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WEDN 2023 Round Up

Learn and Lead 2023 was a huge success! A strong program and widespread support from the economic development community resulted in record attendance. From handling conflict to emerging industry sectors to equitable economic development, the WEDN program offered key takeaways for everyone. The program kicked off with a workshop on Handling Conflict. Led by Mark …

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Thinking Like an Anywhereist

If You Could Live Anywhere by Melody Warnick – A Must Read for Economic Developers If you could live anywhere, where would you live? That question used to fall into the same category as “what would you do if you won the lottery?” or “if you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who …

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Moore County Designated a Certified Entrepreneurial Community®

Moore County earned the designation of Certified Entrepreneurial Community® in July 2022. The initiative was sparked during a feasibility study to redevelop a building into an entrepreneurship hub. That project uncovered assets and opportunities to grow the small but burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in Moore County. Entrepreneurship can be a key economic development strategy for Moore …

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WEDN 2022 Round Up

The theme of this year’s forum was COVID Accelerated Everything – What’s Next? We dove into how COVID has impacted industrial real estate, entrepreneurship, city planning, family friendly workplace policies, and a host of other topics. This year we gave out copies of Adam Grant’s book Think Again. It is apropos given our theme and …

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Wage Measures 201 –Educating Community Stakeholders on this Important Metric

One of an economic developer’s roles is to educate local officials on economic development principles, best practices, and trends. We have had some discussions lately on how to help local officials understand the different wage metrics that can be used for incentive and grant programs. The terms average wage, manufacturing wage, poverty wage, and living …

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How does your project MEASURE UP?

Now more than ever before, communities are looking for growth in economic activity to “get back to normal’.  Opportunities for new investment and jobs often means developing a clear communications strategy to brief local and state government partners on the potential for the project, or even to advocate for public investments or actions to support …

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Summer of YES

It is hard to imagine in our lifetimes a summer more anticipated and full of promise than the summer of 2021. Opportunity and possibility are everywhere we look, especially when compared to last year when the world seemed so closed and unpredictable. Books may be a part of your plans for a sweet summer or …

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The Secret Sauce to a Long Career in Economic Development – Advice from the Best

What is the key to staying in the same position, in the same community for a long time and continuing to be successful? In a profession of musical chairs, what’s the secret sauce to longevity? We asked six economic developers who have been in the same position in the same community for more than 20 …

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EDOs are Updating Strategic Plans to Carpe Diem

Disruption in the economy, changing marketing and communications strategies, and growing/declining sectors make this a good time to update your strategic plan. Which sectors should I focus on? What marketing strategies are best now? What’s the best way to help small businesses recover? These are a few of the questions our clients have been asking. …

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Ever wish you had a back office to tackle your to-do list?

Creative EDC has a Back Office Suite of Services for EDOs that allows you to stay focused on the important tasks each day. We developed the back office to support research requests, surveys, reporting, content development, and other short-term projects. Maybe you’ve thought about hiring a part-timer/freelancer but hesitated because you would have to spend …

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