“Tough times never last, but people do.”
-Robert Schuller
Economic development is conducted by and for the benefit of people. It is what makes the practice of bringing stakeholders together, with all of their diverse agendas, to move your community forward. Programs and people with only short-term objectives do not often move anything of substance forward without the intervention of someone else, or even teams of people, that facilitate dialogue, find the common ground and relentlessly focus on the future.
I am not suggesting that research and analysis, programs and policies are not important, because they are. I am suggesting that behind every building built, every job offered, every business venture formed, there were relationships that made the difference. People that took a shared risk, combined resources, and/or combined their talents to create the economy and the communities we are working to improve and build upon.
This week:
- Call three people that you haven’t spoken to in a year.
- Reconnect with one past client that you’ve had no contact with for a long time.
- Call a former mentor or boss and check in, ask how they are doing.
- Investigate how that business park or prominent building in your community was built, who was behind it?
Although we are armed with more data, business intelligence, and insights than any generation before us, we must take time to connect with each other to move forward. Let’s have a great week.
-Kenny McDonald