Transparency has become a huge issue in parts of my circles lately, especially among people who are working with open data and civic technology, as well as my colleagues who are trying to build better public engagement. It seems like everyone who has any awareness of how the world is changing understands on at least …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: Joining the Journey to True Transparency
We all like free. But free isn't always good. That was one of the two thoughts that I had when I read this article from Bizdistricts.com. On the surface, it certainly sounds like a good idea: The CreateHereNow program aims to offer free rent to new businesses. It allows empty storefronts to be occupied for …
Continue reading Stores for Free? From the Not Sure if It’s a Good Idea file
My friend Sara Dunnigan just announced that she is leaving the world of consulting to become the Executive Director of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, a job that perfectly fits the most enthusiastic Make Our Existing Businesses More Successful professional in the economic development profession. Thankfully, before she moved on, she wrote up her research …
Continue reading Do Business Recruitment and Retention Right: a guide from Sara Dunnigan
OK. I wouldn't know the person who wrote this if they bit me, but I think I am in love... both because of the valuable insight this person brings to a crucial issue, and because... well, anyone who names their blog "Nonprofit With Balls" is my kinda people. Anyone who touches communities that aren't completely …
What-you-do-will-have-impacts-you-didn't-expect is probably one of the strongest themes in the Local Economy Revolution Book. As I describe in there, one of my earliest encounters with the profession of planning resulted from being hip-deep in the aftereffects of a massive urban renewal project in Green Bay, Wisconsin. No matter what I did, where I was, which building I …
