IN THIS ISSUE:

Strengthening the Backbone of the American Economy: Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed

Federal Economic Development Forum
March 23-25, 2014 | Washington, DC Metro Area

» Register today

"Let's do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America." President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, January 28, 2014

If entrepreneurs and small businesses are the backbone of our economy – and they are – then we are in need of some serious chiropractic work. Access to capital remains a crucial roadblock to growth, but the issues facing entrepreneurs and business owners can't be solved by throwing money at them. For communities to remain competitive in supporting and attracting entrepreneurs, we need policies and programs that support innovation and growth. Our panel of speakers for this Federal Economic Development Forum session will focus on existing policies, policies under development, and programs that have a proven track record of supporting entrepreneurial growth.

Keynote speakers include:

	Dr. Robert Atkinson, Ph.D. President Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Washington, DC
	The Honorable Mark Doms Under Secretary for Economic Affairs U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, DC
	Javier E. Saade Associate Administrator, Office of Investment and Innovation U.S. Small Business Administration Washington, DC

Workforce Development Training to be Held Before Federal Forum

Workforce Development
Date: March 20-21
Location: Washington, DC Metro Area

AICP Certification Maintenance points: CM | 16

Skilled workers are the backbone of a productive and efficient economy. This versatile course explains the strong relationship between economic and workforce development through case studies, practical examples, and current research. Course participants will learn what programs currently leverage federal, state, and local financial resources to support workforce development. Learn about what collaborative programs will help upgrade the skills of your community's existing workforce. Other topics of discussion will include: talent attraction, K-12 development and integration, occupational analysis, target industry clusters, and more.

Instructors:

	Diane Lupke, CEcD FM President Lupke & Associates, Inc.
	Debra Lyons Vice President, Community and Economic Development ACT Workforce Development Division
	John P. Metcalf President Workforce Systems Associates

Use IEDC's Economic Development Training to Take Your Career to the Next Level

View a PDF or the Professional Development page of IEDC's website for detailed course information

First Quarter Training Courses Include:

• Feb 13-14: Economic Development Marketing and Attraction, Atlanta, GA
• Feb 20-21: Real Estate Development & Reuse, Baltimore, MD
• March 5-7: Economic Development Credit Analysis, Madison, WI
• March 20-21: Workforce Development, Washington, DC
• April 24-25: Business Retention and Expansion, Atlanta, GA
• May 8-9: Entrepreneurial and Small Business Development Strategies, Madison, WI
• May 15-16: Real Estate Development and Reuse, Anchorage, AK
• May 29-30: Managing Economic Development Organizations, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN
• June 5-6: Economic Development Marketing and Attraction, Baltimore, MD
• June 19-20: Neighborhood Development Strategies, Madison, WI

» View the entire calendar

February Webinar to Discuss Repurposing Aging Retail Centers

Ready for a Facelift: Repurposing Aging Retail Centers

Thursday, February 27 | 1:30 - 3:00 pm EST

Today 1/3 of shopping malls are dead or dying, strip malls have an 11% vacancy, and over 300 million square feet of big box retail sits vacant. While these figures are alarming, they also present an opportunity for communities and regions to creatively reuse and take back vacant spaces. Reinhabiting, redeveloping, retrofitting, regreening, or repurposing are all means to bring life back to aging retail centers. Bringing life back to retail centers increases the surrounding properties value, attracts new investments, and can bring new jobs to area. Additionally, retrofitting saves major costs to developers compared to new construction, making projects more lucrative in a tighter economy.

Join our expert presenters as they talk about repurposing aging retail centers into job creators.

Speakers:

	Ellen Dunham-Jones Professor Georgia Institute of Technology
	Steve Johnson, AIA, NCARB Senior Vice President Corporate & Urban Design - Gresham, Smith and Partners

Need New Reading Material? IEDC's Got You Covered

Making it Count: Metrics for High Performing EDOs

Economic development organizations (EDOs) understand how important it is to measure performance. Yet only two-thirds do so regularly. And even when they do, the vast majority focus on four variables - job creation, capital investment, changes in tax base, and personal income - that are more reflective of the origins of the economic development profession than the myriad activities that EDOs engage in now. While these metrics will continue to be used in the near future, EDOs need to adopt new metrics that are better aligned with their current work. This research project offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use "menu" of economic development metrics that EDOs can choose from based on their mission, functions and resources along with a guidebook on EDO performance measurement.

IEDC Member download:
» Complete report
» Part I: Guidebook
» Part II: Menu
» Part III: Case Studies
» Part IV: Metrics Research and Analysis

Non-members: Purchase in the bookstore

Raising the Bar Together: Successful Strategies for Workforce and Economic Development Collaboration

A community's workforce is of fundamental importance for economic growth. To meet the needs of today's companies, and to sufficiently educate workers for the demands of the knowledge economy, economic development organizations must collaborate with workforce development organizations and other stakeholders, including their partners in business and education. IEDC's paper, "Raising the Bar Together: Successful Strategies for Workforce and Economic Development Collaboration" distills best practices in collaborative efforts that leverage the strengths and resources of all partners to create a sustainable labor force.

» IEDC Member download
» Purchase in the bookstore
» Executive summary

The Economic Development Research Partners Program is an exclusive membership level of IEDC, which supports practice-oriented research.

Partners

Accrinet is a digital agency that assists economic development organizations in leveraging the Web to attract companies into the region, cultivate entrepreneurial efforts, manage and grow membership, raise money, publicize causes and communicate with key constituencies.


