M A Y 2 0 0 9 | I L L I N O I S M U N I C I P A L R E V I E W | 7

INTRODUCTION

Every local governmental official is now challenged with the

need to promote jobs and new investment in their community.

The question asked is “How does our community accomplish

this task?”

This question is often answered by chamber of commerce

members, government employed professional economic

developers, and/or an assembled group of academics. These

individuals usually work with a large group of interested

individuals offering their opinions of what programs and

activities should be undertaken by businesses and government

to stimulate the local economy.

The recommendations might include an improved effort to

retain existing businesses or an effort to attract new businesses.

Tasks could also include developing a business park or

improving education to provide more skilled employees. It may

also include efforts to improve our neighborhoods and

downtown business districts to attract young well-

educated adults who wish to live and work in an

attractive and exciting community.

The responses differ, typically having as many

variations as there are people discussing what should

be done. To the lay person, preparing the community

economic development strategy can be an

overwhelming and complex task; being something

“best left to the professionals.”

The truth is that strategic economic development planning is

rather simple. It is not rocket science. This article seeks to

demystify preparation of an economic development strategy,

simplifying the process into ten easy tasks. By answering

simple, easily understood questions, a group of people can

prepare a strategic plan organizing an economic development

program for their community.

QUESTION 1 - WHO ARE WE?

A simple question! Yes, we know we are a community of, for

example, 5,000 people. That’s correct, but what do we know

about ourselves? How many people do we have in the workforce

and what are their ages? What jobs do they do and how much

and what type of education do they have? How many are

unemployed or underemployed? How many kids are in school,

when will they graduate, how many will go on to college and

how many will obtain other advanced technical training?

Many of these questions can be answered by data obtained

primarily from the U.S. Census Bureau. This information can

provide a narrative and quantified description of who we are

and who makes up the workforce. It can also identity their

education and job skills. According to business site locators,

available workforce is one of the top criteria of any firm

seeking to expand or locate a new business operation.

QUESTION 2 - WHAT IS OUR ECONOMY?

It is usually simple to identify the major employers. This

typically includes school district and hospital. The city or

county government and a few major businesses are also

major employers. They account for a substantial number of

jobs located in the community. However, there is a large

segment (some estimate 80%) of jobs that is provided by

smaller business that often-times is overlooked in this simple

tabulation. Small businesses are the primary generator of

new jobs.

Data from the U.S. Census, U.S. Department of Commerce and

state employment agency can be useful in providing a narrative

and quantified description of the number and type of jobs in the

community. This data allows examination of the number of jobs

and wage scale of the current jobs in the community. It can also

help identify the growth (or decline) of these jobs over time,

which is important to know to determine what specific jobs the

community currently has and what types of jobs that the

community would like to attract.

QUESTION 3 - WHAT ARE OUR PROBLEMS ANDOPPORTUNITIES?

This is a more difficult question answered by a detached

unemotional critical evaluation of “community

competitiveness.”

PREPAR ING AN ECONOMIC DEVE LOPMENT S TRATEGY CONT INUES ON PAGE 8

Preparing an Economic DevelopmentStrategy in Ten Easy StepsB Y C H U C K E C K E N S T A H L E R A N D C R A I G H U L L I N G E R

Part of the City of Peoria’s Economic Development Plan, the Innovation Center on Main Street.

8 | I L L I N O I S M U N I C I P A L R E V I E W | M A Y 2 0 0 9

PREPAR ING AN ECONOMIC DEVE LOPMENT S TRATEGY CONT INUES

One way to answer this question is to complete what

researchers call a “SWOT” analysis. To complete a SWOT

analysis, the community lists its economic Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The completed list provides information identifying unique

opportunities for existing business expansion and opportunities

for recruiting new businesses. It also identifies weaknesses and

future threats which may discourage business expansion and

new business location, which may be remedied by specific

community action.

For example, the SWOT analysis might disclose that the

workforce has a concentration of skilled computer-operated

machine tool makers. This workforce can be offered to

prospective businesses needing such workers. It may also

disclose that the farmland designated for industrial

development has no water and sewer and is not “shovel ready”

for a business to immediately begin construction.

QUESTION 4 - WHAT ARE OUR STRENGTHS?

Like a well-trained prize fighter, who patiently waits to use his

“best punch” to win the fight, an economic development strategy

must identify the community’s economic development “best

punch.” Completing the SWOT analysis helps identify unique

economic strengths that can define the “economic development

knock-out punch” for use in the fight to create new employment

opportunities in the competitive global environment.

Identifying the “knock-out punch” is

sometimes easy. It might be a unique

geographic location affording superior

logistic transportation amenities. Or it

might be proximity to a nationally rated

university. Perhaps it might be a young

highly educated available workforce. It

could be an attractive recreational or

small town residential lifestyle that the

community offers to new residents.

Regardless of the type of strengths

identified, analysis of community

strengths is necessary to select those

specific opportunities that can be used to

create new jobs within the community.

