The North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA), in partnership with the UNC School of Government, released the long-awaited fifth edition of the Economic Development Handbook. It is a concise and information-packed primer on economic development suitable for both beginners looking for an introduction and veterans seeking to keep a solid foundation. The handbook is a guide containing the basic tools of economic development with real world examples of their application. The primary authors of the handbook are Dr. Jonathan Morgan and Crystal Morphis. Morgan authored the first edition and has led all previous updates.
Knowing what economic development is, the processes involved, and having a set of tools are the foundations to doing, advocating, and assisting economic development. Whether it be it in a small community, a county, or a state, members of economic development organizations, business and elected leaders, and involved citizens can apply strategies from the handbook to their specific economic development program.
The handbook defines economic development as “the process of stimulating private investment through business attraction, creation, retention, and expansion (known as ‘ACRE’) activities.” It then follows up with basic strategies regarding each part of the acronym, how and why to prioritize, then uses real world examples of these strategies in action. All of this helps the economic development practitioner create an achievable strategy to grow the local economy. The handbook describes the many types of organizations and stakeholders that may be involved in the strategic planning process and includes specific tools commonly used when putting planned strategies into real action.
The handbook is targeted towards practitioners, volunteers, and elected leaders in the state of North Carolina and as such the references, list of state incentives, and examples are North Carolina focused. However, the foundational principles of the handbook are broadly applicable and can be modified and retooled to fit into other locales’ contexts. Thus, readers from outside the state can make use of the Economic Development Handbook to learn or to reinforce. All are encouraged to read it and apply it to their economic development program!
The Economic Development Handbook is available in PDF format from the North Carolina Economic Development Association here and the UNC School of Government here.