Economic Development Budgeting in an Uncertain World

“Strategy is a commodity, execution is an art.”
-Peter Drucker

Allocating resources to execute your economic development strategy is always hard. The future is always uncertain and the list of “priorities” always outweighs the resources you have to address them all. Whether you are budgeting now for 2018, or you are approaching the mid-point of your fiscal year and are considering some halftime adjustments, here are some questions to ask:

• Does this budget serve our mission and the “one thing” our organization has been tasked with? We all know there is always more than one big thing we’re asked to do, but there is always a most important thing.
• Does this budget allow us to execute the fundamentals and achieve the things we are measured against? This makes your metrics a bit more important.
• Does this budget allocate funds for “planned uncertainties” and for innovation? Are you trying anything new? Are you prepared to fail at a few things?

There are hundreds more, and there is no time like the present to force yourself and your leadership to consider tough questions about budgeting and execution of your plan.

-Kenny McDonald

One Columbus Update

• One Columbus joined the Rise of the Rest bus tour last week. Congratulations to all finalists in the pitch competition and to winner SafeChain!
• This week, the One Columbus team is hosting companies evaluating the Columbus Region.