The Creative Philosophy

The principles that are the foundation of our firm combine our love of economic development and commitment to customer service with our desire to pay it forward.

  • Clients are big fish in our small pond. We manage our client load to ensure the high level of customer service that our clients deserve, and we demand of ourselves.
  • Each project is unique. We’ve never settled for templates. Don’t own a cookie cutter. And gave the one-size-fits-all suit away. Each project is based on a community, and every community is different.
  • We walk what we talk. We encourage communities to invest in their downtown, create a sense of place, and foster entrepreneurship. We believe we should too. We purchased and renovated a historic building (below) in downtown Elkin, NC, as a multi-use space that includes our corporate office.
  • Pay it forward. We joke that we are lucky to have enough paying work to supplement our habit of giving away work! For more than five years we have given away an annual consulting project, the Creative Give Back. This project is awarded through a competitive proposal process. In 2015, we launched the Economic Development Mentor Network, NCEDAMentorNetwork.com, a free online service that matches mentors and mentees. Since 2016, we have sponsored the Women’s Economic Development Network Forum to provide leadership training to women in our field. Check out our free resource library that provides information to economic developers.
Creative EDC is proudly located in historic downtown Elkin.

Check out this 1925 photo of our building, built around 1885.

Creative Economic Development Consulting