Economic Development and Local Politics

The upcoming election in suburban Aurora, Colorado points up how easily economic development becomes a local political campaign issue in communities. Click here to read an interview by the Denver Business Journal with mayoral candidates. It all starts with this simple question: "What do you want business leaders to know about why you should be mayor of Aurora?"

Let's look at just one issue discussed during this interview. Regional coordination is a key issue for Aurora and other Denver area communities. Here is what one of the Aurora mayoral candidates had to say about this issue: "The second thing, which ties in with the first, is that Aurora establish better working relationships with neighboring governments and neighboring economic development agencies. We've had a very strong attitude of: 'We've got to get it because if they get it, we lose, they win.' And it really is not a zero-sum game in my mind. When the Denver metro area gets shored up economically, Aurora benefits from that, even if the business is not in our city limits." Sound familar? It should because its' an issue in almost all metropolitan areas across America.

It makes sense for Denver area communities to work together and see economic development as a common good for all concerned. Regional cooperation is not easy given the way businesses play communities against each other to extract bigger incentive packages. Cooperation is difficult also because economic activities, including businesses, labor markets, real estate markets, earnings and other things are not limited to single political jurisdictional boundaries. It's a good thing they aren't or we'd all go broke and our economy would fall apart.

It will be interesting to see how the political and economic development situations play out in Aurora, Colorado over the next couple years. Yes, let's fast-forward to 2005. The new mayor has been in office for 24 months and the Denver Business Journal wants to know how he is doing in upholding his campaign promises about economic development. What will he say? This is an important perspective to hold in mind as any community mounts a local economic development effort.

All communities getting involved in economic development must be aware of the political realities surrounding economic development and the need for the community economic developer to have a very skilled hand in navigating local political waters. Politics has always been the "art of the possible," and the professional economic developer must be able to get something done in even the worst of political environments. Are you up to the challenge? As a starting point, learn from other's experience--both good and bad.