Develop This: Economic and Community Development

Aaron Brossoit – Golden Shovel

Dennis is joined by Aaron Brossoit, the CEO of Golden Shovel. In this episode, they discuss the changes in digital marketing and what the future holds as we enter the metaverse and AI takes hold

Aaron Brossoit, Chief Executive Officer, was a founding member of Golden Shovel and has been with the company since September 2009. He began as VP of Business Development and filled the COO position prior to becoming CEO. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University, Aaron co-founded a digital marketing agency in central Minnesota - a company he ran for ten years before joining GSA.

Aaron’s day-to-day responsibilities include giving presentations and traveling to different communities and industry-related events. He is also active in product and market development and planning for the future while also supporting the amazing Golden Shovel team wherever needed. His favorite project so far includes working with the PlaceVR clients who are joining us in making virtual reality a “reality” as a key tool in the economic development toolkit.

Aaron enjoys working with economic development organizations, knowing that we are making a difference in the lives of families and the vitalities of communities, especially in rural and underserved areas, where relatively few new jobs can have a massive impact on the region.

Golden Shovel is now a full-service agency 

Business Attraction

Workforce Attraction

Regional Strategies

Tourism

Marketing Strategy blueprints

Branding

Website Development

Content Creation

Marketing

Ongoing support

Opportunity Zone Strategy

Video & VR Services

The Golden Shovel four step process

Schedule a call

Develop a strategy

Engage

Measure success

Dennis is joined by IEDC Presdent and CEO Nathan Ohle to discuss the upcoming IEDC 2023 Annual Conference, September 17 – 20th, 2023 – in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, TX, is one of the country's most economically and socially diverse cities. The 1920s were an age of dramatic political, technological, and social change for some, yet not for others. In Dallas, we'll usher in the next-generation 'Roaring 20s,' spotlighting how to build thriving, sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities for tomorrow.

Our sights are set on ensuring future prosperity by focusing on economic diversity and resilience now, building on past successes, and inspiring the next ‘Roaring 20s!’ This innovative Annual Conference will explore, modernize, and grow successful industry strategies and practices by focusing on each of IEDC’s five strategic initiatives below.

Leadership Development

Workforce & Talent Development

Supporting Entrepreneurship

Fostering Economic Opportunity & Diversity

Economic Transformation

Conference Location and Hotel:

Hilton Anatole 

2201 N Stemmons Fwy

Dallas, TX 75207

Joseph Stefko, ROC2025 President and CEO, joins Develop This! contributing correspondent Sean Maguire. Sean and Joe talk about what's changed in Rochester for the better and how it's shaking off the rust belt of the past.

• Fun and interesting things about Rochester include food, museums, wine, and more.
• Economic Development in Rochester Today
  • More than Kodak
• How does ROC2025 fit in?
• In 2020, the City of Rochester posted its first decennial population increase since the 1950s.
• The number of full- and part-time jobs in the Rochester MSA is higher today than in 1982 when Kodak hit its peak employment level.
• Rochester has one of the nation's highest densities of enrolled college students, ranking sixth among major US metros.
• Rochester Tomorrow
• What happens after 2025?

In this episode Dennis discusses the conundrum many economic development professionals find themselves in trying to deal with stakeholders on both sides of a controversial project. Some of these types of projects can incldue.

• The use of eminenet domain
• Utility franchise fees
• Utility rate cases for rate increases
• Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

Dennis offers some tips to help navigate these tricky waters.

• Enage your board of directors
• Host a neutral forum
• Communicate, communicate, communicate 

Responding to RFPs is a Team Sport

Dennis and Broderick discuss the sometimes intense process of responding to a request for a proposal with a tight deadline. RFPs many times come on short notice and successfully completing the RFP requires being prepared and having a team of rapid response partners. 

RFPs can come from a variety of sources

·       State ED

·       Site selectors

·       Utility partners

·       Rail partners

Being prepared

High-quality maps 

• Acreage, ownership, selling price, and location

·       Topography

·       Wetlands

·       Floodplains – We’re near the Mississippi River

·       Transportation access

·       Utilities

Make sure that you answer all of the questions

Develop relationships with your partners

• Utility providers
• Rail partners
• City and county officials
• COG/Regional Planning organization
• Environmental specialist 

We use the format required and requested

Always include a packet of supporting documentation

Import RFP takeaways

·       Be prepared

·       Have maps

·       Create a spreadsheet of information

·       Know who knows the answer

·       If you don’t know something say so

Friend of the show Mark Perna joins Dennis and they discuss Mark's experience in taking the IEDC Basic Economic Development Course in Nashville. 

