Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development

In this episode, Dane talks with talks with Clint Knight and Sandy Messner. In 2022, the Richland Area Chamber tackled Workforce Development from a unique angle. They'd spent years working to integrate upskilling opportunities and education in the effort, and realized that there was a gap in the process. They identified that gap - in their community - as "awareness". They've taken on a large scale marketing strategy to attack that challenge head on. By utilizing opportunities for project based learning, multimedia content, and targeted social media strategies - they are backing the truck up, and working to make sure that stakeholders and active players are aware of the resources and opportunities that are available to them. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guests: Clint Knight and Sandy Messner.

In this episode, Scott Graves talks about how investing in creating housing density across a wide a socioeconomic spectrum can build better places. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Scott Graves.

If you want to see BR&E program that consists of more than just being a connector of information and contacts for your businesses, this is the episode for you. In tis episode, Jana Sanchez walks us through the ins and outs of the Business Accelerator Services of Estes (BASE) Program at the Estes Park EDC. The BASE Program is a 6-month intensive dive into building and growing your business, helping leaders in three core areas - Leadership, Operations, and Innovation. According to Jana, existing businesses need executive education in order to grow and expand. This should be an essential function of your business retention and expansion programs. Her accelerator is comprehensive executive education that is helping her mountain tourist town's businesses to expand. But not just that – her program can show positive , concrete results that help the EDC be better understood in the community, and raise more money. The episode is full of great insights, and success stories from Estes Park. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Jana Sanchez.

Greg Lowe is the Economic Development Director in Lewisburg, Tennessee. His workforce development program doesn't start in trade school or junior college. It starts in third grade. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Greg Lowe.

Thomas Salley is the Director of the Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority. He is passionate about rural development, hospitality and tourism, and it shows. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Thomas Salley.

Mark Barbash has been in economic development since 1981. Today, he spends a lot of time trying to improve the profession, bring more young people into the economic development, and figuring out how to grow the profession for the future. Mark is currently the founder and Director of the Ohio Economic Development Institute, the professional development program for the Ohio Economic Development Association. The Institute provides education and training in both basic and intensive economic and community development. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Mark Barbash.

As economic developers, we can be guilty of deciding what our community should be and then telling everyone to get busy. According to John Lynn with cela Innovation, another model is to create and provide the tools necessary for our communities to figure out where they see opportunities in the market and then support them as they develop profitable solutions. Regional startup accelerators can fulfill that role and help our communities develop post-pandemic resilient economies. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: John Lynn.

Amanda Beadles absolutely loves the small town of Chillicothe, Illinois. That's good because she's their local economic developer, and small town econ dev can be difficult without the right mental attitude. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Amanda Beadles.

Dane talks with Amanda Ellis, Editor in Chief of Livability.com, about marketing your community for economic development and talent attraction. Amanda hosts the Inside America’s Best Cities podcast, writes the Let’s Talk Talent newsletter. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Amanda Ellis.

Paul DiGiuseppe still considers himself a newcomer to economic development, but Paul has an incredible, contagious, passion for the industry. Now the Director of Economic and Community Development at the Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts, he started in the industry four years ago, in a different small town, with no experience in economic development, but with 25 years of city planning in a variety of cities across the county. About a year and a half into his job, he realized that he didn't understand and know enough about econ dev. And then COVID hit. He was totally unprepared and wasn't ready to help his local businesses struggling to keep their doors open. While receiving COVID funding information from the state and feds, he had no good way of communicating with his businesses. This kept him up at night. Finally, with the help of many people both inside the town and out, as well as podcasts, websites, books, etc., he grew to better understand his role in economic development. As a result, today, he's more focused than ever. He spends his days connecting with his business community and doing business attraction. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Paul DiGiuseppe.

In this short snippet of an episode Dane talks with Paul DiGiuseppe, who explains what to do in your first 90 days on the job. Paul is the is the Director of Economic and Community Development at Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts. This is part one of Dane's conversation with Paul. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Paul DiGiuseppe.

