Follow-On Thoughts on North Carolina's ED System

Earlier this week I reported on a new UNC study assessing North Carolina's economic development delivery system. Here are the major observations that I draw from the report:

* In response to new issues and demands, North Carolina's ED delivery system has evolved in many directions over time.

* The current system is not as strategically focused and coordinated as it needs to be.

* Regions and state government, while still working together, have grown apart in many ways.

* Some believe that the state has too many regions that do not correspond to "real" regional economies.

* Regional partnerships are the best approach to economic development for North Carolina.

* Both the state and its regions may be giving too much attention to business recruitment.

* The state's ED delivery system should strive for better coordination, but not at the expense of regional flexibility.

* Both the state and regional ED delivery systems need to work harder at performance monitoring and assessment.

I am not surprised by these conclusions since the same could be said of the economic development delivery system in most states. Economic development systems are evolutionary constructs that take shape in response to both political and economic issues. While the drama may vary somewhat from state to state, economic development remains "political economy" in the true sense of the word.

As I said in my earlier article, I believe North Carolina has a good economic development system and one that has produced favorable economic development results over the years. North Carolina has a superior system to that found in many other states. For that, North Carolina deserves a lot of credit.

What would I recommend for North Carolina?

* Work on sharpening the opportunity focus on the state and regional economic development efforts. The state has built significant capacity in a wide range of industries over the years, including vehicle and parts manufacturing, furniture, life sciences and biotech, environmental technology, and a host of others. I suggest a "portfolio" approach to developing these opportunities and new ones in the future.

* Work on building innovative state and regional partnerships with national and global resources that could foster increased economic development in the state in the future. Key targets should be the state's technology sector and its university system. Tourism also offers some good partnership opportunities as well.

* Develop coordinated state-regional investment strategies that build regional economic development capacity. Strategies related to infrastructure, education, industry clusters, and urban and rural market-building are most crucial.

* Explore how all state and regional ED programs and initiatives can play a stronger role in stimulating "market responses" to the opportunities and challenges facing North Carolina. Most economic development systems are not capitalizing on their existing market strengths. Growth occurs in and through markets, not economic development delivery systems.

Go here to download the NC ED report.