February Chair's Column

Happy February GEDA,

Every February, my team hosts our Leadership Douglas Class for their economic development day. We talk about what economic development is and how we do it, economic sustainability, give them the data on our economic indicators and global trends and share about partnerships. We also get them out to tour some of our businesses and the community and look at it from a different lens. Each year we get great feedback on our day. 

But as we all know it’s one thing to just share the great news and give the “ra-ra” speech.  It’s another thing to dive deep into some of our issues and challenge them to step out of themselves and see the world from the perspective of the less fortunate amongst us.  Ron Kitchens says “The Greatest Force for Change is a Job”, and that’s what most of us in this profession set out to do on a daily basis, seek, find and cultivate job opportunities for our respective constituents. So, we decided to invite a friend of mine to talk to this year’s class about why it’s vital that economic inclusion be woven into your economic development strategy.  My friend, Nathaniel Smith, has been a beacon for shared prosperity and economic inclusion for years and his efforts are finally bearing fruit. He and his organization Partnership for Southern Equity (www.psequity.org) defines economic inclusion as:  Increasing equity in the distribution of income, wealth building, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for vulnerable populations.