Latest on the Economic Development as a Profession White Paper

I would like to thank all of you providing comments on the Economic Development’s Status as a Profession white paper. They were very helpful. Those who have not commented yet, there is still plenty of time.

Comments thus far reflect eight overall views of economic development’s status as a profession. The number in parentheses indicates the number of people who reflected that particular view in their comments.

1. It is an emerging profession now with an undefined path to advancing its professionalism. (16)

2. It is an emerging profession now, and will continue to advance if we remain on our current professional development path. (8)

3. It is not a profession now, and it will not become one unless we make radical changes to move it in a professional direction. (7)

4. Right now, we don’t really know if economic development is or is not a profession. (6)

5. It is a new profession that will need to continue working on advancing itself. (3)

6. It is not a profession now, and it will never become one. (3)

7. It is a fully mature profession now, and it is making good progress in advancing itself. (1)

8. Our goal should not be to become a profession. Instead we should develop as a business. (1)

Several of you have suggested that economic development can learn from other professions, and I agree with you. In that light, please click on this link to see what one very relevant profession has to offer economic development. If nothing else, this profession points to a new skill set that should be tested for in the CEcD exam.