Atlas is a niche economic development marketing and technology firm that helps economic developers effectively reach site selection and prospect audiences while generating the greatest gains in economic development recruitment, retention, and investor activity for the lowest cost. Atlas deliver branding, website development, GIS mapping, marketing strategy, and creative campaigns with a staff experienced in economic development. The exclusive "High Performance Economic Development Marketing Agency Partner for the International Economic Development Council", Atlas' economic development marketing work and technologies have been named among the best in the country by International industry and professional organizations across North America. Led by a former economic development practitioners Atlas has worked with 125+ different economic development clients in 43+ states. Our approach and experience means that our campaigns generate an average of three to as many as ten times the response of other campaigns.

RFPs / RFQs

Request for Proposals, Qualified Retail Consultant, Invest Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)

Invest Atlanta seeks a qualified retail consultant to assist our organization in preparing for successful participation in the upcoming National ICSC Conference (RECon Global Retail Real Estate Conference) in May 2014.

The RFP for a Qualified Retail Consultant can be viewed at demo.investatlanta.com/BusinessDevelopmentIA/workforce-rfp

Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm (EST) Tuesday January 28, 2014. Direct any questions to Chris Leutzinger, Real Estate Development Specialist, at cleutzinger@investatlanta.com.

Job Listings

Openings for the week of February 10

Got openings? Place your job ad with IEDC and get four weeks of exposure to more than 20,000 economic development professionals across the nation and beyond. Simply fill out the online form.

» Visit the Job Center for details on each listing.

February 10, 2014
• Manager of Retail Development and Recruitment, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Land & Contract Administrator, City of El Paso (El Paso, TX)
• Executive Vice President, Charleston Area Alliance (Charleston, WV)
• President/CEO, Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation (Nacogdoches, TX)
• Director, Building and Development, Loudoun County (Loudoun County, VA)
• Market Research Analyst II, Allegheny Conference on Community Development (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Executive Director, Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development (Watkins Glen, NY)
• Economic Development Consultant, TIP Strategies, Inc. (Austin, TX)

February 3, 2014
• Economic Development Director, Pulaski County (Pulaski, VA)
• Executive Director, Campbell County Economic Development Corporation (Gillette, WY)
• Director of Business Development, Bismarck-Mandan Development Association (Bismarck, ND)
• Project Manager, Business Recruitment, Lubbock Economic Development Alliance (Lubbock, TX)
• Economic Development Manager, City of Manassas (Manassas, VA)
• Economic Development Manager, Lake County Partners (Lincolnshire, IL)
• Economic Development Director, City of Leesburg (Leesburg, FL)
• President, Fredericksburg Regional Alliance (Fredericksburg, VA)
• Executive Director, Louisville Downtown Development Corporation (Louisville, KY)
• Senior Economic Development Specialist, City and County of Broomfield (Broomfield, CO)

January 27, 2014
• Senior Business Development Manager, City of Norfolk (Norfolk, VA)
• Project Manager, Great Plains Development Authority (Parsons, KS)
• Executive Director, Racine County Economic Development Corporation (Racine, WI)
• Economic Development Director, Town of Brownsburg (Brownsburg, IN)
• Chief Executive Officer, The Virginia's Region 2000 Business and Economic Development Alliance (Lynchburg, VA)
• Chief Executive Officer, Aberdeen Development Corporation (Aberdeen, SD)
• Director of Research, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce (Charlotte, NC)

January 20, 2014
• Executive Director, Economic Development Agency (Rochester, MN)
• Economic Development/Urban Renewal Project Program Coordinator, City of Redmond (Redmond, OR)
• Economic Development Manager, City of Peoria (Peoria, AZ)
• Development Director, Washington County Economic Growth Partnership, Inc. (Salem, IN)

Upcoming IEDC Events:

Conferences

2014 Federal Economic Development Forum
March 23-25 | Washington, DC

2014 Spring Conference
June 1-3 | Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN

2014 Annual Conference
October 19-22 | Fort Worth, TX

Web Seminars

Free: Preparing for the Unexpected: Is Your Organization Ready?
February 12

Ready for a Facelift: Repurposing Aging Retail Centers
February 27

Temporary Store, Lasting Impact: Pop-ups and Economic Development
March 26

Training Courses

Economic Development Marketing & Attraction
February 13-14 | Atlanta, GA

Real Estate Development and Reuse
February 20-21 | Baltimore, MD

Economic Development Credit Analysis
March 5-7 | Madison, WI

Workforce Development
March 20-21 | Washington, DC

Business Retention & Expansion
April 24-25 | Atlanta, GA

Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Strategies
May 8-9 | Madison, WI

Real Estate Development and Reuse
May 15-16 | Anchorage, AK

Managing Economic Development Organizations
May 29-30 | Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN

Economic Development Marketing & Attraction
June 5-6 | Baltimore, MD

Neighborhood Development Strategies
June 19-20 | Madison, WI

IEDC Services:

Do you have an economic development question that requires research? Available to IEDC members only, Clearninghouse Information and Research Services is like having a research librarian, trained in economic development, at your fingertips.

New IEDC Members:

City of Trenton, NJ

Livingston County Development Group
Geneseo, NY

Weber Economic Development Partnership
Ogden, UT

Lloydminister Economic Development Corporation
Lloydminister, AB Canada

Sherwood Chamber of Commerce
Sherwood, AR

Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative
Glidden, IA

Township of Robinson, PA

Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Department
Athens, GA

Parkville Economic Development Council
Parkville, MO

Renville County Housing & Econ. Dev. Authority
Olivia, MN

Kent Economic Partnership
Dover, DE

Industrial Development Authority Halifax County, Virginia
South Boston, VA

Kingsport Office of Small Business Development & Entrepreneurship
Kingsport, TN


Membership Contact:
Phil Goodwin
(202) 639-9106
pgoodwin@iedconline.org