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For the past five years I have been writing a weekly newspaper column, "On Economic Development." I started out with some fairly clear notions of what I wanted to accomplish with the columns. However, the value derived from the process has proven to be much more than I have originally envisioned.
In these notes I will try to share with you how I got started, what I set out to do, how it has worked, what I have learned, and why you may want to consider writing your own economic development column.
IT STARTED OUT OF FRUSTRATION
I have found that most people simply do not understand local economic development initiatives, and without understanding, they tend to assume the worst. The misinformation, misunderstandings, and second guessing that occurs around the tables of local coffee shops can be one of the greatest impediments to local economic development and community progress.
So, part of my motivation to write a column on economic development was to help residents of the communities I work with to be more understanding of development efforts. I also knew that properly informed and motivated, local residents can be a great source of creative ideas, entrepreneurial energy, industrial leads, venture capital and much more.
THE VISION
In starting the column I wanted to help create...