Develop This: Economic and Community Development

A question was recently asked: how should economic development groups determine if an event was successful?  It was a great question that prompted a lot of discussion.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason seek to answer that question.  Event metrics should included more than simply the number of attendees and whether or not the budget target was hit.  Dig deeper to determine the true purpose behind your event and create the right metrics to determine success.

It could be a sad commentary that a personal message stands out in this mass communication world.  It also presents great opportunity to build your personal brand.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss the art of personal communication and share thoughts about emails, phone calls, text messages, and the good old fashioned face to face meeting.

What are your travel goals?

Didi Caldwell with Global Location Strategies had a goal of visiting 50 counties by the age of 50.  She did it.

Learn more about her story and also get some great travel tips from this globetrotter.  Learn how to pack, where to do research, and how to carve out time for personal travel in your busy week in this fun bonus episode.

Didi Caldwell Bio

Watch the YouTube Video of Didi Crossing into Country #50

Volunteer boards of directors can make or break an organization.  If your board of directors is consistently off topic and spends too much time digging in the weeds, it is safe to say that they are focusing on the wrong things.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason share best practices for keeping your board on point and ensuring a separation of duties between governance and management.

If something is in your newsletter, surely everyone has read it, understood it, and remembered it, right?

To effectively communicate our organization's message, we may have to use a number of different channels and customize our message to the recipient.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss effective communication and offer some tips to ensure your message stands out.

The Site Selectors Guild is the only membership association exclusively for professional site selection consultants.  There are 44 members, and Didi Caldwell currently serves as the chair of the board.  In this relationship business, knowing the players is critically important, and the Guild helps facilitate interactions between professional site selectors and economic developers.

In this episode, Didi (find out more about Didi Caldwell in episode #81) gives some background on the organization and shares strategies for maximizing attendance at either the annual conference or the fall forum.

Site Selectors Guild

Didi Caldwell, Global Location Strategies

Today's episode is courtesy of a listener from Utah.  Natalie asks about the roles and responsibilities of board members as well as dividing up duties within a small staff team.

As a crowd-sourced show, keep the questions and comments rolling in!  Dennis and Jason build this show based almost entirely off of your feedback.

Axioms are statements which are regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.

Ron Kitchens with Southwest Michigan First is back to share 12 axioms his organization has adopted and is graciously willing to share them with you.

In this episode, Dennis goes through each of them in this inspiring episode.

For More on Ron Kitchens

Ever heard from employers that graduating high school kids need soft skills?  Do you wish you could better connect high school juniors and seniors with local employers?

In this episode, Dennis walks provides a detailed overview of Lee County Economic Development Group's 12+ high school employability class.

Class Topics:

True Colors - Getting to Know Team Strengths Introduction to Jobs in Our Area Career Coach Bringing Your 'A' Game Soft Skills Application Reading a Tape Measure Pre-Employment Tests NCRC Prep Work Keys Test Prep Technical Reading/Writing Plant Tours Money Management Resume Preparation Brand Yourself Interview Preparation Elevator Pitch Cover Letter Mock Interview Day Leadership Training Basic Mechanical Knowledge Team Project Community Speakers Safety in Industrial Trades Graduation

How can your community best prepare for an economic development attraction project?  Who better to ask than Didi Caldwell, chair of the Site Selectors Guild and a leader in the business of foreign direct investment.

In addition to chairing the professional association for site selectors, Didi is also the founding principal of Global Location Strategies.

This episode kicks off a brand new series called Titans of Site Selection which will feature interviews with professionals in the site selection business all year long.

In this episode, you will gain insight on: -trends in foreign direct investment -the impact of tariffs -immigration -three factors in site selection -the balance between high costs of doing business and talent availability

Didi also names communities leading the way in workforce programming.  You will not want to miss this episode.

Learn more about: Didi Caldwell Global Location Strategies Site Selectors Guild