William Schweke
Strong and intelligent leadership can turn economies around. Economic developers that neglect this important but intangible asset do so at their peril. Indeed, most mainstream economic developers seem to still believe that economic development is the “art of the deal.†I disagree. Instead, it is more about “the art of collaborative problem solving.â€
It’s true that without a steady and growing stream of new ventures and business expansions, an economy will not renew itself. And if improvements in the labor force or infrastructure are not generating such results, something is wrong. But such a focus on the project can also steer development in the wrong direction.
A focus on deal making perpetuates a quest for the one sure thing – the new branch plant facility, a stadium, a convention center, a casino, a theme park or even a prison. (“If we build it, they will come.â€) At best, these are outcomes of a good development process, but none is the silver bullet that developers and elected officials seek. Production of this silver bullet (or, more precisely, a variety of tools) requires an organizational and leadership precondition that we call “social capital†or “community capacity.â€
By social capital, we mean the capacity of a community to work consciously and effectively to shape its economic future. Indeed, the ability of residents – and their leaders and officials – to participate, lead, make decisions, implement plans and influence outcomes is a community asset as important as labor force skills, natural resources, the physical infrastructure, the financial capital and entrepreneurial drive. The possession or absence of community capacity increasingly will distinguish progressing communities from declining ones.
A few years ago, a group of seasoned practitioners of this art, including me, formed the Community Capacity Building Learning Cluster under the auspices of the Aspen Institute and identified the concept’s key dimensions and how they might be assessed and measured.
A community will be well positioned for future development success if it has:
- Broadened participation in local decision-making;
- Expanded its leadership base;
- Developed strategic plans for community and economic development;
- Increased individual skills and knowledge about how to move toward development goals;
- Established effective community and economic development organizations;
- Improved its access to and use of local and outside financial and professional resources;
- Made measurable progress toward its goals;
- Developed a system for monitoring and evaluating successes or failures.
North Carolina has been active in this area. Universities, the Department of Commerce, the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, foundations and corporations have all supported actions such as leadership development programs, economic development training, nonprofit management assistance and courses, strategic planning efforts and so forth.
Still, a greater effort is needed if we are to equip communities to excel in all three dimensions of community capacity building and prosper in today’s New Economy. One expert describes them as follows: We must increase the “breadth†of involvement and partnerships. We must enhance the “depth†of local skills. And we must “heighten†their relationships to resources beyond their community. This is the way to “move beyond the deal†and cultivate a more democratic development practice.
William Schweke is a vice president at the Durham office of CFED.Â