Develop This: Economic and Community Development

How do we work together more effectively with so many generations in the office?

In this episode, young baby boomer Dennis is joined by generational expert Mark Perna to discuss working with multiple generations in the Office

Can we find a middle ground on the way our offices run?

Some Baby Boomer traits

• Punctuality
• Put in what ever hours are necessary to get a project done
• More rigid office environment
• Paying your dues

A study finds that 74% of Millennial and Gen Z employees are likely to quit within the next year due to a lack of skills development opportunities.

58% of employees are afraid that their skills have gone stale since the onset of the pandemic.

89% said they’re “extremely” or “somewhat” motivated to improve their skills this year.

Workplace Intelligence Study 

If you’re in a position or with an organization long enough, you will more than likely encounter a professional relationship that becomes stained or broken.

In this episode, Dennis offers some tips and ideas to help reset a broken relationship.

• Take some time to cool off
• Refrain from email and social media
• Reflect on your actions and role in the situation
• Apologize if necessary
• Reach out to attempt to reset the relationship
  • A handwritten note is preferable
  • Difficult to do with email
• Meet at a neutral site
• Keep working on the process
• Some relationships can’t be repaired

Economic Development and Higher Education

Background - 

• One of the more interesting changes in the last two decades has been the intersection of economic development and higher education.

• Universities are becoming important players in 21st-century  economic development. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (representing 238 members) and the University Economic Development Association have helped higher education define its role in economic development and engagement with their local constituencies.

• A framework was created to assist institutions and their partners in identifying economic development contributions and understanding how to connect to a larger vision. 

• Higher education institutions are adding “economic development” leadership positions

• No longer primarily focused on areas of workforce development and innovation.

• Colleges and universities often have large real estate holdings.

• Even communities that do not have a local institution can partner with and benefit from regional entities. 

These two organizations came up with a definition of economic development for higher ed that highlights three key areas:

• Talent – Cradle-to-Grave Human Capital and Talent Development

• Innovation – Research, Creative Works, Problem-Solving, and Entrepreneurship

• Place – Community-Connected Institutions and Stewardship for Vibrant Communities

In this episode, Dennis is joined by Laura Farley Digital Curation Librarian at the People’s Archive at DC Public Library to discuss organizing and preserving your organization's digital files. Laura shares her digital preservation mantra, start small, start now.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramfarley/ 

• What is digital preservation?

• Best practices

• Concepts:

  • Inventory: Documents, usable, available, scalable, current

  • Use familiar software, be consistent, comprehensive, and concise

  • You choose the level of detail

  • You can’t and don’t want to keep everything - storage can be cheap but management is not

  • How to select: Review and prioritize, define, document, implement

  • Identify: what do you have

  • Select: what to preserve

• Store:
  • long term storage of materials

• • File format, access

  • Access needs: online, near-line, offline storage, -- it depends on how quickly you need to access your files.

  • Cost: what resources do you have, should you build, buy, or join in a collaboration with others with similar needs?

  • Quantity (size and number of files)

  • Expertise: What are the skills required to manage your digital objects and do you have these or need to pay for them

  • Reliability: is the storage well reviewed, well supported

  • How many copies? A minimum of 2

• Storage

• • 3-2-1 Rule

• • Example: 2 external hard drives, Cloud storage (not Facebook)

• • Example: 2 external hard drives (1 stored off-site), Computer

key takeaways from today’s show:

• Identify: what do you have

• Select: what to preserve

• Store: long-term storage of materials

• Multiple storage types and locations

Resource & Best Practices Guidelines:

Library of Congress Digital Preservation Outreach & Education

https://www.dpoe.network

Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/index.html

Tools & Templates

Filelist Creator

https://www.sttmedia.com/filelistcreator-faq

Jennifer Ferretti’s Retention Schedule

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XO1XNavZnidmcR2kDBN2lCqsoM-GYqfxg6QcP5qCaW0/edit?usp=sharing

Jennifer Ferretti’s Metadata for Personal Digital Archiving 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17KMvZMuNeGT2hv9TyZXgHZ-QSap-vd6NXPa1frPoHHM/edit?usp=sharing

Maryland Institute College of Art - Batch Embed Metadata in Adobe Bridge Cheat Sheet

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zLB-K9KWOJITqmVC-upA7zoJzuunaPcDiwp8rq11QTw/edit?usp=sharing

Copyright

United States Copyright Office Works Not Protected by Copyright

https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf

Society of American Archivists Selected Copyright Resources

https://www2.archivists.org/groups/intellectual-property-working-group/selected-copyright-resources

Dennis is joined by KEVIN J FLEMING PHD a scholar, author, global keynote speaker, & philomath. Lover of life, bacon, & the counter-narrative.

Kevin was one of the first Develop This! guests in July of 2018. Luckily not much has changed since then. Dennis and kevin discuss Kevin's work since he created his first video and wrote his first book and talk about how the economy and workforce preparation for our young people has changed.

• Are we making any progress?
• How do we reach today’s students and their parents?
• How can economic development professionals make an impact in this space?

Dr. Kevin J Fleming is Founder & CEO of Catapult, the producer of multiple viral animation videos including Success in the New Economy, and author of the bestseller, (Re)Defining the Goal, He is a passionate advocate for ensuring all students enter the labor market with a competitive advantage.

