Strategic Planning
Strategic planning for a community or
organization envisions its future and develops
necessary procedures and actions to achieve
that future. This session will focus on the
background understanding of strategic
planning and its process, how to design &
organize the process, and developing
strategies and formulating action plans.

Entrepreneurship; Small Business Development
This session will differentiate between
entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial
businesses and organizations in economic
development and discuss the central role of
innovation in successful entrepreneurship.
The program will discuss "entrepreneurial
culture" as a necessary condition for robust
small business entrepreneurship and related
economic development. The program will also
present the finding from the 2008-09 Michigan
Entrepreneurship Score Card (authored by
Mark Clevey). Finally, the program will discuss
Economic Gardening as a viable tool economic
development practioners can use to foster
enhanced entrepreneurship as a community
and economic development strategy.

Managing an Economic Development
Organization
This session will cover the issues specific to
economic development organizations such
as; working with leaders, developing a vision
for the organization and community,
delegation of available resources to the right
programs and the development of the most
appropriate programs for that organization
and community.

Attraction and Marketing
As an economic developer, it is important
that you have basic knowledge of the
marketing process and its benefits. This
session will focus on the marketing process,
geographic and economic considerations,
suspects vs. prospects, and advertising &
promotion. Also addressed will be market
research and targeting.

Real Estate Development and Reuse
In this session, participants will be introduced
to the land development process, with an
emphasis on the role that the economic
developer plays. Participants will learn about
the various tools that are available
at the local level, including tax increment
financing, bonds, land assembly and
eminent domain, in addition to the many
federal programs available.

Financing
This session will focus on several key elements,
including: blending of sources, capital
availability, source of long-term financing,
returns to the lender, and leveraging.
Once we have a better understanding of the
structure, we will then look at the two sectors
in financing: public and private.

Workforce Development
Workforce development is quickly becoming
the #1 focus for economic development
organizations. A skilled and educated
workforce is crucial in today’s economy.
This interactive session will focus on the
need for the creation of workforce development
programs that address both community
and business needs.

Community Development
This session will provide an understanding
of the steps in the community development
process, and the challenges of community
development in economic development
practice.

Retention and Expansion
Business retention and expansion is critical
in today’s economy. The objectives of
this session will include how to organize a
business retention and expansion program.
We will cover how to provide examples
of programs and activities that foster the
growth of existing business, to recommend
strategies helpful in implementing a successful
program, and identify valuable local
resources.