Posts & articles
Beyond the Brochure: Elevating your Investment Attraction Game
I'm writing and recording the video lessons for the new Economic Development Community of Practice I'm launching later this year over at economicdevelopment.world One of the issues that causes me endless frustration is that many localities in the UK fail to get beyond...
Get your offer out in a language that business understands
๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ "๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป" ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐? ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ? ๐ The word "innovation" can sometimes feel vague or lead to a narrow focus on R&D without a clear path to commercial success. What if we reframed the...
International Lessons From City Deals
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ I was lucky to participate in a ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ last week. Here are the key lessons from the UK and Australia on City Deals. It was a chance to reflect on the great report I wrote with Professor...
Best Practice Economic Development Organisations Don’t Just Implement Programs
๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ Organisations ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐ง๐๐ข๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ. Hereโs the behaviours I've seen from ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ economic development organisations: ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:...
The Hidden Cost of Vague Objectives
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐.โฃ (and it will make or break your economic development initiatives)โฃ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต, ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด.โฃ โ Simply having a "mission statement" doesn't...
Whatโs the Best Cache Plugin for WordPress? 5 Options Compared for 2025
Your site is slow. People leave. Google shrugs. You tweak your theme, compress your images, scream into the void. Still slowโฆ The problem might be your cache plugin, or rather the cache plugin you're not using yet.
Coming soon… a day in the life of an economic development consultant
I'll soon be starting a new semi-daily blog highlighting my work, my challenges, mistakes, caffeine habit and frustrations with technology... and don't get me started on public procurement exercises!!! trying to add a bit of humour, with insight and reflection to...
How to Get Your Public Funding Approved for Local Economic development
Getting Your Local Economic Development Funding Approved can be a Challenge if You have no or Little Experience in This! Based on our ๐๐น๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, here are key tips for success: 1๏ธโฃ ๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: Know your organization's...
Master The 7 Executive Tasks in Local Economic Development
๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ณ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐จ ๐๐ฃ Local ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ: 1 - Set clear objectives for your local economy, programme, service or agency 2 - Develop winning ideas for your local economy 3 - Write a successful board or committee paper for your local economy service...
Asked to Write a Board or Committee Paper About Your Local Economy at Short Notice? Essential Guidance
We've all been there - "Glenn, we (you) need to write a board paper about this local economic development initiative, its due in tomorrow by 5pm. I'm assuming you can get on with this no problem?!" But writing a board paper from zero experience isn't easy. So here's a...
๐ฝ๐๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ผ๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐๐จ
While the social justice argument for tackling poverty is undeniable, there are equally powerful economic justifications for why it must be a central pillar of local and regional development strategies. Here's why addressing poverty is smart economics: ๐ญ. **๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ...
Ready to Elevate Your Economic Development Game?
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง'๐จ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐: Stop wasting time on vague priorities. The Toolkit provides a proven methodology to transform fuzzy ideas into crystal-clear, measurable, and impactful...