5️⃣ Economic Development is that Guy on the Tractor

That lone guy on a tractor trying to free the Ever Given is the most apt visual metaphor for economic development I've seen in a long time

Dane Carlson

28 Mar 2021 — 2 min read

Seeing that lone guy on a tractor trying to free the Ever Given, stuck in the Suez Canal, is the most apt visual metaphor for economic development I've seen in a long time. Whether it is moving inetractable boards, communities, developers, or landowners, economic development on a daily basis feels like you against the world, doing the impossible in tiny movements, until finally the ship moves and commerce begins to flow.

Podcast update and Personal note: I'd hoped to have a podcast or two out by now, but my middle child is in the middle of six weeks of proton therapy, and it turns out that sitting in a waiting room or in the car are not the most productive places to record audio interviews.

In other news, both DCI's class of 40 under 40, and the list of new CEcDs came out in the last week. Congrats to both those groups. We hope to have up podcasts with many of them in the coming weeks.

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, please drop me a line.

Assorted Links

The assorted links posts are what I'm reading that day. Some of it will only be useful to me, others should be of interest to you, and some will hit the sweet spot of being great for both of us. Either way, I strive with these links to make you smarter every day and hope that you enjoy them.

Some highlights:

Is it a farewell to the handshake?

Is this economic development's next frontier? Wanted: A public option for finding work in the gig economy.

How to assemble an economic development crew.

Bob Cook: Mexico – Part of the Solution for North American Supply Chain Challenges. Brush up on your high school Spanish, your next ED job might be in Mexico.

The great Grape-Nuts shortage of 2020 is over. Also, Grape-Nuts to reimburse customers who purchased boxes on the black market.

Someone forget who their customers are: Site selector Dean Barber was invited to a webinar from a statewide economic development org -- then he found out that they wanted him to pay to attend.

Here's the entire list:

Economic Development in the News

Tons of great news from around the country and across the planet. Beginning this week, I'm going to start combining these into a single weekly post.