This is part two of conversation with J.R. Charles. In this episode, J.R. shares his incredible war story and explains the nobility of the economic development profession. J.R. explains: One of my biggest projects came when I was informed about a looming bankruptcy for one of our manufactuers (I'd like to keep the companies anonymous). Rather than let the company liquidate, I worked with the facility's manager to identify another company which bought out that insolvent manufacturer. The new company acquired the insolvent company on Feb 14, 2020 (we called it the best Valentine's present our community could recieve), and one month later, COVID hit and my wife and I welcomed our son into the world. I worked with the new company's corporate and legal team via weekly zoom meetings to negotiate the incentive deal; at the same time, I kept our elected officials informed as they were dealing with quarantine protocols, face mask orders, and public health initiatives. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: J.R. Charles.

In this episode, we play the first part of a conversation between Dane and J.R. Charles, the Community Development Director for the City of Mauldin, South Carolina. In their wide-ranging conversation, J.R. explains how to best take advantage of memberships in state and regional associations. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: J.R. Charles.

Beka Burton recently failed her CEcD exam, and she's here to talk about it. She doesn't think about it as failing. She just found a way that didn't work. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Beka Burton.

Dane talks with Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director in the Village of Oswego, Illinois. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Kevin Leighty.

In this episode, Dane talks with Steve Griffin of Finger Lakes EDC. Steve's rural New York community has gone from a sleepy little community to leading their metro region by percentage growth in nearly every single economic category in the last 15 years. Here's how he did it. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Steve Griffin.

Economic development consultant Andy Portera answers the question: When you're brought into a community, what do you advise them to do first. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Andy Portera.

Chad Newell serves as President of the Area Development Partnership (ADP) in Hattiesburg, MS, a position he has held since December 2009. The ADP is the regional chamber of commerce and economic development organization for Greater Hattiesburg, MS. He recently co-authored the book The Journey: Successful Strategies and Techniques for Economic Developers. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Chad Newell.

In this episode, Dane talks with Nathan Ohle. He currently serves as the President & CEO of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization serving economic developers, with more than 5,000 members globally. According to Nathan, "The economic development field is changing, and IEDC will continue to play a leadership role in driving equitable economic outcomes." Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Nathan Ohle.

Last week the IEDC published the program for their 2022 Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma September 18-21. Since for some of you this might be the first conference you've attended in person since 2019, I thought it might be an excellent opportunity to share my "rules for conferences". Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!

In this episode, Dane talks with Darren Stauffer. Darren spent four years at the Arlington Economic Development, and now he's in Europe working with Dealroom.co, a venture-backed global data platform for intelligence on startups, innovation, high-growth companies, ecosystems and investment strategies. According to Darren, the tide for economic developers has shifted, and tech ecosystems are truly everywhere. The days of 'we want to be the Silicon Valley of ...' are gone. Every city and region has a story to tell, and the geographic landscape of what can be a tech hub has shifted over the past several years. Understanding this growth while fostering it is going to be more and more important for all types of cities. Because data is powerful. It doesn't matter where your city or region is on the development of their tech ecosystem - data can and does inform decisions and having the right data to help tell your story is important. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!Special Guest: Darren Stauffer.

In this episode Dane talks with Mark Gustavson and Marlene McTigue of KathodeRay Media about their success stories in rural economic development digital marketing. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Special Guests: Mark Gustavson and Marlene McTigue.

Dane Carlson talks to Carrie Kelly, the Executive Director of the Arizona Association for Economic Development. They discuss: The economic development landscape in Arizona Is Carrie an economic developer or an executive of a membership organization The economic development stars in Arizona Mentors and mentorships How Carrie wants to make BR&E sexy Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Special Guest: Carrie Kelly.

Has this happened to you: Do you find it difficult to explain your job to your family, friends, and even your professional contacts? According to Melissa Meschke, Economic Development Outreach Manager for the Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin, the interesting thing about Economic Development is hard to difficult it is to describe economic developers do. Her response: Use plain language! She recently earned a Plain Language Certificate through UW-Madison. The experience was eye-opening for her and has helped her to hone in her networking and written communication. In this episode we discuss this, networking, and Melissa's favorite book: How to be a Power Connector by Judy Robinett Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Special Guest: Melissa Meschke.

How do you merge a Chamber of Commerce and an Economic Development Organization? Today we talk to Andy Sokolovich about his experience doing just this in Clinton, Iowa. With the overwhelming support of the membership, investors, and Board of Directors, the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce and Clinton Regional Development Corporation have approved a merger — creating a single entity known as Grow Clinton. The combined organization will focus on tourism, economic and community development. How did the merger come about? How did it work? What about the staff? In this episode, we talk through all this, and more. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Special Guest: Andy Sokolovich.

