Building Collaborative Community Economic Development Efforts
March 15th, 2008 by Jon Speer
Creo Quality has started mapping all assets in Indiana. The first community we are working with is Morgan County because this is close to home and where our business is headquartered. We are early in this process but I want to share an image I created last night:
I’m not an expert in utilizing Google Maps as a tool yet. The red box represents Morgan County. The ellipses represent the various communities and economic influences. Some background to validate:
- I’ve lived in Morgan County my entire life. I’ve lived in Martinsville for the past 10 years.
- My high school was in southern Johnson County. I also spent a great of time throughout Johnson County growing up.
- I worked in Ellettsville and Bloomington for seven years.
- I’ve worked throughout Indianapolis the past three years.
- I spent a little time working in Spencer.
- Creo Quality has been doing research throughout Morgan, Hendricks, and Marion counties to understand economic development efforts and influences.
Creo Quality is working with the movers and shakers in Morgan County to understand the importance of establishing cohesive and collaborative economic development strategies throughout the county and the region. I was recently asked by someone if it makes more sense for Morgan County to partner with Indianapolis or Bloomington. My answer: Both. And Johnson County and Hendricks County and Putnam County and Owen County.
The current economic development mindset throughout Indiana is that communities are competing against one another. Creo Quality is beginning to change this approach and helping communities understand the importance of working together. We are on the same team and should align our strategies to support one another.
Posted in Product Development - General
