I’ve been working on mapping what a genuine competency framework for local and regional economic development actually looks like — and it’s both broader and deeper than most people assume.

Some observations from the past 20 years:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱. Many practitioners operate without grounding in economics, business case development or market failure analysis — the conceptual tools that unlock public sector funding and the rationale for intervention. This is what often stalls ambitions when it comes to funded delivery.

𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 as competencies are almost mostly absent from current workforce planning, despite being central to every major strategy coming out of places.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 – communication, political awareness, stakeholder influencing – you need these skills to land approval, buy in and finance based on a sound technical case. Think of it as marketing and customer relations in a firm – you need to be able to sell your products, right? or no-one buys them.

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 – it’s so much more than marketing. Places aren’t cell phones or smoothie drinks. Places are complex systems and environments that investors and firms buy into for the long-term.

𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. Many times I’ve worked on initiatives where they hadn’t clocked that their neighbouring city or region was doing it so much better. It all comes down to asking the right questions, some of them need to make you feel uncomfortable. Learning, development and purpose comes from stress testing ideas and current modes of delivery.

𝙄’𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢’𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙭𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩?

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