In this episode, we get geeky. Dane quickly explains his podcasting setup. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

In this episode, Dane talks downtowns with Jenn Gregory and Elliott Cook, both on the Downtown Strategies team at Retail Strategies. Every community in America, of any size or population, can revitalize or create a downtown. According to the Jenn and Elliott, placemaking comes in all shapes and sizes. They encourage you to start small and build on that success! In this episode, Dane talks downtowns with Jenn Gregory and Elliott Cook. Jenn and Elliott are both on the Downtown Strategies team at Retail Strategies. Every community in America, of any size or population, can revitalize or create a downtown. According to the Jenn and Elliott, placemaking comes in all shapes and sizes. They encourage you to start small and build on that success! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your name or Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Special Guests: Elliott Cook and Jenn Gregory.

Dane talks to Sarah Thompson about rolling up your sleeves and figuring out a new path if your rural community needs help. According to Sarah, there is nothing that can stop those who truly want a better future for their downtown and community. It takes hard work and committed volunteers. Special Guest: Sarah Thompson.

In this episode, Dane talks with Jim Searcy, executive director of the Economic Development Association of Alabama. Special Guest: Jim Searcy.

In this episode, Dane talks with Alejandra Castillo, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and the head of the Economic Development Administration. We discuss: Ms. Castillo's background and how she became the country's chief economic developer The Economic Development Administration and the US Commerce Department The Build Back Better Regional Challenge Supply chains Worker training and workforce development Regional, cluster-based, and place-based economic development Infastructure Building capacity at the local level Recovery and resiliency in your local community Making your community more competitive globally Collaboration in economic development, and who the EDA collaborates What the EDA is doing to promote diversity, equity and inclusion Special Guest: Alejandra Castillo.

Dane talks to Jay Garner, president and founder of Garner Economics, and the former chair of both the IEDC and Site Selectors Guild, about his new book "Economic Development is Still Not for Amateurs".Special Guest: Jay Garner.

In this episode, Matthew Tate explains to host Dane Carlson how to craft your community's elevator pitch. Matthew Tate has spent the past 10 years at Retail Strategies working directly with cities in order to help them perfect their elevator speeches. Through data and analytics, he helps cities understand their unique story in order to make a more impactful pitch to potential businesses that may locate in their market. Special Guest: Matthew Tate.

Dane talks with Emily Blaylock, Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer for Northwest Bank about Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Northwest Bank & Trust Company is an entrepreneurial bank that has built an Economic Development Division to help developers and municipalities get projects done around the US. They utilize Tax Increment Financing (TIF) incentives designated from the municipalities to give developers funds upfront. These funds can be used to provide gap equity, expansion of existing sites, investment in other projects, working capital needs, or tenant improvements. Currently, they have completed projects in 8 states and over $400 million in funding. Their team has over 100 years of combined education in economic development and banking to help structure these loans.Special Guest: Emily Blaylock.

Chris Johnson is the Director of Johnston County Economic Development in North Carolina. Imagine how difficult it must be to give out his email address. Dane and Chris talk about Chris's background in retail and what new perspectives he's brought to economic development including thinking of a spec building as a loss leader.Special Guest: Chris Johnson.

Rob Sitterley is a real pro. He's worked in a local community, statewide and now works in regional economic development. In this episode, the President & CEO of AR-TX Regional Economic Development Inc. shares his tactics to make you better economic developer. He also gives us some insight into Texarkana, and doing economic development for two different states.Special Guest: Rob Sitterley.

Dane and Cole Przybyla talk about Cole's unique business retention and attraction tactics in rural California.Special Guest: Cole Przybyla.

In this episode, Dane talks to Kristen Gamboa. She is the Senior Economic Developer for the Village of Los Lunas. She has been instrumental in helping existing businesses expand and grow, as well actively market and bring in new economic-base businesses to the second fastest growing community in New Mexico. Prior to this, she was the Director of Business Development for the New Mexico Partnership where she actively engaged with companies, C-suite executives, and site consultants looking for expansion, relocation, or new project opportunities across the Land of Enchantment. According to Kristen, "New Mexico is a hidden gem that is still a little rough around the edges but with more regionalized economic development strategies you're going to hear and see more companies expanding to our 'Land of Enchantment'."Special Guest: Kristen Gamboa.

