You and your actions are economic development.
You and your actions are economic development. Although that may strike you as an odd assertion and as an idea that you think is not accurate or doesn’t reflect who you are as a person, every time you spend your money, you are encouraging a collection of behaviors and ideals that support economic development. When you spend your money, you are supporting an idea of production and production quality. You are validating a means of delivery and a type of experience through the exchange of goods. All consumers have choices as to where they make their purchases, and often that choice is determined by the quality of the interaction during the exchange. We are likely to be a return customer to a shop that greets us with a smile and may even offer 5 or 10% off just for being a repeat customer. And keep in mind that being a good customer grows the economy as much as being a good business.
All of those behaviors are considerations for the economic developer because those choices are enhancements of community through material prosperity as an expression of community ideals. Those in the profession consider such trends in the economy and trends in consumer behavior, while they watch the overall political landscape to gauge the direction and spirit of communities.
Economic development practitioners observe all of that and more to determine where to provide energy and resources that may result in a greater number of opportunities for people to be productive and for exchange to occur in a peaceful and fair manner. Doing so invites public and private sector solutions to create a network that ultimately delivers resilience to any given community; small business and entrepreneurship are the resilience and viability of a community. Small business and entrepreneurship support large industry. In the mix of businesses of all varieties and the communities along with their policies is the place where the activities of Economic Development Week happen.
Business Attraction. Business Retention and Expansion. Economic Gardening. Workforce Development. Redevelopment. These are names of various disciplines within economic development that are practiced every day in Flagstaff, Coconino County, the State of Arizona and everywhere and any place people live and work.
As such, Economic Development Week will be sponsored by the City of Flagstaff Community Investment Division, the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona, known as ECoNA, and Moonshot@NACET. Throughout the week, Flagstaff will be invited to participate in a number of activities and opportunities to meet with economic development practitioners from the public and private sectors to learn what they do and how they do it. Look for a schedule of events on ChooseFlagstaff.com, the City of Flagstaff’s Economic Development website. Some things you may see include a job fair, lunch and learn opportunities and other types of entrepreneurship events, interview skill workshops, or direct engagement events over coffee or a happy hour to discuss all elements of economic development.
We look forward to seeing you at these events and hope you will learn how economic development has a huge role in determining the quality of life in your community. FBN
By John Saltonstall
To learn more about economic development in Flagstaff, please contact Business Retention and Expansion Manager John Saltonstall at JSaltonstall@flagstaffaz.gov or Business Attraction Manager Jack Fitchett at jack.fitchett@flagstaffaz.gov.
John Saltonstall is the business retention and expansion manager for the City of Flagstaff.