• Why did Mark Perna decide to take the IEDC Basic Economic Development Class?
• What was Mark's impression of the class?
• How can the IEDC Basic ED Course help others better understand economic development? 

“Making semiconductor chips in Upstate New York” with Develop This! Contributing Correspondent Sean Maguire and guest Nick Bruno from MV EDGE.

Sean and Nick discuss their love of Utica and semiconductor projects in upstate New York

1. Tomato pie, chicken riggies, and Utica Club beer
2. How’d you get here?
3. How did you get into semiconductor work?
4. Overview of Wolfspeed in Marcy/Utica
5. How did the work in Albany set the stage for Wolfspeed? 
6. How does Wolfspeed fit into the Micron investment in Syracuse?
7. What went well? What was right?
8. What would you improve if you had the chance to do it all over again?

Dennis is joined by Mark Perna and they discuss how economic development professionals can help our business and industry partners connect with students. In a time of full employment, worker shortages, and a skills gap business and industry partners are increasingly looking to economic development professionals to help bridge the gap with their future workforce.

There is an increase in job fairs, career expos, and career exploration events. A company's approach to these events can make or break a business's recruiting efforts.  Dennis and Mark discuss best practices and ways to help foster an understanding of today's generation of workers. 

Connect with Mark Perna

Economic Gardening: No Green Thumb Needed  

Economic Gardening is an economic development model that embraces the idea that entrepreneurs drive economies and places a laser-like focus on creating jobs by supporting existing companies in a community. It originated in the late 80s in Littleton, CO when the state was in a recession and the community lost a major employer. Local leaders realized that only a small percentage of all companies were “high growth” but those companies were creating the majority of new jobs. 

Since 1989, Littleton (current population 45,000), has added 15,000+ jobs, with no incentives.

Nathan Ohle – President and CEO of IEDC

Economic Recovery Corps - Program launched on May 11th

The Economic Recovery Corps Program (ERC) is a multi-year, $30 million collaborative initiative designed to accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in distressed communities and regions throughout the U.S. by connecting organizations with the talent and capacity needed to advance new ways of doing economic development that promote economic resilience and transformative change. 

The ERC is funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) under the CARES Act and led by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in partnership with six leading national organizations: Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), International City/County Management Association (ICMA), National Association of Counties Research Foundation (NACo RF), National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation (NADO RF), National League of Cities Institute (NLCI), and RAIN Catalysts.

Two Main Goals:

Build capacity in under resourced communities or regions to accelerate their economic development work and drive more equitable economic outcomes

To build a pipeline of the next generation of economic development leaders

Why This Initiative? Why Now? 

The Economic Recovery Corps was created to address long-standing economic issues in America that came into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for historically underserved populations and communities, which led to vastly different outcomes that continue to impact recovery efforts. Economic development approaches have and will continue to pivot in the coming years, and to ensure that communities do not get left further behind, new approaches to building capacity are necessary.

About the Program

To meet this moment, IEDC and its partners are building a nationwide corps of diverse, cross-sector talent with the skills and expertise to help activate regional economic development strategies that promote connectivity, innovation, and knowledge-sharing between urban, rural, and tribal areas across the U.S. Over the course of the 2.5-year (30 month) fellowship, selected host organizations will receive technical assistance, planning, and capacity-building support from an ERC Fellow who will be based in their community or region. 

IEDC and its partners will place up to 65 Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) Fellows in economic development and related organizations in under resourced communities throughout the nation. Hosts will reflect the entire community and economic development field spectrum, from city and county government to regional coalitions, economic development organizations, economic development districts (EDDs), and entrepreneurial technical assistance providers. Fellows will be highly-trained early to mid-career professionals, equipped to help identify and advance innovative, locally-driven initiatives to build stronger, more resilient, and inclusive economies. 

This new initiative has the potential to shift the practice of economic development nationwide in an unprecedented manner — by centering the concerns of under-resourced regions while simultaneously investing in a cohort of diverse practitioners and leaders equipped with the skills necessary to usher in a new era of economic prosperity that is equitable and sustainable.