Economic development does not depend on economic developers.
First and foremost, economic development depends on business. Businesses create jobs. Businesses build wealth. Businesses shape the future.
Then there are the dozens of organizations, from city councils and boards of supervisors, to state agencies, utility providers, and schools and colleges, that fulfill specific and vital individual responsibilities for the benefit of prospect companies while somehow working in collaboration.
The Corridor’s job begins—and in some cases ends—with that word, “collaboration.” We are a hub, a connector, a facilitator. We link businesses with service providers.
Those service providers deserve regular acknowledgment and appreciation, so our intention is to use this newsletter over the next couple of weeks for a series of very short articles about some of the lesser-known playmakers in economic development.
We’ll start next Thursday with the Iowa Area Development Group, a statewide organization that has brought millions of dollars into our region. From there, who knows where we might go? USDA, SBDC, IEDA. We could cover the entire alphabet.
Our hope is that in informing Corridor stakeholders of the many talented men and women working on your behalf at the national, state and local level will also serve as a reminder that each of us has a role to play in helping Northwest Iowa grow.
With that in mind, we should amend the first sentence of this article: Economic development DOES depend on economic developers—and that means you.
