Development is about transforming the lives of people, not just transforming economies. – Joseph E. Stiglitz What would you say your purpose is within economic development? For Desa Burton, changing the lives of those within her community through job opportunities has been the focus of her organization. Zip Code Wilmington focuses on providing quality software…

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” – Henry Ford What would you say your economic development superpower is? Jason Giulietti describes his as the power of team, and he takes pride in playing a leadership role on his. Currently serving as President at Greater San Marcos Partnership, Jason…

“Economic development is all about connecting, networking, and relationships.”  -Christina Frank Have you ever considered taking a leap of faith in your career? For Christina Frank, economic development wasn’t quite in her sights as she began her career in social work after college. Despite her untraditional path towards economic development, this “leap of faith” has…

“The ultimate resource in economic development is people. It is people, not capital or raw materials that develop an economy.” – Peter Drucker What began as a small two-page business plan has developed into something spectacular. Jennifer Owens CEcD, President of Lakeshore Advantage, joins Carla Sones on America’s Job Team Podcast. She reflects on her…

“Economic development is a great profession. It’s one where you do make lifetime friends” –  Jim Staton Have you ever built a long-lasting friendship through a working relationship? Carla Sones welcomes in good friends Chris Schastok and Jim Staton to share their experiences and how they met through economic development. Chris Schastok, Executive Vice President…

“Trust is something that is built. Everybody has to come to the table being willing to bring their best to an event but also be prepared to flex in and out of roles.” – Carla Sones When you bring site consultants or others into your community, what is your why? Why are you doing this…

“I’m obsessed with giving the audience something they don’t see coming.” —Jordan Peele Economic development is heavily focused on relationship building. And with relationship building comes event after event. Here at Consultant Connect we often get asked, how do you find the cool and memorable venues and moments that make all the difference? In this…

“Great thing take years to build.” —Sam Juraschka In economic development, the pace of work can be grueling. Because we’re often operating in a short-term mindset due to full project pipelines and shorter timelines on projects, it can feel counter-intuitive to stop and think about the long term strategy of your organizations work. What are…

Amazon has created more jobs in America in the last decade than any other company. With such a level of job growth, it’s only natural that the company has built an internal economic development team with its own strategy around doing developmental project work. How does economic development strategy differ when operating on behalf of…

“It is not so much about what life hands you, but what you do with what you get.” –Idowu Koyenikan Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way, and those tend to be the lessons that shape our leadership habits from that point forward. Whether it’s a lesson from a time where we assumed we knew…