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Economic Development 2.0

12.07.2008

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on Friday released its ideas about the 2009 Federal Economic Development Agenda. IEDC’s platform is well-argued, and I’m glad to see our largest professional association promoting a comprehensive view of economic development that includes more than a passing glance at topics like entrepreneurship and education.

We are facing a global economic crisis–and my generation’s first experience with a serious recession–which is shaking every rung of the career ladder across the entire U.S. labor market. We’re also nearing the start of a new administration in Washington D.C. that, so far, has demonstrated a talent in short supply there: listening.

This is a rare opportunity for economic developers to promote new ideas in the national spotlight, and, hopefully, recruit more young people to the field in the process. IEDC deserves credit for drawing the connections between economic development and related issues such as education, health care, and rural access. That way of thinking will go a long way toward attracting more young people to the economic development profession.

So, before President-Elect Obama’s proposed infrastructure spending spree derails all other conversations about community and economic development for the next two months, here are my contributions to the discussion:

Regionalism needs to be more than a feel-good mantra during strategic planning sessions. There are only two sure bets for bringing local officials together to discuss meaningful regional collaboration: crisis and money. We have plenty of crisis right now, and it sounds like federal money won’t be far behind. There are legitimate concerns about the Employment and Training Administration’s WIRED program, but it’s a step in the right direction. Making regionalism work requires resources of that magnitude, and I hope the program can be expanded to other regions.

We need to get serious about breaking down the silos of economic development, workforce training, and education. Programs like WIRED definitely help, but not everything requires money. Governor Perry here likes to say that he’ll be evaluating all legislation during the upcoming session by asking: Does this bill make Texas more or less competitive? That’s probably a little gimmicky for some folks, but it couldn’t hurt to comb through the statutes of WIA, EDA, HUD, and other federal programs with a similar question: Does this statute promote regionalism? We could start by debating whether or not unemployment rate and per capita income, EDA’s primary investment criteria, are the best metrics for guiding federal policy in the new economy. Federal stimulus doesn’t always have to mean spending more money.

We need a national champion for career and technical education (CTE). Too often, the debate about CTE, or vocational education, is boiled down to whether or not you agree with a statement like “not everybody will go to college.” We can do better than that. Programs like career pathways should be viewed as opportunities to improve access to 21st century jobs for all students–not as a safety net only for students who are not “college-ready”.

I’m no education expert, but I do know this. I worked part-time in a drycleaners during high school, not because my family needed the money, but because I wanted work experience and exposure to what it was like to operate a business. There was never any doubt about me going to a four-year university, but I can only imagine how much richer my high school education would have been with access to an adequately funded CTE program, where I could have learned about and formed relationships with leading companies in the region, not to mention made more informed decisions about a program of study in college.

Pick any of the major economic development issues facing us today–workforce readiness, talent retention, entrepreneurship, innovation–and it’s not difficult to argue a case for career and technical education. My bet is that evaluation studies will show that CTE improves graduation rates as well, especially among students struggling in traditional high school settings.

Keep up the good work, IEDC.