Economic Development Strategic Planning

September 17-18, 2015 │ Fort Worth, TX

This highly interactive course lets participants work in small teams to help understand the complexity of strategic planning and its challenges. Economic developers must build consensus among board members, stakeholders and the community as a whole, creating a unified vision for the future. Learn techniques to build consensus among stakeholders who represent different values and interests. Also, participants will learn the quantitative techniques used to better understand their community including: location quotients, shift share, input-output and cluster analyses. Explore project assessment methods for setting priorities and measuring your plan's impact.

Course Highlights:

• Stakeholder analysis, structuring participation, planning fundamentals 
• Consensus building, group facilitation and conflict 
• Defining geography, competitive advantage and SWOT 
• Determining vision, mission, goals and objectives 
• Demand-side strategies and supply-side strategies 
• Identifying projects, strategy formation and implementation 
• Setting realistic benchmarks and measuring success 
• Exploring the use of dashboard indicators

Instructor:

Jon Roberts 
Principal 
TIP Strategies, Inc.
Austin, TX

Jon Roberts is the Managing Director of TIP Strategies, Inc. (TIP), in Austin, Texas. He is an international leader in economic development and has overseen projects throughout the U.S., as well as in Europe and Asia. Mr. Roberts is currently involved in a variety of development and recruitment projects. In addition to being a practitioner in the field, he has prepared policy papers on national economic development strategy, published articles on economic development marketing, and has written editorials for major newspapers. Mr. Roberts was formerly the Director of Business Development both for the State of Washington and then for the State of Texas. In these positions, he directed recruitment and investment and led international trade missions.

Accommodations/Training Location:

Holiday Inn Express 
1111 W. Lancaster Avenue 
Fort Worth, TX 76102 
Phone: (888) 465-4329
IEDC Room Rate: $129 
Cutoff Date: August 26, 2015