Your favorite podcast co-hosts are on vacation this week, so please enjoy this encore episode.

If you have not yet read the Good to Great book by Jim Collins, you should definitely put it on your list.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss the 6 key ingredients behind the successful transition from a good organization to a great organization and then apply them to the economic development profession.

Jim Collins, Good to Great

Dennis and Jason are on vacation this week, so please enjoy this encore episode originally published in March 2019.

Most residents of your community are likely familiar with the terms 'chamber of commerce' and 'economic development'.  The differences between these organizations, however, aren't always clear.  Often times, anything related to business, industry, and job growth will be lumped together as though it is all done by The Chamber.

So what are the key differences between these groups if they are separate organizations within a community?  Are the roles distinguishable in communities where the two groups have merged?

In this episode, Dennis and Jason share a few key differences in these groups and offer suggestions for chambers of commerce and economic development groups considering a merger.

Imagine an experience where the brightest minds from college campuses descend on a single location for an entire week to talk, study, and collaborate on business start-up ideas.

That experience is the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute.

In this episode, Dennis interviews Alyssa Petersen and Jake Jensen to learn more about this annual event and its successes. 

Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute

Learn More About Alyssa Petersen

Everyone has a story worth telling.  As humans, we build authentic connections when we open up and share our personal and professional stories.

In this episode, Dennis gets personal and shares his journey into the economic development profession.

The story is moving, and you won't want to miss it.

The Iowa Lakes Corridor region set an aggressive goal to increase the area's population by 5% within 5 years.  That effort has been branded as the 5x5 Campaign.

In this episode, Brain Dalziel, the Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Iowa Lakes Corridor region shares the vision, the philosophy and the mechanics behind this seven step plan.

Get a Lakes Life

More About Brian Dalziel

Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation

Are placemaking efforts at odds with other essential government services when it comes to the budget?  Amanda Mack, city manager for the City of Spencer, Iowa, has an opinion or two on the topic.

In this episode, Jason and Amanda talk city finances, community improvement projects, the balance of power between city staff and elected officials, and much more.  She closes the episode with tips economic developers should know when working with municipal governments.

Amanda's suggested reading list: Love Where You Live by Peter Kageyama Water the Bamboo by Greg Bell

More about Amanda More about Spencer, Iowa

In this episode, Dennis launches a new series with the leaders of state economic development associations.  Today's feature is Justin Horvath, CEcD, who serves as the board president of the Michigan Economic Developers Association.

Michigan has become a huge comeback state, and Justin shares some of the state's successes and pulls behind the curtain on some of the regional efforts within the state.

More about Justin and the organization he represents:

Justin Horvath Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership Michigan Economic Developers Association

Economic and community development is a team sport, and the team can make or break an organization.

How do you get everyone on the same page?  The team retreat.

In this episode, Jason outlines some considerations for the preparation of an upcoming staff retreat including logistics, the agenda, and the pre-work necessary to make the most of the day.

Learn more about the upcoming MidAmerica EDC Conference in Downtown Chicago.  

Andrew Phillips is a Senior Account Executive at LinkedIn. Andrew works with regions to help them reach their key stakeholders, such as industry executives, international government and business leaders, and workforce talent via LinkedIn's platform of over 600 million professionals.

In this episode, we will unravel the LinkedIn platform, exposing listeners to the best practices of profile setup, connecting with peers, and leveraging LinkedIn as a business recruitment tool.

LinkedIn Premium Subscription for veterans (FREE for 1-year) https://socialimpact.linkedin.com/programs/veterans/premiumform  

Connect with Andrew Phillips https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewephillips/   

LinkedIn Talent Insights https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/talent-insights#

There is incredible value in a staff retreat.  The opportunity to get everyone together, assess the current plan of work, and set a shared vision for the future could make for perhaps one of the most productive days of the year for your organization.

This podcast believes so much in the value of a staff retreat that it will devote an additional 9 episodes to this single topic over the coming weeks.

In this episode, the series is launched with the foundational elements of a good staff retreat.

What if you are a small office?  You will still get tons of value from this series and perhaps it will inspire you to join forces with other groups in your community or region to conduct a shared team retreat.