help you do your job better.