Develop This: Economic and Community Development

Economic development is a team sport.  Whether we depend on other employees or members of the community, navigating a project or a community initiative requires someone to lead the group.  Not every leader brings out the best in others, however.

Leadership styles can range from micromanagement to to being completely aloof, but the right balance is somewhere in the middle.  Although it can be tough to let go, empower those around you to both succeed and fail.  When we delegate and empower, great things happen.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss strategies for maximizing team performance.

Many business associations and community groups talk about the need to engage young people.  A great way to get high school students excited about the future of your community is to involve them in your advocacy trips.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason share ideas and strategies for engaging 25-35 high school juniors in annual policy trips to the state capital.

Sure, there are many companies that can help you build a powerful website for economic development marketing.  However, efforts will fail unless the 'planning' group is very small.

Dennis is in the midst of two website redesigns, and in this episode, he offers tips and tricks based upon his current experience for creating a strong web presence.

It is Thankgiving week and a great time to be thankful to all of the volunteers that lend their time and treasure to the causes of economic and community development.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss the different types of volunteers and the do's and don'ts of volunteer recruitment.

Economic developers spring into action when a request for a proposal arrives, but pulling all of the data together can turn into quite a chore unless you are well prepared.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason discuss tips to streamline the RFP response and provide a high quality proposal worthy of a second look.

How do you get a community to rally around a shared vision for economic and community development?  What would happen if elected officials, non-profit groups, schools, and residents worked together on the same five strategies?

In this episode, Dennis and Jason share a story of community visioning called 'Imagine'.  This specific visioning campaign unveiled five key elements for the future of a community in Iowa.  Learn about the visioning process, the challenges incurred along the way, and the results nearly 10 years later.

As a follow-up to episode #56, Dennis and Jason continue the debate on measuring the success of workforce programming.  While hard data can be a valuable metric, it doesn't tell the whole story.  Deploying a strategy based solely on metrics, however, doesn't do much to inspire existing employers.

Your workforce programming strategy needs to account for both metrics and optics.

Unless you are a superhuman, odds are there are things eroding your personal productivity.  It is also likely that your fellow co-workers do small things to distract you and take you off your game.

In this episode, Dennis and Jason share two great exercises to identify productivity killers and eliminate them without causing office drama.

How do you attract millennials to your community or your organization?  What about urban v. rural?

Ann Fishman with Generational Targeted Marketing is back to answer these questions.  Examples of her thoughts include:

-Offer support for repaying student loans
-Give them an opportunity to support the greater good
-Ensure time for a personal life

In this episode, Dennis also gets some tips for attracting and encouraging those in Generation X.

Generational Targeted Marketing

As we continue in our series highlighting creative economic development partnerships, Kylle Jordan and Jim Gromberg provide us with an overview of the Minnesota Marketing Partnership.

Kylle is the Regional Business Development Manager for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Jim is  with WSB Engineering.

The partnership between the state office and local economic development groups pairs state dollars with local participation fees to jointly fund a variety of marketing strategies.

In this episode, Jason digs in to learn more about the financial obligations of the local groups and the mechanics of calling on site selectors in key metro areas.

WSB Engineering
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development