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The Network assembled a
compendium of definitions of economic development from
the plethora of those that exist. There are two reason
for offering the
collection: First, Threaded through the definitions selected are
various operative
words and phrases used to
describe the process and its practice. The
Enterprise and Economic Development Library maintains the list of keywords
extracted from the collection.
The collection
of definitions was also put together
in order to help us (who
we are) determine what is basic
to understanding how to participate in making economic development
happen in a location. Extractions from the various definitions
are presented below as fundamentals of economic development.
They neither represent a academic analysis of its body
of knowledge nor are they intended to be taken as all-inclusive.
Use the search engine above to query to Web for
answers to the following questions (copy and paste the questions,
keeping quotation marks intact): What are the "basics of
economic development" and what are the "fundamentals
of economic development"?
area and local economic development:
... an expression that brings the definition
of area
developer together with those for economic
developer representatives who work at the local
level. The expression
allows a focus on the all-important ally
network that is basic
to
achieving
success in places
wanting economic development see
networking as a process basic.
The target
audience of The
Network is served by area
and local development contacts. As such they are resource
and service providers to its user
group. Scroll down this page for definitions that have
to do with area and local economic development basics. Local
and Area Development is the title of Appendix
G of this Enterprise
and Economic Development Glossary.
area and local economic development basics:
... are the fundamentals that one who
is engaged in moving the economic
development process forward
is expected to understand. Basics that answer the
question of what is involved in making economic development
happen are scattered throughout the definitions and comments
above and below. The fact that
there is a plethora of definitions of economic development
is mentioned at the top of this page.
Understanding the fundamentals of area
development and
local
development requires creating a definition or
accepting one you may run across that is applicable to your
specific involvement. Page
2 of About Economic Development in the Economic
Development Network website may be worth a look.
area development:
... economic
Development beyond the limits of a communitymore.
Smart communities
cooperate with one another within their regions.
Interested area and local development representatives have
a best
practices file available for reference. The file
lists five
top priorities for places
seeking economic development ... taking
an area development approach is implied. Also, see the resource
file, About Economic Development and its discussion of the
basics of the process. It emphasizes that an area development
attitude is fundamental to economic development success.
The opening
paragraphs of Tourism as Economic Development / A Brief
Guide for Communities and Enterprise Developers explains
why developing community cannot be isolatedsee
the definition of developing
economy.
business and industrial growth and expansion:
... the process of enterprise
development within an economy; the
activity universally recognized as the means by which job
creation results are
attained; an expression used to imply the fact that enterprise
development and economic
development are
intertwined when the latter
is wanted in locations around
the world. The
Network uses the term enterprise
and economic development in place
of the following, more wordy, statement: The
mission is
to bring people together who can make business and industrial
growth and expansion happen so that worldwide aspirations
of communities wanting economic development can be achieved.
community analysis:
... the self assessment
that every location needs.
In general it should produce an inventory of (1) what
the area, as is, has to
offer to attract opportunity and (2) what corrections and
improvements are needed. Community analysis resources
are available in the Enterprise and Economic Development
LibraryCLICK
HERE for access. Self assessment is an important information
feed into the process of comparative
analysis process (see
competition below). The definition
of
infrastructure
for growth points out that analysis
should also support development of a community
profile or
organization of a location
package by following a standardized
format for categorizing information wanted
by prospects.
community development:
... the combined processes,
programs, strategies, and activities that make a community
sustainable ... (source).
A local economic
developer generally has product and marketing responsibilities
related to prospects;
whereas, the community developer takes care of the social and local economy
responsibility as related to planning, fixes, and improvement
projects. The resource paper, IFAS
Community Development: Toward a Consistent Definition of Community
Development, is an example of an online reference
offering additional discussion. (source).
The question of what a community development practitioner does
outside of addressing both social and economic sustainability
issues for a location has many interpretations. Often the question
is answered locally in terms of objectives set for working with
specific community needs and opportunities. See Appendix
F.
competition:
... can easily take advantage
of situations where deadly
inertia exits. Some site
selectors may factor into comparative
analysis an inertia that is observed in a place of interest.
Incentive
offers are basic to economic development
competitiveness. Politics is
probably most influential when it comes to offering incentives
to attract prospects.
Aggressive marketing is part
of the competition that surrounds the economic
development process. Advertising is generally thought
of a indirect marketing (see Wikipedia's
explanation of direct marketing for a contrast). Advertising
is more or less a side show when it comes to finding prospects. Having
an marketing presence depends to a great extent on how much money
a location seeking economic development has to spend
on advertising. The field of competition in many respects can
be leveled by the maintenance of an ally
network. As compared
to advertising, skillful networking is move likely to payoff
as a cost-effective way to
be competitive. See links at the top of the best practices resource
file.
economic development dynamics:
... business
networking, problem
solving, and the presentation of information wanted by prospects
are critical to driving the
process. Given the fact that the national association
of economic developers in the USA endorsed marketing as
the more or one less outstanding responsibility that all practitioners
have, it is certainly a key element in making the process
dynamic (source).
The challenge is to anticipate, control and present useful information,
especially when prospects need
it. The conclusion is that the primary dynamics, as activities
that contribute to binging about economic development in places that
want it, fall within engagement in the likes of a process outlined
as
Enterprise
Development: 10-steps for site selectors. It underscores
the point to show that US economic development practitioner also
introduced a set of guidelines for preparation their marketing materials.
