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Winning and Losing in Economic Development

Thursday, May 15, 2025

As we wrap up the International Economic Development Council's #EconDevWeek, Director Stephen Barrington shares his take on what success looks like in economic development. In this blog, Stephen speaks to how “wins” can look different for communities and why things like visioning, real estate development, infrastructure, planning, and supporting existing businesses are important. He also highlights how long-term investments, along with strong partnerships, can lead to transformational projects when communities plan with purpose.

Economic development successes in one community do not always translate as ideal in others. Winning can look vastly different across local and regional communities and across states. Urban centers, halo counties (those adjacent to a major metropolitan area), rural communities, and other geographically distinct areas have varying types of successes.    

In smaller communities, (re)developing a strong downtown area, having space for a new shopping center development, creating a smaller business and office park, or establishing a smaller light industrial park are incredible wins. For communities near major interstates or significant four-lane highways, in addition to those items noted within smaller communities, they may also be successful with larger manufacturing or distribution projects. In major metro areas, growing, maintaining, and extending utilities and transportation infrastructure may be the wins that are necessary for private sector developers to invest. 

Community activities that are foundational to economic development include, but are not limited to:   

• Visioning
• Real estate and product development 
• Existing business and industry program
• Marketing and business development
• Utilities Infrastructure
• Transportation Infrastructure
• Planning and permitting

Diving deeper into some of these foundational activities:

Real Estate and Product Development 
If your community has active private sector developers and investors who are investing in real estate and product development, this may not be an area of focus for your community. If active, private sector developers and investors are not in your community, then this probably should be in your planned activities.

Marketing and Business Development
While communities can start marketing their community, this will become essential when they have available market-ready buildings and sites.

Planning and Permitting
How easy is it for companies, developers, and investors to do business in your community? Are planning and permitting activities and processes easy? You may just want to ask a company, developer, or investor this question. If it is not currently easy and timely, make it so.

Other economic development activities that have gained greater voice over the past five to 20 years are workforce, housing, childcare, and power. These are important topics that communities should add to their planning efforts for the foreseeable future.

More on these important topics:

Workforce Development

Workforce has been a player as long as economic development has been around. This said, for decades, they largely lived separately. Over the last 15-20 years, the two have largely intertwined their target industry sectors.   

 

Housing

Housing refers to affordable or workforce housing, not low-income housing. This will continue to be a significant hurdle due to supply and costs.

 

Childcare

I remember Childcare being spoken of at conferences five years ago. However, the volume on this topic is getting louder and louder. Three significant challenges to this topic are supply, costs, and teacher pay. Harnett County helped bring together local, regional, and state partners for a conversation on this topic last August. Learn more about that event here.

 

Power & Energy

Over the last several years, the power requirement for new and expanding companies has grown significantly. The time it takes to obtain the power needed for many projects is 36-48 months. This is a challenge when companies are seeking to become operational more quickly.  Power companies are looking into ways to lessen the time it takes to bring power to a project. They are looking into small modular reactors (SMR), and other alternative power sources. SMRs are nuclear reactors that are modular and offer greater flexibility and far less time to bring to a project. 

Losing in Economic Development is real.

"Losing" happens in communities (local, regional, or state) that are not discussing, planning for, or aligning their budgets to move the needle forward for their community. These are communities that are not investing in foundational activities essential for long-term growth. Buy and read Economic Development Is Not for Amateurs! by Jay Garner and Ross Patten. Every community leader should read this book.

Winning and losing are often matters of perspective, while recognizing that different roles may have different perspectives. For example, while state elected leaders perceive wins as anything within a state, or their representative area, local elected officials often view winning only within their municipal or county borders. 

How big or how small is one’s framework for winning or losing? 

• At the municipal level, competition includes neighboring cities and townships.
• Every win by any city or township within a county is a win for that county.
• At the county level, competition includes neighboring counties and those across the state.
• Every win by any city, township, or county within a state is a win for the state.
• At the state level, competition extends to states across the country.
• Every win at the city, township, county, region, or state level is a win for our country.

Local economic developers want to win projects for their community. 

At a minimum, they want to be able to compete for projects and not sit in the stands watching others compete. It is sheer pain and agony to sit in the stands and watch others compete. Not winning a project is easier to swallow when your community can compete. In fact, if a project lands within a broader market region, it may aid your future successes.  

Winning and losing in economic development is real. 

Where is your community now, and what are you doing now to get your community to where you want to be? 

In Harnett County, we understand what is at stake. Communities across our region compete daily for jobs, investment, and talent. With major wins like the Harnett 95 Industrial Center - our first Class A industrial park – we are not just joining the game; we are positioning Harnett County as a key player. While development may not always be immediate, by following proven processes and exercising patience, Harnett County will experience unprecedented industrial growth in the next decade. The market will also offer more opportunities in professional services and retail, thanks to this work.

 Be sure to keep up to date on economic development progress by visiting our website and subscribing to our quarterly newsletter. Questions? Please reach out to our team.