Today's blog post is a guest posting by Mitsu Yamazaki
of TIP Strategies Inc. Mitsu will be leading a workshop for Levelland EDC board of directors on July 19, 2010 in Levelland beginning at 10 am at Levelland City Hall.
TOP 5 To-Do’s for Today’s Economic Development Organizations
Although local economic development organizations could not have anticipated the current prolonged recession, they are uniquely positioned within their communities to help make the upcoming transition out of the recession a smooth one. Planning for the recovery is critical because it enables communities to establish a strong foundation from which they will be able to take advantage of new opportunities and build from preexisting ones.
As the economy gradually recovers, here are five “to-do’s” for all economic development entities who want to build momentum in their communities:
Protect what you have
- Assess your assets
- Economic development ‘assets’ can include physical infrastructure such as roads and bridges, human capital, educational institutions, business and technology centers, and other local organizations or physical structures that support business locally.
- Put your financial house in order
- Future redevelopment programs or business incentives will require good financial health.
- Emphasize business retention
- Reach out to businesses in your community and establish personal relationships. Get to know the individual decision-makers, be aware of challenges in their industry, and be sensitive to their changing needs. Keep the lines of communication open so that you can respond quickly to their concerns and nurture the business in your community.
Position your community for recovery with strategic investments
- Infrastructure
- Physical infrastructure and human capital will make your community more appealing to outside businesses and will make ‘doing business’ easier for your existing companies.
- Catalyst projects
- Catalyst projects are projects that form a strong foundation for future growth. Examples include: downtown revitalization or redevelopment; the creation or expansion of a technology center; redeveloping vacant or unused sites (commercial or industrial).
Pursue short and mid-term opportunities
- Entrepreneurship
- Educate your community about entrepreneurship and establishing small businesses. Many unemployed and underemployed professionals may be thinking about shifting careers or tackling a new challenge, and you should be available to guide them through this transition.
- Stimulus package
- Keep an eye towards possible Federal grants and stimulus funding that could be applied towards programmatic or infrastructure investments your community would like to make. While the availability of funding should not dictate which projects you pursue, it may help prioritize projects or make them more feasible.
- Countercyclical sectors
- Some sectors, such as insurance and education, tend to experience growth during recessions. Identifying and supporting the role that these industries play in your community is important for local economic vitality as you anticipate the recovery of other industries.
- Consolidations
- Mergers and acquisitions are common during a recession, and it is likely that one of your businesses may be considering expanding through acquisition, or merging with another firm. Being aware of these trends will enable you and your organization to host potential buyers in the community, where necessary, or guide a local business through the process of acquisition.
Be strategic, have a plan
- Create/update strategic plan
- The strategic planning process is integral to strong, sustained growth. By investing in visioning and planning processes, economic development entities can establish community-wide support for new projects and more thoroughly understand the needs of their citizens.
- Prioritize projects
- While the planning process is more general, it will ideally reveal a few specific projects that are of value for the community. Prioritizing among projects is challenging, but ultimately critical for the financial feasibility of each.
- Share your plans with the community
- After visioning, planning, and prioritizing processes are completed within your organization, public roll-outs of plans are important opportunities to solicit feedback from the community, which will make implementation smoother.
Be flexible – Change is the only constant
- Demographic and workforce trends
- The aging baby-boomers are changing the economic landscape and shifting workforce needs. Being aware of demographic trends—in the form of migration as well as the aging population—is critical to anticipating employer needs.
- Technological innovation
- New technologies will make many industries more efficient over time. What is the impact of technological innovation on the industries in your communities? On local workforce needs?
- Regulatory structure
- Changing local, state, and federal regulations shape the business environment. Being aware of trends and helping local businesses adapt to the changes, or take advantage of new regulatory environments, will make your community more welcoming to new and expanding businesses.
The High Ground of Texas Education Foundation, in partnership with area Economic Development
organizations, is hosting the REDI© 2009-2010 Program.
Developed in 1990 and offered numerous times since, this twenty-five hour comprehensive program is designed to give volunteers, board members, city staff, chambers, practitioners, elected officials and other interested individuals, a basic, nuts-and-bolts understanding of the economic development process.
We work particularly hard to help people understand the questions of "what do we do next" and we are dedicated to giving the information at a "how to do it" level. A training manual, collateral materials, and case studies are used in the instructional formats.
A very successful Session I was held in November 2009 in Odessa. Session II will be held in Levelland on March 4th, Session III will be held in Amarillo on May 12th, and the final Session will be held on Midland in August 2010.
"We would like to express our appreciation to our Session I presenters which included Gary Vest (Odessa), Sheryl Hardy (Perryton), Ken Becker (Sweetwater), Edwin Knight (Slaton), Chris Alexander (Friona), and David Rushing (Shamrock). We thank the Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center for sponsoring the Luncheon and we appreciate Xcel Energy for serving as a major sponsor for the REDI 2009-2010 Course." said Lorie Vincent, Executive Director, High Ground of Texas
"This week we welcome Hunter Hilburn (EDsuite), Mitzu Yamazaki (TIP Strategies, Inc.) and David Quinn (Levelland Economic Development Corporation) as our special guest presenters for the REDI Session II course whose topics will focus on aggressive marketing strategies." explained Mrs. Vincent.
If you know of someone who would benefit from attending, please share this information with them. The course is open to all interested parties. You can register for sessions individually or receive a discount for registering for all four sessions together.
The Registration Deadline for the next session, to be held in Levelland on March 4th, is Monday, March 1, 2010. Please register at https://www.regonline.com/REDICourse.
The High Ground of Texas is excited about presenting the REDI© 2009-2010 program and we hope that you will have someone from your area interested in attending one or all of the dynamic REDI© sessions.
For questions, please contact the High Ground office at 806.366.7510 or higround@xit.net.