D'Aprix Rules Of Economic Development

1. Be wary of economic development rules-even mine. Be a maverick and a rule-breaker. Your ultimate goal is to impart change in the community, you cannot do that by going along to get along.
   
   
2. Good economic development in inextricably linked to good planning. Economic development is ultimately about placemaking, and too few understand that. Large consulting firms in their effort to get the next study completed miss that point all-too-frequently and it is maddening.
   
   
3. Never forget that your ultimate goal is improving the quality of life for local residents. Remember the neighborhoods and the people who live there, including renters. We all deserve the dignity that comes with good housing, good jobs, and the opportunity to advance. The economic development professional, as an agent of change, can play a role in shaping the lives of local residents—it’s a heady but rewarding quest.
   
   
4. IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT …..EXECUTE, EXECUTE, EXECUTE. Communities have been studied to death. Charrettes, planning studies, visioning sessions, market studies. ENOUGH! Pull the trigger and implement. If you can’t, find someone who will. Implement, Implement, Implement.
   
   
5. With Rule 4 firmly in mind, charrettes can be useful tools for guiding a city, town downtown, or neighborhood—just don’t overdo it!! Economic development professionals have avoided charrettes for too long. A charrette should be a multi-day event—anything else is just a gabfest! Done right, a charrette will yield a workable product that the community can support—done wrong and you have wasted your time and the time of many good people.
   
   
6. Again, with rule 4 at the fore—market studies and analyses are fine, but they must contain original data—and they have limitations. Make sure that your market study is unique to your community and reflects your community. Big firms will try to pass off boilerplate material and charge an arm and a leg. Your community is unique and special and deserves more. The ultimate goal is IMPLEMENTATION! Get someone who will give you—YOUR MARKET STUDY—THE MARKET STUDY YOUR COMMUNITY DESERVES!
   
   
7. Whenever possible shake things up, questions the rules and push back hard against the economic development establishment. As trite as it sounds—question authority and try to be an agent of change—your goal is to affect change and you can’t do that by being playing by the same old rules. Intellectualism matters. The best economic development people are intellectually curious—period.
   
   
8. Support Smart Growth and its tenets. Do not cede the Smart Growth territory to The Planning and Community Development Communities. Smart Growth equals sustainability—and you should always be thinking about sustainable development.
   
   
9. Create an entrepreneurial climate in your community. Support entrepreneurs, develop incubators and think like an entrepreneur! Entrepreneurs are the future of local economic development. Do not worry about attracting businesses—concentrate on attracting good entrepreneurs and smart people.
   
   
10. We live in a global economy—but the economic development community must endeavor to create local, ethical and sustainable communities. You should be thinking about how to grow a true local economy—if you are successful you will have a flourishing, interesting and effective community.