“Where you are…”
“Where you need to be…”
“How you get there…”
Economic Development
Drawing Your Map of the World
Enter the office of the chief
economic development strategist for any
location in the world and you will find
the same map. It doesn't matter if you
are in Hong Kong, Munich, Sao Paulo, or
Houston: they have the same
cartographer. Concentric circles
radiating from the subject metro
demonstrate how remarkably positioned it
is within two hours flying time of all
critical destinations. Cargo routes
(road, rail, air) crisscross the region.
Obviously this city is the logistics hub
for at least two hemispheres: a critical
trade link between major global economic
engines. The plan for the region commits
to a strategy of attracting high quality
high wage jobs, venture capital, and
clean industry.
The only problem is that 360 other cities in North America alone are delivering the same message. The message is also emitting from major and minor trade centers around the world. The challenge for economic developers is to differentiate one’s location and message in a way that captures attention and meets the critical information needs of companies evaluating a relocation or expansion.
In terms of a positioning strategy, economic development requires the same strategic thinking as corporate America. Economic developers must think like business strategists and develop the ability to dispassionately view their community as the inbound investor sees it, and assess the region’s comparative advantages vis-à-vis regional and global competitors by industry and project type as a first step in the where-to-compete and how-to-win continuum. Like a corporation, a region cannot be all things to all investors and trading partners. Even the largest of economies must focus on core competencies- niches and sectors where they can offer unique advantages that differentiate the locale from its competitors.
Economic developers today are no longer just boosters: they have to be strategists. In addition to creating a strategic plan, the ED practitioner has to build consensus around the strategy and articulate it locally, nationally and globally until a clear identity is established in the mind of inbound investors and the site selection consulting community. Brand-building is critical for a location: the location is the product for investors and site consultants.
What is strategy?
- In its simplest form, strategy is an abbreviated form of decision making. The value of investing time and resources to develop a strategic plan or framework is avoidance of the same lengthy decision process every time a strategic decision needs to be made. Once the strategy is in place, one can short-hand decisions by staying true to the strategic model;
- It is a consensus-builder that provides a structure for mutually accepted goals and a common agenda;
- It is a brand-builder: a first step in identity-creation that clearly differentiates a location’s competitive advantages;
- Ultimately, it is a management tool that enables communities to envision their future and design appropriate steps to achieve that future.
The ten steps of traditional strategic planning are can summarized as follows:
- Preplanning- initiate and organize
- Assessment: a SWOT analysis of the local economy
- A market assessment of attainable sectors that line up with comparative and competitive advantage
- A strategic positioning analysis to determine the key areas of focus
- Vision, mission, goals & objectives
- Identifying, evaluating & prioritizing projects
- Action plan development
- Plan implementation
- Outcomes monitoring with regular evaluation for feedback
- Retooling and readjusting tactics to meet plan objectives
The first five of these steps are part of a non-linear divergent and exploratory competitive positioning process. The goal for this first part of the process is to find and alignment between the sustainable competitive strengths of your economy and enduring market opportunities. The second half is more of a linear and traditional planning process that supports implementation, project management, and performance measurement.
The economic developer acts as facilitator, enabler, and marketer within and outside this process. Sometimes, this means assisting a foreign or domestic investor evaluating the region for a project, but just as often it means supporting existing industry (retention/expansion), technology transfer, workforce development, infrastructure development, improving access to working capital, and neighborhood revitalization.
Clear-eyed recognition of those areas where other regions possess clear competitive advantage will prevent costly strategic mistakes. The defining key to successful economic development is right strategy, right time, right place, right message. Build consensus, develop the plan, work the plan, measure results. Community investors want to be a part of a coherent strategy and vision for growth, not passive observers.
In a globally competitive environment, developing competitive applies equally to corporations and economic regions. It is up to the ED professional to provide a framework around which a winning strategy can be developed. Just as there are many kinds of maps, there are many kinds of strategies. All are only as good as the navigator. The job of an economic developer is not just to read the charts but also plot direction, captain the ship, and lead the crew in executing course corrections when necessary.