Last month, John Karras attended the International Economic Development Council’s 2018 Leadership Summit held in Las Vegas (January 28-30). This annual event offers the opportunity for economic development’s senior-most leaders to share their experiences and talk about the future of the profession. In this post, John shares his three key takeaways.
Urban development trends, such as coworking, experiential retail, and big-box redevelopment will continue to impact US communities (large and small) in 2018. Economic developers, take notice! Creative approaches to development challenges will abound in the year ahead.
The economic potential of Fort Worth, Texas—soon to be the nation’s 12th largest city—is tremendous. In December 2017, the City unveiled its first economic development strategic plan. The TIP-lead initiative provides a comprehensive roadmap to guide the community’s growth over the next five years.
Just a few short months after the Greater Green Bay Chamber unveiled its new Economic Development Strategic Plan, the community announced a major stride toward meeting one of its goals: building a robust ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. In October 2017, the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft announced the launch of TitletownTech, a one-of-a-kind partnership aimed at spurring entrepreneurship and economic development in the Greater Green Bay region.
To help capitalize on its unique advantages, Kern County engaged TIP to lead the preparation of an economic diversification plan for East Kern County. Over the course of a 12-month planning process, TIP worked with Kern County and key partner organizations including the Kern Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the East Kern Economic Alliance (EKEA) to create a bold and comprehensive set of strategies to accelerate economic development in East Kern.
