Four Podcast Episodes You Probably Missed in 2021

Earlier this year, I released a list of the most listened to episodes of the Econ Dev Show Podcast.

Today I want to highlight four episodes that you might have missed in 2021.

Episode 7 - How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss

What's your downtown like?

As a county economic developer, I can look out over several different cities, all with a diverse array of downtowns:

Some are vibrant, beautiful tourist destinations.

Others are transitioning and improving with city dollars and commercial reinvestment into new stores, new facades, new lighting, new life.

Some suburban cities, to their shame, don't even really have downtowns. (Unfortunately, I live in a town like that.)

But still, others are shells of their former selves; Empty storefronts with faded signs and broken sidewalks -- places that you don't go after dark -- not because they're dangerous per se, but because there's no reason to.

Our guest today, hopes to change that. Ilana Preuss and her book Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing offer an excellent primer on how to rebuild your downtown without relying on outsiders to bring their businesses to your community.

Ilana's an expert. She led the technical assistance program at the U.S. EPA Smart Growth Program and was the Vice President & Chief of Staff at Smart Growth America. Her firm Recast City, works with local leaders to help create great places.

Enjoy the show, and the book.

Listen now.

Episode 10 - Recruiting from the US to Quebec with JP Saucier

Foreign direct investment doesn't just mean international investment in the US. For economic developers in other countries, the US is often the source of the "international" funds. For JP Saucier, who recruits businesses from Los Angeles, California to Quebec, the FDI flows from the United States to Canada.

Listen now.

Episode 8 - From the West Coast to the East Coast with Patrick Pierce

Often the best way to advance in your economic development career is to change organizations. But do you secretly worry that if you pack up and move across the country that you'll get there and be completely clueless?

Today's guest did just that - Patrick Pierce moved from a large organization in Washington state to a small town in North Carolina, and he says that the coopetition is the same everywhere.

Coopetition (sometimes spelled "co-opetition") is the collaboration between competitors, in hopes of mutually beneficial results. Sounds exactly like regional economic development.

Listen now.

Episode 16 - With Change Agent Jimi Copland of The Rural Spark

In this episode, Dane talks with Jimi Copland.

Jimi is rural economic developer, educator, needle mover, encourager, change agent, and owner of The Rural Spark, an online educational platform for small communities.

Listen now.