OUR BLOG
As I See It | The Fork in the Road that will Define Your Community’s Future
By: Janet Ady, President, and Jordan Ackerman, Senior Research Specialist/Project Manager “A rising tide lifts all boats.” That phrase is commonly attributed to John F. Kennedy. But in the decades of economic growth and development the country has experienced since...
As I See It | How COVID-19 Adds a New Dimension to the Site Selection Process
Back in the good old days – I’m talking about December before the coronavirus pandemic – site selectors thought about security mostly in two dimensions: natural disasters and man-made threats like crime or terrorism. Now a third dimension has entered our...
As I See It | Moving from Triage to Strategy
As economic developers start to pivot from the triage work of reaching out to existing businesses and connecting them with business resources, the big question is, “What should we focus on now to most favorably position our community for the future?” None of us...
As I See It | What’s Next in Economic Development
I’ve never been in a tsunami, but that is what this coronavirus situation feels like: the initial event has happened, and the ripple effects are just beginning to play out. Many of our clients and colleagues have been asking us what we think the impact of this...
As I See It | The One Thing Many Economic Developers Don’t Want Site Selectors to Know
Over the course of the past year, more than one economic developer has pulled me aside to make a confession: they’re no longer actively recruiting businesses. Instead, they are placing their bets on business retention and expansion (BRE). The main reason is that...
AS I SEE IT | ONE VIEW OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
In working with more than 500 economic development groups over the past 17 years, we have confirmed again and again the three pillars of success for economic development organizations: Alignment, Readiness and Differentiation. While all three are required for success,...
As I See It | Target Industries 2.0
In Ady Advantage’s most recent site selector research, one of the questions we asked site selectors was, “What single piece of information is most critical to have on an economic development website?” Their answer? More important than labor force data, available...
As I See It | A New Playbook for Rural Communities
This blog is for all those communities, especially rural ones, that for a generation attracted manufacturing businesses with a value proposition focused on low wages, plentiful unskilled or low-skilled workers, a strong work ethic, and a low cost of living. I’m here...
As I See It | Rural America Can Be Competitive in Talent
Last week, I had the honor of presenting a session at the National Rural Economic Development Association’s (NREDA) annual conference. The topic was Talent Strategies, and the room was packed with some of the best and brightest economic developers and utility ED pros...