Kevin Fleming videos

As the Founder & CEO of Catapult, he is redefining leadership & professional development through dynamic masterclasses curated for K-16 institutions. As Innovation & Strategic Development Specialist for the Los Angeles Regional Consortium, he supports CTE & workforce development with 19 community colleges in the 17th largest economy in the world. Dr. Fleming previously served as a college Vice President and as Dean of Instruction, Career & Technical Education at Norco College. Prior, he analyzed industry trends and labor market research through the Centers of Excellence for the California Community College system; the largest public education system in America. He has founded five private-sector companies in different service sectors, plus the National Center for Supply Chain Automation funded by the National Science Foundation (Washington DC).

Dr. Kevin J Fleming is an accomplished leader with teaching & administrative experience at 4-year public, 4-year private, and 2-year public institutions. He has competitively secured/managed over $85 Million to advance economic & educational opportunity. Dr. Fleming has expertise in workforce development, education, research, educational innovation, strategic initiative execution, and career readiness. He has conducted leadership trainings for over 25 years accompanied by numerous conference presentations and published articles/books. His career activities have helped influence state legislation, district student-success initiatives, and funding allocations within 38 states/countries.

Dr. Kevin J Fleming is a faculty member, thought leader, and a recovering academic elitist. A true life-long learner, he has earned two Bachelor’s degrees from Loyola Marymount University (Psychology & Philosophy); a Master of Arts from The Ohio State University (Educational Policy & Leadership), an MBA from the University of Redlands, and a Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University...but it was his CTE industry certification in geographical information systems (GIS) that lifted him out of working poverty.

He has been honored with the Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement and Service from Loyola Marymount University and the Corona Chamber of Commerce “40 Under 40” award. Dr. Kevin J Fleming is a proud eagle scout, husband, father, certified etiquette trainer, has completed five marathons, and remains an active volunteer with Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity (Distinguished Alumnus Award), and his local church. Dr. Fleming works tirelessly towards an educational model that is flexible, purpose-driven, student-focused, and career-minded.  Energetic, passionate, & principled, he believes in the power of education to transform lives.

Finding Your Niche in Economic Development

Economic Development is a very broad field. There are many types of organizations and a lot of different areas that you can focus on. In this episode, Dennis and Broderick compare and contrast the different types of economic development organizations from one-person offices to the corporate world. 

Pros and cons of being part of a smaller organization

• Fewer resources
• Smaller budgets
• More opportunities to make a direct impact
• Opportunities to work in many areas

Larger organizations also have their pros and cons

• More resources
• Larger budgets
• Opportunity to specialize in an area
• Harder to make a direct impact
• Easier to get lost in the shuffle

The IEDC Certification process is a good way to learn about many areas of economic development.

Core Competency courses (all four required):

• Introduction to Economic Development or Basic Economic Development Course (BEDC)
• Business Retention and Expansion
• Economic Development Credit Analysis
• Real Estate Development & Reuse

Elective Competency Courses (minimum of 2):

• Economic Development Finance
• Economic Development Marketing & Attraction
• Economic Development Strategic Planning
• Entrepreneurial and Small Business Development Strategies
• Neighborhood Development Strategies
• Management Economic Development Organizations
• Technology-led Economic Development
• Workforce Development
• Foreign Direct Investment & Exporting

Friend of the show Mark Perna is back to discuss the Career Tree concept he developed to help students understand local career opportunities. 

• What is a career tree?
• What was the genesis for the Career Tree concept?
• How is a career tree developed?
• Career Tree is more than just a poster that hangs on the wall
• The process of how Career Trees are used in schools
• What age groups are best suited for the Career Tree?
• How can economic development groups play a role in the Career Tree process?

Career Trees 

Mark Perna

Dennis is joined by IEDC President Nathan Ohle, and they reflect on Nathan's first year as the president of IEDC.

• How has IEDC changed and evolved over the past year
• Strategic partnerships that IEDC has forged and developed
  • The Equity in Economic Development Fellowship Program
  • Economic Development Administration Announces Cooperative Agreement with IEDC and Partners
  • IEDC Hails $1.12 Billion in Funding for the Economic Development Administration (EDA)
• An update on the IEDC strategic planning process
• Has anything surprised Nathan in his first year as IEDC President?
• What is next for IEDC?
• How can members become more plugged into IEDC?

2023 IEDC Conferences 

JANUARY 29 - 31, 2023                                                                                                                    2023 Leadership Summit in Tucson, Arizona

JUNE 21 - 23, 2023                                                                                                                         2023 Economic Future Forum in Calgary, Alberta

SEPTEMBER 17 - 20, 2023,                                                                                                              2023 Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas

In this episode, Dennis and Broderick discuss measuring the performance of your economic development organization. What should you measure, how should you measure, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of measuring and reporting for you and your organization? 

Background – Economic developers are, by nature, inquisitive. Typically, we use data on a regular basis, and there is a fundamental understanding of the importance of measuring performance. However, in this field, measurement can be more complex.

There have been recent studies on the topic (IEDC “Measuring Success: Performance Measurement Survey – 2014” and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness “Redefining Economic Development Performance Indicators for a Field in Transition” – 2017) highlighting how economic development leaders have started to seek indicators that fully capture and measure the range of activity they are involved in.

There has been a transition from the almost exclusive emphasis on job creation/retention and capital investment to a more nuanced measurement system that considers and captures the following:

• Consequences/feedback
• Meaningful Benchmarks
• Actionable Items
• Qualitative Outcomes

Fearless Predictions for 2023! with new co-host Broderick Green. Dennis and Broderick pull out the Develop This! crystal ball and fearlessly predict the future.

• Primary areas economic development professionals should focus on in 2023
• Is the economy speeding up or slowing down?
• Where is the country headed politically?
• Thoughts on the world and its impact on economic development

Broderick Green                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Executive Director                                                                                                                                                                                                           Arlington Economic Development Corporation

Connect with Broderick