Economic Development Recovery Plan

Congratulations, your community is surviving through this economic slowdown. You took the initiative and made the necessary adjustments with your strategic plan, weeded out under-performing initiatives or projects, shed unreliable marketing efforts and concentrated your marketing dollars on channels that prove to deliver a strong return on investment. Your organization may even have downsized, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Now, you are looking for the signs that the economy is on the rebound and the opportunity to increase investment into your community and some fun. Here are a few recommendations to plan ahead:

Focus on high-potential opportunities. Make sure you focus on building relationships with the individuals and businesses in growth industries, where pent-up demand is going to be unleashed once the economy turns the corner.

Don’t assume a return to normal. The competitive landscape will have changed and you need to listen closely to your existing business base and potential investors to revise your market assumptions.

Know your lead indicators. Every economic developer should be aware of the specific indicators, macro or micro, that predict demand and interest for their community. Use common sense, take a look around your community and region to see what is happening right now.

Be ahead of the crowd. Don’t wait to heard an official declaration the recovery is underway. Get ahead of the crowd and develop your recovery plan now and pull the trigger when your lead indicators say go.

Economic Development 101: Economic Development Defined

Whenever the topic of economic development arises, even among those who have been in the industry for years, you will get a variety of definitions for what the term means. It’s not only a struggle sometimes to define economic development but throw in a few other terms like “community economic development”, “technology-led economic development”, “business development” and things can get very complicated.

Here’s a quick glossary to economic development terms based on a variety of sources including the International Economic Development Council, University of Waterloo and the Worldbank.

Economic Development (ED): Economic development is most commonly described as the creation of jobs and wealth, and the improvement of quality of life. Economic development can also be described as a process that influences growth and restructuring of an economy to enhance the economic well being of a community.

Community Economic Development (CED): A process by which a community and its institutions organize economic activity in ways that benefit the community as a whole, and leads to community and individual empowerment through strategies, which encourage cooperation and interdependence. CED creates community wealth and assets through developing and preserving affordable housing, developing viable neighbourhood-serving commercial activities, creating and retaining jobs and businesses, promoting labour force development, and cultivating indigenous leadership.

Local Economic Development (LED): Local economic development offers local government, the private sector, the not-for-profit sectors and the local community the opportunity to work together to improve the local economy. It aims to enhance competitiveness and thus encourage sustainable growth that is inclusive.

Neighbourhood Economic Development: Neighbourhood revitalization seeks to improve a neighbourhood's physical, economic, and social conditions to improve the overall quality of life and economic opportunities for neighbourhood residents.

Technology-Led Economic Development: Technology-led economic development fosters the development of new technology-based products and encourages the deployment of technologies to the private sector