The guidelines are a ... comprehensive
set of data standards for communities to present themselves to
site selection consultants and potential businesses (source
of quote). Finally, it should be pointed out that political
involvement is a big part of economic development dynamics.
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an economy:
... an economy must
exist within or around a location. Types
of economies:
 command
economy
developing
economy
development
economy
domestic
economy
free
market economy
global
economy
local
economy
national
economy
regional
economy
underdeveloped
economy
enterprise and economic development services:
... enterprise
development leads to economic
development. Both are processes that happen in a location. Site
selection is a process of enterprise development in
which area
developers and local
development representatives seek to be involved.
Services provided to prospects and
others who are a part of bringing about economic development
a location are to a great extent efforts at assisting to enable
successful enterprise development. For more explanation of the
relationship between enterprise development and economic
development see the answer
to the question of when the work of searching
for a location first began in terms of its relationship
to finding responsive communities.
It may seem obvious from reading
about the integrated functions of its three websites that
Economic Development Services (EDS)
could very well have been called Enterprise and Economic
Development Services. EDS was formed
after over twenty years of field work assisting enterprise
developers and site
selectors. Enterprise
and economic development was put to
use as an expression when The Network went online
in the mid-1990s, six years after EDS came into existence.
It helped make clear the fact that The
Network is
about providing resources and
services in support expansions,
relocations, and
startups that
lead to the economic
development of locations around the World.
We submit that providing services to enterprises is basic to economic development.
enterprise development resources:
... you will see the expression
enterprise
and economic development used throughout The
Networksee
its mission statement for more explanation. Economic
development follows enterprise development throughout the
world. This being the case, it behooves locations seeking
economic development to have enterprise
development resources available.
information distribution:
... given that economic development takes
place in a location, organizing
and providing information for prospects is
a core service provided by the economic
development practitioner who
works where
the rubber meets the road. See the page
4 of About
Economic Development in the Economic Development
Network website. Information is distributed through networking,
marketing and
interacting with prospects. Successful
enterprise
and economic development efforts often depends
on the timely ness and quality of information exchanges.
location ... the place where economic
development happens.
marketing:
At the beginning of the 1990s the American
Economic Development Council reaffirmed its 1980's
definition of economic development. It also
recognition that ... the
entire set of approaches to economic development practice
may be considered a specialized form of marketing. See
the .network file
on economic development marketing for more
information.
networking:
... Economic developers representing
locations get their jobs done by working within a network
of allies. All success-oriented resource
and service providers engaged in the enterprise and economic
development process understand the importance of
networks.
outreach programs:
... an outreach is defined an an effort
at providing ... services beyond
conventional limits,
as to
particular segments of a community (source).
Outreach programs attempt to pull a target groups into
working relationships, for example, (institutions
of higher education in
an area often have ) ... outreach
programs that include support for economic development (source).
See information
about libraries and institutions of higher education in About
Site Selection for
how their outreach efforts position them as location
data suppliers.
politics:
... political
interests are intertwined
with the economic development process throughout the world,
so much so that one highly regarded consultant
is quoted as saying that the best practitioners are ... first
and foremost, skilled political players. Control
is an objective of all political players. For example,
one of the sources contributing to the collection of
definitions
in the Economic Development Network websites, states
that objectives should include ... inflation
control (source). The definitions
of politician published by Brainy
Quote may be worth reviewing. Also, Wikipedia offers
a discussion of the subject.
prospect assistance:
... services provided by economic
development practitioners to those who control
or are in position to influence the outcome of projects; services
provided to members of
the target
audience of
The Network when they
are engaged as enterprise
developers and site
selectors; the work that
goes on in places
of interest to a economic
development prospects aimed
at satisfying their needs and helping them to choose what
they want.
real estate:
... a site or property as
a part of what makes up a location. Representatives of
places seeking economic
development are generally expected to
have real estate agent skills.
site location work:
... the
work of a site selector in conjunction
with those who provide prospect assistance.
sustainability:
... the concern that sophisticated area
and local economic development representatives have
for the places they
represent when putting the aspirations, wants and needs
of communities first.
When communities fall on hard times, it is not unusual
for economic development
interests to embrace entrepreneurial and small
business development. Politicians talk
about job loss and the need for replacements
but often ignore the answer to the question of where
job creation originates. Here a is thought to consider:
What
is the potential for job creation if you believe 9
out of 10 entrepreneurial efforts fail? It certainly
doesn't make it worthwhile to bring entrepreneurs into
the prospect fold.
Even it it were true, but enterprise 10 goes
on to thrive and be a fast
growing business that catches
the attention of economic development interests, what then
happens? The question is worth considering if the enterprise
adds 15, 20, 30 jobs and so on as it grows.
Do a double-take. There's your job creation. To gather
more observations about the possibilities, use the search
engine at the top of the page by copying
and pasting the following suggested italicized keyword
combination: "entrepreneurial
failure" 9 out of 10.
Appendix
F of this Enterprise
and Economic Development Glossary you are using is
dedicated to sustainability and
addressees issues other those that are purely economy
related.
tourism:
... a specialized form of economic development
marketingmore
about the subject.
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