The University of Alaska Center for Economic Development is pleased to announce the first specialized training course of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) to come to Alaska.
IEDC offers economic development professionals the opportunity to become credentialed in their chosen field through its internationally recognized Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) program. As a Certified Economic Developer, you are acknowledged as having achieved a level of excellence in your understanding of the tools and programs of economic development.
The following course is an elective topic for the CEcD certification, but is open to anyone interested in furthering their professional development, whether you are an economic developer, an elected official, an educator, or a community leader.
Economic Development Strategic Planning
October 9-10, 2008
Downtown Anchorage Hilton
Critical to the success of any economic development effort is a thorough and comprehensive strategic planning process. Economic developers must build consensus among board members, stakeholders, and the community as a whole, while creating a unified vision for the future. Getting everyone to agree is not always easy.
By attending this course, you will:
- Learn techniques and skills for building consensus
- Look at the steps that precede the strategic planning process (identifying stakeholders, and preparing an economic analysis)
- Review methods for setting priorities and measuring impact to ensure successful implementation of your strategic plan.
The course covers:
- Organizing the team
- Building consensus
- Preparing an economic assessment
- Determining goals and objectives
- Identifying projects
- Strategy formation and effective implementation
- Setting realistic benchmarks.
Registration
The registration fee for this two-day course is $395. To register, contact Linda Ketchum at afldk@uaa.alaska.edu or call 907-786-5415 .
Registration form:
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Course Content
DAY 1
Introduction to Planning
The elements involved in the strategic planning process will be reviewed, as well as the goals and expectations for the course. This session will touch on some of the outcomes that the community can expect from the strategic planning process and participants will be asked to contribute from strategic plans that they have worked on.
Organizing for ED Strategic Planning
One of the most important aspects of strategic planning is the pre-planning phase of the process. Practitioners need to know who the plan is serving and must organize a team that will work together to carry out the process. A great deal of leadership and team building is necessary and the planning team must establish a clear timeline for developing the plan. This session will discuss the values and cultures that the planning team must build upon or establish during formation. Building consensus among planning team members is a major component in the strategic planning process. The team that is put together must include many different stakeholders representing a number of values and interests. After the pre-planning phase, the practitioner must establish a sense of ownership and consensus among those participating in the planning process as well the general community.
Consensus Building/Stakeholder Ownership
In a recent examination of successful economic development efforts, consensus-building was highlighted as a key activity for moving the planning process forward. In fact, the Chicago Metropolitan Mayors Caucus decided from the beginning that all decisions would be arrived at through consensus. Stakeholders must have ownership of the plan, which means they should play large roles throughout the process. Although building consensus may take time, it is imperative if the process is to succeed.
Analysis for ED Strategic Planning
The next two sessions cover how to both qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the community. The strategic planning process requires a great deal of analysis to understand the forces at work in the community. This first session will discuss the importance of understanding the local economic community and look at some of the factors to analyze during this phase of the strategic planning process. This session will introduce methods with which to do an economic base analysis, including location quotients, shift-share and specialization ratios. Input-output analysis and cluster analysis will also be discussed briefly. The types of data to collect and where to collect the data will be discussed.
Techniques for Assessing Economic Data
Once attendees have discussed the types of data to collect and the types of analysis that are applicable, how are the data used, interpreted and applied to the future needs of the community? The planning process will be influenced by the type of data that are collected and the conclusions made from that data.
DAY 2
Vision, Mission, Goals & Objectives
By establishing a clear vision with understandable mission statements, the team can build goals and objectives in a more significant manner. This session will discuss this widely overlooked but extremely important phase of the planning process. Leadership involvement, organizing for accountability and starting the prioritization process of projects will be included.
Strategic Project/Initiative Identification
One key element to consider when creating an action plan is how to prioritize the projects that will help achieve the plan’s goals and objectives. The process for prioritizing includes determining from where resources are coming and the benefits and outcomes for each project. This critical phase of the planning process identifies the major initiatives and programs that the overall plan will address. What is realistic given the community’s constraints? What resources will be tapped for each project? How does the community decide which projects are realistic and feasible given the current situation, potential future situation and the given resources? Participants will also help draft a budget for their projects and identify funding sources for projects.
Strategy Formulation
This session continues the discussion concerning the strategy formulation process. This is a significant phase in the planning process as it builds the action plan for achieving the set goals for the organization or community. Attendees will be introduced to the process of cost-benefit analysis when determining which programs to develop, as well how to prioritize the key programs for funding purposes.
Action Plans and Implementation
The successful economic development practitioner will have an organizational chart established for implementing each action plan. Practitioners must build support for the programs and projects to be implemented. During the implementation stage, a number of political and competition issues may arise. The team must address these in advance with an implementation plan to sustain its programs. This session will discuss how professionals can be successful addressing these issues during the implementation phase.
Evaluations/Monitoring/Benchmarking
Although listed as the final step to the planning process, the choice of benchmarks and ways in which to monitor the progress in the plan need to be considered throughout the process. At this stage, specific measurements must not only be set in place, but a process with which to measure those measurements must be solidified. This includes tapping into other resources and leveraging information that is already available in the community. |
