Big lessons from a small chamber

Submitted by Ed Morrison on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 09:05.

Civic leaders in Gladwin County, MI are pulling together the threads of an economic development for the firtst time.

The local chamber has been the epicenter for these efforts. From the looks of this article, the chamber has managed an inclusive process. It's a lesson that some chamber executives in much larger organizations here in NEO can learn.

Building a process that combines open participation with leadership direction is not easy. But is essential to economic development in our emerging networked economy.

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Economic Development in the Midland

This is a good article demonstrating healthy economic development processes. It would be fun to sit in on their planning.

But, Dow Corning was a client of mine and I've been to Midland (where they have their headquarters) and I really don't want to go back. They are right in describing the area as a nice relaxed rural area (with a few big factories) but they don't have any regional advantages over areas of Northeast Ohio - in fact, I'd compare the Midland-area to the least appealing areas of NEO. So, if they have any good ideas and practices we should steal them and make them work better here, where we have more appeal :-)