Economic Developer as Business Strategist

I have thought for some time that economic developers should develop a new skill set related to business strategy. Why? Because we continue to intercept "deals" too late to have any impact of how or where they happen. If we work with companies at the strategy level, we may stand a better chance of increasing our impact. It's worth a try.

I have always been impressed with how a school of pirhana can overtake larger prey. With the right business strategy skills, could we help smaller companies in our area work together, or work with smaller companies elsewhere, to compete against larger corporations? As the multinationals pull even farther away from American communities, maybe we should be thinking in this direction.

It can be done. Read this article in Strategy+Business. Think about it. Could this be a new role for economic developers in creating growth opportunities for their areas?