"What gets measured gets done." This management proverb helps explain why economic development professionals continue to throw the majority of their resources after large companies. Simply put, economic developers are still measured on outdated metrics: how many jobs they bring to communities; how many square feet of industrial parks they fill; how many companies relocate to their communities. Economic developers are not incented to champion entrepreneurship, or fertilize start-ups despite the fact that from 1994 to 1998, the largest US firms lost 2 million jobs, while small companies created over 10 million.

Big business used to be economic development's best bet. Attract Nestle to your community and whammo: 500 new jobs. But big business is no longer the best game in town. In this economy, speed and agility is directly proportional to business success. In this environment, small, flexible start-ups are primo economic development accelerants.

Gen X'ers (b. 1961-1981) start 4 out of every 5 companies in this country. They are our first digital generation. By the time they're 30, most X'ers have thought about or started their own company. Where is the economic development support for the next generation of Rockefellers, Fords and Galbraiths?

We need to change how Economic Development is measured.

 

 

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