Economic Development - The Retail Store

Often times we think of economic development as something different and separate from those agencies or businesses that have customers. For economic development our customers include local businesses, community stakeholders, residents, potential investors, the list goes on. Many economic development organizations could learn from the practices of successful retail businesses about how to interact with customers or clients. This is especially true for the support staff that are usually your front line. This is basic stuff but many organizations do not address it.

Welcoming smile – Just like the retail store first impressions are important. The first person in your office is the first impression of your community. Smile at each individual as they come into your office. Make them feel welcome and important.

Your telephone greeting – Rather than leave the greeting to chance, consider the phrases that are fitting for your community. Keep the greeting short, there’s no point in overwhelming the client. Make sure the greeting ties in with your overall messaging of your community.

No matter what – No matter what else you or your staff are doing, pause to acknowledge your customer when they enter your office. Research shows that people are more willing to wait for service if they feel that their presence is acknowledged.

Serve the line – Serve people in the order that they have asked for service. Don’t keep people waiting and don’t let others jump in front.

Find the answer – There are times when you will be asked a question that you don’t know the answer to. Always do everything possible to find out the answer, whether you refer the customer to someone else or you do additional research then get back to them. The answer is never “I don’t know”.

Economic Development Freebies

Many economic development organizations have had to tighten their belt in this down economy. There’s no extra money for anything other than the basics. But all is not lost in these tough economic times. There still are things you can do and they’re free.

Google yourself – You think you have the best community, you think you have the community everyone wants to live in and do business in. But how well do you really know and understand your community? You need to listen to what others are saying about you. What have businesses, residents, visitors, anyone said about your community this week? Google Alerts can tell you. Check your community through Google every day.

Show me – You can tell me all you want about how good your community is but telling me is one thing, showing me is another. Use video, use testimonials, use feedback surveys. Demonstrate how your community will change my life or my business. There are many tools available on the internet for free that can show your community to the world.

Twitter – Learn how to use Twitter – it’s easy, free and it doesn’t have to take more than a few minutes a day. Your community can get out its message to a much broader audience than ever before.

Strategic Planning in Uncertain Times

Economic development strategic planning is something that every community should do regardless of what the current economic conditions are. Planning for your community’s future doesn’t have to be an exercise in futility or anxiety. Today’s planning may be different than it has in past years because today is a completely different environment than it was in past years. Here are three tips to take into the strategic planning process:

• Be realistic and look at all outcomes – In a highly uncertain environment, it is necessary to develop plans on the assumption that several different futures are possible and to focus attention on the underlying drivers of uncertainty. For example, let’s say your community’s largest employer is an industrial supplier that is highly involved with commercial and residential real estate but also has many government customers. The future for this company and its impact on your community depend on a variety of uncertainties, including construction, housing prices, government stimulus programs etc. It will be important to look at the different outcomes that may be presented to this company and how that will affect your community.
  
• Increase monitoring – Keeping with the example above, depending on how events unfold, the industrial supplier could make a variety of different moves. Ensure your strategic planning has a built in monitoring system that will evaluate current and future indicators so that you are not behind the eight ball. You need to keep up-to-date on what is happening and be able to respond accordingly.
  
• Look beyond the current situation – the economic change now underway will be a continuous unfolding event. It will not remain static and you need to make sure your strategic planning is balanced enough to work through current conditions while being ready to take immediate action as things change. This year’s strategic planning process is a time to evaluate the strategies the current crisis has helped, hurt or failed.

Developing strategies in greater depth, monitoring indicators more rigorously, and remaining focused on the long term will help to boost the odds of creating a plan that can assist your community through the uncertainty.

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

So, You Want to be in Economic Development

Welcome to the boondoggle of Economic Development. It will frustrate you, empower you, challenge you, mock you, consume you and all before you’ve had your second cup of coffee. Are you sure you’re cut out for it? We asked a few economic developers to come up with a list of questions you should ask yourself before you determine whether this is the right job for you.

Are you willing and able to bear a great deal of responsibility on your shoulders? In economic development the good times and, particularly the bad times, rest on your shoulders. Have you created an environment for your community to grow? Did you do everything you could to attract the company that ended up locating in your competitor’s community? And, just for the heck of it, when are you going to turn this economy around?

Are you willing to sacrifice your lifestyle for potentially many years? This is especially true for communities just starting economic development. You will be called upon to attend every meeting and every event. You can be busy from 6 am to midnight, seven days a week. You will need to learn how to say no and how to ensure you are at the right meetings/events and not just wasting time.

Do you like all aspects of running a business? Because that’s pretty much what you will be doing as an economic developer. You will manage, you will budget, you will promote, you will sell, you will hire, you will fire. Depending on the size of your community, you will be the receptionist, the data entry clerk, the decision maker, the administrator, the finance guru and the HR specialist.

Are you comfortable throwing the playbook out the window? There are too many times when an economic developer has to make a decision quickly and efficiently. The “rules” don’t apply and you need to make sure you’re ready for any fall out that may happen. Your day is going to have very little structure and you will be making decisions with limited or no guidance whatsoever. You better make sure it’s always the right decision.

How persuasive and well-spoken are you? Many aspects of economic development relies on selling – your community, your businesses, your stakeholders. You will continually be called upon to sell your community’s vision and mission. You will need to get people to believe in your vision as much as you do. Your presentation skills will need to be polished. You will be in the public eye and many times you will be the face of the community.

Still willing to become an economic developer? Well, then, hold on – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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.