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We provide insights based on our experience and current work and discuss what changes in policy mean for our localities, regions and cities
๐’๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐
Not because they weren't smart. Not because they didn't work hard. But because nobody had ever explained to them what economic development actually is. What is the mission? What is the function? What are the dilemmas you'll face when public purpose and private...
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐? ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด
I sat in meetings early in my career where decisions were being made and I didn't know the local backstory. Who had tried what before? Why certain approaches had been abandoned? What are the political sensitivities? What the community actually needed versus what...
Early Career Shaping: Delivery Matters
๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป: ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐บ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฃ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ต๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ด I thought I was reasonably well prepared. I had read the research, understood the theories, sat in plenty of meetings with practitioners....
On Sale Today! The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook
Today's the day. The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook is now available in hardback via amazon. After two years of writing โ and thirty-two years of practice behind it โ the book is out! I've also recorded a ten-minute video walkthrough that takes you...
EDW Founder Membership Open Until 20 April 2026
After 32 years working in economic development, Iโve noticed something. Thereโs no real home for people doing this work in the UK. No professional community where practitioners can share whatโs actually working, get honest answers to difficult questions, or access decent CPD without sitting through another generic leadership course. Thatโs why I built Economic Development [โฆ]
The post EDW Founder Membership Open Until 20 April 2026 first appeared on Economic Development World.
What the Experts Are Saying About The Local And Regional Economic Development Handbook
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ! ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ง-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ! And the first review has landed from a world-renowned professor of innovation: โ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐. ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, [โฆ]
The post What the Experts Are Saying About The Local And Regional Economic Development Handbook first appeared on Economic Development World.
What The Experts Are Saying About The Local And Regional Economic Development Handbook
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ! ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ง-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ! And the first review has landed from a world-renowned professor of innovation: โ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ...
๐๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ – ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐
The evidence is clear: successful industrial clusters generate genuine competitive advantages. Firms in Oxfordshire's Motorsport Valley are 6x more productive than isolated competitors. Research Triangle Park transformed North Carolina from textile dependence into a...
๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
Local leaders often say they can't afford to invest in economic development. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ โ ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ'๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น: ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ...
Will the UK’s ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ “๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐” be coming back to work?
Since COVID, 850,000 people in the UK withdrew from the active labour market. This massive rise in economic inactivity has happened at the same time that policy has tightened controls on hiring overseas workers, and the UK's further and adult education system has been...
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐)
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐) Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can't get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who "can't find work?" The problem...
Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit
"๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐." "๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต." "๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ." ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ? In 31 years of economic development work, I've learned one hard truth: ๐ท๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ. Sharpen up your objectives ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ...