Tom Wengler and Dane talk Hubspot, and economic development marketing.Special Guest: Tom Wengler.

During the pandemic, cities were able to use elements of gamification and behavioral economics to boost consumption at their local businesses and create a sense of civic pride. Colu VP Michael Mazur explains the process to host Dane Carlson.Special Guest: Michael Mazur.

Economic development district director Alyce Brown thinks that economic development was already changing before COVID, but that change has now become a necessity because of the pandemic. She talks to Dane about how to get back to basic, grassroots initiatives. She explains that "hometown pride" needs to be a part of our planning and long-term vision. Special Guest: Alyce Brown.

The American Dream for millions of Americans has always been to work hard for thirty years, and to then to retire to Florida. But what if you could break that mold and work where you want to live? Lisa Krouse and Erin Silk talk with Dane about workforce and business attraction, and what's driving the growth of Sarasota County, Florida.Special Guests: Erin Silk and Lisa Krouse.

In this episode, host Dane Carlson talks with Caleb McMahon. Caleb is a former site selector in China, who is now the Director of Economic Development for Port Angeles, Washington. Dane and Caleb discuss what he's seeing on the ground, and in the water.Special Guest: Caleb McMahon.

Earlier this summer, Dane was a guest on the EcDev Network, where he talked about his background, moving from California to Texas, and the Econ Dev Show. The EcDev Network a weekly Clubhouse call focused on economic development, hosted by Dan Taylor, Bob Minhas and Lara Fritts . It's the only Clubhouse club, by economic professionals for economic professionals and local economies across the globe. The call is for those interested in community and economic development issues. This includes elected officials, economic & tourism development professionals, businesses and community members. Each week Bob, Dan and Lara feature a different theme with special guest speakers.

In this episode, Dane talks marketing with Dave Parsell. Dave is co-founder of Localintel, a technology company providing location marketing tools that hundreds of economic developers have added to their website to promote their community's advantages.Special Guest: Dave Parsell.

Ruth Buchanan is the Economic Development Manager, and Che Barnett is a Redevelopment Coordinator. Both work for Manatee County, Florida. There, they work together to build the local economy from the top and the bottom. Special Guests: Che Barnett and Ruth Buchanan.

Ben Nelson is the founder and CEO of Radix Leadership. He specializes in helping leaders and organizations build high performing teams that achieve their goals by aligning their purpose and their people to deliver on performance. He's also the executive director of the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation in Wisconsin.Special Guest: Ben Nelson.

Dane and Bill Woodrum have a wide reaching conversation on entrepreneurship. Bill is the Coordinator of the WV Entrepreneurship Network and project director for WV BusinessLink at the WV Department of Economic Development. Special Guest: Bill Woodrum.

Meet Lea Ann Seiler of Hodgeman County, Kansas. Her job is to daily figure out what obstacles she can remove so that her community members can move forward with their businesses. Special Guest: Lea Ann Seiler.

Andrew Sloss was a site selector for ten years before making the transition during Covid to economic development. Listen in for his advice from both sides of the table. Favorite Books & Resources I would highly recommend Jay Garner and Ross Patten's book Economic Development is Not for Amateurs especially if you are new to ED but it is also a good refresher for those experienced professionals. I love to read so this is a difficult question to answer. For now, I would say The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. Favorite Economic Development Tools We just started our subscription recently so I am still learning the platform but Gazelle.ai has been amazing and will help us a great deal in recruiting companies to Brookings. We currently don't use Slack at BEDC but in past jobs, I have really enjoyed using that for internal communications and team building. I also cannot say enough about all the resources the Next Move Group has for EDO professionals. Chad may talk funny but he has a lot of information for EDO's to better themselves professionally and personally. What's the Most Important Thing You've Learned Recently? The most important thing I have learned, especially over the last 5 years is that you have to do what is right for you and your family. No one is going to look out for you other than yourself. If you have an opportunity to better yourself, gain experience, and/or make more money to provide a better life, take it. Don't worry about what others might think and certainly don't worry about what your boss/board/co-workers will think. No one, other than yourself, will ever have your best interests in mind.Special Guest: Andrew Sloss.

On this, the 20th episode of Econ Dev Show, we're doing something different: This week we're replaying an interview with Dane from the We Are Jobs Podcast.Special Guest: Chad Chancellor.