Books For Economic Development Professionals
The Local And Regional Economic Development Handbook: Build Prosperous, Sustainable and Inclusive Local Economies
Everything the field expects you to know — in one reference you can trust, for the whole of your career.
Read it once and you’ll have the grounding the job assumes you already have. Keep it on your desk and you’ll reach for it for years — when you’re making the economic case to elected members, testing a business plan that has to stack up, designing a programme that needs to deliver, or briefing a partner who’s relying on you to know. Thirty-two years of UK practice, distilled into a single working reference that spans every discipline in the field and shows you how the work actually gets done. Whatever your role in shaping places and economies, this is the book that makes you more confident, more credible, and more effective — in the room and on the ground.
Prosperity In Every Postcode: Build Organisations That Turn Devolution Into Economic Development and Growth
Learn how to set up the organisations and teams that can discover and implement best practice themselves, and continually improve.
Power, money and responsibility are moving to mayors, combined authorities and councils – the opportunity places have been asking for. The places that thrive will be the ones that build the capability to use it well: sound evidence, strong relationships, well-designed programmes, disciplined delivery and continuous learning. All of it is buildable, and this book shows how.This book is not a strategy document and it is not a toolkit. There are no holy grails of local and regional economic development: no formula, no transplantable model, no single lever that works everywhere. What there is, instead, is a set of disciplines and capabilities that make institutions great at delivery. Prosperity in Every Postcode is an operating philosophy for the people responsible for the results.
Testimonials and Team
Glenn (BA, MA, PhD) has 31 years of experience in local, city and regional economic development and regeneration.
This includes executive leadership, project development and leadership, area visioning programmes, leading partnerships, and economic analysis and insight.
Glenn has held senior roles at Futureskills Scotland, London Development Agency, Centre for Cities, The East of England Development Agency, and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP.
Glenn also heads up a consultancy practice at Mylocaleconomy; and contributes to the Local Skills Improvement Partnership.
"A Fabulous Resource For Our Industry"
“A big shout out to Glenn Athey who has taken his many years in economic development consultancy and created Economic Development World (www.economicdevelopment.world), the UK’s first online community for local and regional economic development that provides CPD, on-demand lean learning, a community of peers and workbooks. Built on three pillars of accelerated learning, shared knowledge and community support, it is a fabulous resource for our industry. Have a look at Glenn’s video tour at: https://economicdevelopment.world/take-a-video-tour-of-economic-development-world/
“From what I have seen already, this has the potential to create a stepchange in how the UK delivers economic development, putting the skills and development of practitioners, whether newbies or old hands, front and centre.
“Get yourselves signed up, get involved and support this great initiative.”
Six lessons for industry cluster development in regions
What are the main lessons and best practices for industry cluster and industrial development? Synthesizing the approaches of Ireland, USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the UK reveals a powerful set of common lessons and best...
7 Lessons for Enterprise and FDI Support from a Programme Review
A couple of years ago I helped a region review its approach to enterprise and business growth and inward investment promotion. One of my key observations was that - this region is renowned for being a tech and business success, but in reality this success was in a...
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Economic Development Agencies and Teams
Economic Development Agencies (EDAs) and Teams play a crucial role in fostering sustainable growth and improving quality of life. But what separates the truly impactful agencies and teams from the rest? Drawing on my Ph.D. research into what makes these...
Curious? A personal message from the founder
Hi Economic Developer! Curious? What is Economic Development World? My name is Glenn Athey - I've spent a career in local, city and regional economic development here in the UK. You might know me from my LinkedIn presence - where I write articles and posts every...
Workforce Skills Challenges for Local and Regional Economic Development
An Analysis of Skill Weaknesses and Professional Development Challenges in Local and Regional Economic Development Across Select Nations The skills challenge for economic development activities and services Economic development officers and managers serve as pivotal...
5 Ways in Which Economic Development Professionals’ Skills Will Have to Adapt in the Next 5 Years
As the global economic landscape is reshaped by rapid technological advancements, a heightened focus on sustainability and equity, and the increasing frequency of economic shocks, economic development professionals must significantly adapt their skills and knowledge...