Career Pathways

An elderly man sits down next to a young boy on a park bench. The old man inquires with a smile "So, what do you want to be when you grow-up little boy?"

The young boy's eyes light up "An economic developer sir. That's what I'd like to be. I want to roam the world in search of economic opportunities for communities and help businesses and people become rich."

The old man replies "Good choice son. I know many highly successful and well paid economic developers in the world. You will need to complete your degree in economic development and start at the entry level and work your way up to a CEO level job. Just look at Joe Beans' career path. Follow his strategy and surely you will be a successful economic developer. Son, you may want to read the International Economic Development Council's book, " A Guide to Economic Development for Children." It's really interesting reading and offers lots of practical advice on how to get into and advance in the field."

Don't we all wish it was that simple? Duh. When I was growing up, the old man's eyes would have crossed and he would have patted me on the head, saying "Interesting. Very interesting son. This world needs more good economic developers...Whatever that is."

Perhaps you are like me and you get so caught up in the day to day adventure of work in the economic development field that you forget to do some career planning for yourself. I know I do.

I think most of us would agree that we need to think about our career pathways in economic development. I don't think we have a handle on the issue as far as I can tell. Even though our national association has grown stronger and more professional education and training programs are available, we still lack a clear vision of career pathways in the field. Chances are that those who hire you and pay your salary don't have the foggiest idea either.

I look at my own adventurous and fun, but very unpredictable, 27-year career in economic development. I started as a regional planner, moved into a business development and marketing role for a chamber, went out on my own and consulted for two years in the Far East, started up and managed a new countywide public-private partnership, ran a university-based economic development center, and now I consult in the field. What's next? Consult until I retire? Return to the world of practice? Become a monk and meditate atop a mountain?

Let's turn back the clock to the early 1960's. What other career options did I consider during my 52 years? As a child and adolescent, I thought my calling was the "mission fields." Yes, I wanted to be a missionary. I wanted to save souls worldwide.

Then, in my first four years of college, I wanted to be an archeologist like Indiana Jones. Can you dig it?

Then in graduate school, I wanted to be an organizational change agent...that is an organizational development consultant, freeing people from the shackles of the organizations they work for.

Then, reality happened and my first son, Jeff, came along and my wife said "You need to get a job, Don." A job in regional planning opened up. I took it, and discovered this amorphous field called economic development, which spanned the worlds of business and government. The next thing I knew I was hustling businesses and jobs for Greater Cleveland.

Being a consultant seems to come natural to me. Of course, my own style of consulting is an alchemy consisting of soul-saving, digging in the dirt for buried treasure, and trying to perform miracles on organizations and the people that live in them. Actually, I think most economic developers are really consultants. That seems to be an emerging role practitioners are playing in the field.

What are some concrete steps we can take individually and collectively to get a better handle on where careers in the field are headed?

1. Those working in the field, regardless of their current position and longevity in the field, need a career plan that is updated annually. Why? Because that plan will force us to continuously think about where we are headed and how we are going to get there.

2. We need to take stock of the core talents and knowledge we possess as economic development professionals. What do we really know how to do exceptionally well? We need to think in a more flexible way about these abilities and how they get used. Don't be afraid to think outside the box about future opportunities for yourself.

3. We need to continuously explore new ways to apply our talents and get paid more to do these things.

4. We need to think long and deep about the role of the economic development organization as an "emerging institution" in society. Right now, we do not have an institutional identity and we need one. To our credit, we are thinking about and working to advance our professionalism, but we are not seen as a part of society's institutional fabric like many other professions are.

5. We need to invent new industries in which economic developers can work. Why shouldn't every major corporation in America have an economic developer? I believe they should as part of an "embedded model of ED practice." Maybe we would get more done by working inside a company as opposed to working on the outside.

6. We need to challenge ourselves to think globally about the jobs we do and how our jobs in one community and nation affect economic development jobs in other communities and nations. We need to work together in helping local economies worldwide stay afloat and prosper.

7. So, I've given you six days of work to build a stronger career for yourself. Even God rested on the seventh.