“The diversity of any system determines its capacity to adapt.”
-Gary Hamel
Keeping – or at least, trying to keep – the status quo in your local economy has never been so costly. There is a high price to pay for not dislodging the way we educate and train a ready workforce, move citizens to and from the workplace, plan and build housing, and deliver economic development services.
The Great Recession did dislodge many of these ideas, but the gravitational pull back to old ways is constant and compelling. It would be easy for community developers, city and regional planners, workforce partners, and business attraction groups to go back to staying in their lanes and out of each other’s business.
Or, we can forge ahead to define a new era of collaboration and innovation, to grow our local and regional economies in ways that lift more people and create advantage for our entire country. We can resource local, regional, state and national economic development teams with funds to compete. And we can support the training of a diverse new group of professionals that will look more like the citizens it serves.
This is National Economic Development Week. A week to celebrate the organizations and dedicated professionals that work to improve and build the physical and spiritual places we call home. Please visit our website for a full listing of economic development allies in the Columbus Region. We say thank you to all of them for the work they do to make our 11-county area a vibrant and special location to live and work.
Finally, a thank you to the many private and academic partners we have that take time to improve the Columbus Region. They are investors and allies that make our work possible and, quite frankly, better.
-Kenny McDonald
One Columbus Update
- This week, the One Columbus team is traveling to Japan to meet with companies.
- This year’s Columbus Techstars Startup Week powered by Chase for Business runs today through Friday. As Columbus’ largest event of the year for entrepreneurs, sessions will cover funding, product marketing, social enterprise and more.