QUESTION 5 - WHAT DO WE WANT TO BE - OURFUTURE VISION?

Of the ten questions, this question is the most difficult to

answer - what do we want to be?

This question is most often answered by a carefully worded

vision statement, prepared by the consensus of interests that

places into words a mental image of what the desired future

should be. The phrase “Our Future Vision is that our

community will be the premier regional location for

business investment in 2015” is an example of a vision

statement.

This statement tells a big story. It proposes that the community

will be the premier location for new business investment when

compared to surrounding areas. It also provides a means to

measure comparative success by measuring economic indicators

such as 1) increased jobs, 2) an increase in number of

businesses, and 3) an increase in business tax base within the

community. It also gives a time period to measure success.

QUESTION 6 - HOW DO WE GET THERE?

With an understanding of our strengths, weaknesses and

opportunities plus a vision of what the community wants to be

in the future, answering this question may become clear. The

answers become a list of specific actions that must be

completed to either eliminate defined weaknesses, or maximize

identified strengths to capitalize on identified opportunities.

The area just south of downtown Peoria is a mix ofold industrial lofts, one story industrial buildings, andvacant lots. This area will become a vibrant mixed -use residential and commercial neighborhood. Someof the old industrial lofts will become condominiumssimilar to the successful development of the buildingson Water Street. The street level space can becomeviable commercial and retail space.

M A Y 2 0 0 9 | I L L I N O I S M U N I C I P A L R E V I E W | 9

For example, the lack of “shovel ready” sites can be remedied by

investment in utilities, roads and governmental approvals

necessary to have the site ready for construction immediately

upon receipt of a building permit. Another action may be a Tax

Increment Financing District or a Business Development District

or a Special Service Area to provide incentives for business

investment. Other actions may include completion of community

appearance projects, securing worker skill training programs for

laid-off workers, or conducting a national marketing program to

recruit new businesses to locate in the community.

QUESTION 7 - WHAT RESOURCES DO WE HAVEAND NEED?

Every community has resources, typically scattered among a

large number of separate organizations. The key to answering

this question is identifying these resources and involving

them in developing the economic development strategic plan

with agreements to “take-on” and fund specific work tasks.

A chart can be prepared listing the specific work task identifying

the person or organization that is responsible for the task, when

the work is to be

completed and how

it will be funded.

Preparing this chart

early in the strategic

planning process

also identifies work

tasks that do not yet

have a sponsor or

funding.

In our example, a

work task to install

infrastructure for a “shovel ready site” may be assigned to the

city public works department. Obtaining necessary planning

and zoning approvals would be a task for the city planning

department. The city council could be assigned responsibility to

begin city council sponsorship of a TIF district for a future

business using tool making machinery equipment. The

community college could be asked to sponsor a workforce

retaining effort with the chamber of commerce assigned the

task of developing and implementing a marketing program.

The chart may also identify the need to involve other

organizations or recommend formation of new entities to carry

out specific work tasks. We might need a downtown

development organization to sponsor a downtown

redevelopment plan or a neighborhood redevelopment

organization to sponsor redevelopment programs.

QUESTION 8 - WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

The key to successful implementation requires gaining

commitments from specific individuals to complete work tasks.

This “buy-in” of responsibility is critical to success.

In our model economic development strategy, the mayor, public

works director, city planner, economic development director,

president of the community college and chamber of commerce

director would be named as “responsible parties” and charged

with the duty to complete one or more specific work tasks.

QUESTION 9 - HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Undertaking an economic development program costs money,

typically more that any single organization has within its budget.

Answering this question establishes a budget for each work task

and identifies who is to provide the funding for the task.

QUESTION 10 - HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN WEGET THERE?

In every successful economic development program the progress

towards completion of each work task is periodically reported. It

gives the opportunity to celebrate success and to modify the tasks

if necessary to assure successful accomplishment.

Measurement tools to gauge progress are

critical. Useful milestones to measure

success should be included as part of the

Strategic Plan.

Some strategies break the process down into

a number of separate categories, such as

logistics, health care, energy, agri-business,

retail, etc. Other approaches include a much

quicker and simpler process, with the

development of a one-page strategy. This

approach can sometimes be used as an

interim until a full blown strategy can be developed.

ONLINE EXAMPLES

The following Web pages show examples of recent economic

development strategies. Each effort is somewhat different, but

most of them follow most of the ten items.

PREPAR ING AN ECONOMIC DEVE LOPMENT S TRATEGY CONT INUES ON PAGE 10

EXAMPLE OF S TRATEG IC P LAN WORK TASK CHART

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT S TRATEG IC P LANWORK TASKS

Work Task Description BudgetFundingSource

Responsible Party

CompletionDate

ProgressMeasurement

Tool

Part of the City of Peoria’s Economic Development Plan, construction begins on theMethodist Medical Center.