IEDC provides vital insight

Posted by Lake Superior Community Partnership on June 22, 2015

The LSCP has been a member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) for about 10 years. Their mission is to provide leadership and excellence in economic development for communities, members and partners. We rely on the IEDC to ensure our organization and staff maintain the highest standards of economic development organizations and stay on par with EDOs all over the county. The IEDC’s purpose is to help economic developers do their jobs more effectively, and to raise the profile of the profession. If they succeed, their members create more high-quality jobs, develop more vibrant communities, and generally improve the quality of life in their regions. They provide information on trends and best practices, networking opportunities, professional development courses and numerous other services.

I am currently serving my second term on the IEDC board of directors including a variety of committees as assigned by the chairperson. This allows me to learn from and build relationships with some of the most successful economic developers and site selectors in the country while giving back to an organization that has been a critical part of the LSCP.

As a member of the IEDC, the LSCP is able to attend many seminars, conferences and workshops throughout the year. These are a wonderful opportunity to network with and learn from community leaders, industry experts and federal policy makers. While the economic development staff at the LSCP all hold bachelor’s degrees in a variety of subject areas, the IEDC serves as the economic development continuing education or “masters program” if you will, to provide the focused and in depth training needed to be successful. From the IEDC basic course through the higher level courses in attraction and finance, our staff is trained and ready to assist.

No matter what sector you are in you probably have an industry standard, certification or accreditation that you set as a goal to achieve. Something that validates your credentials and places you at the top of your field. For economic development organizations, that is becoming an Accredited Economic Development Organization through the IEDC. We were the first to be accredited in the state of Michigan and one of only three currently (Saginaw and Ann Arbor). What does that mean? This accreditation gives us credibility with our clients, partners, elected officials and stakeholders. It shows that we are committed to being at the top of our field and providing the best economic development services to our community. This process consists of a peer review of materials submitted and a site visit. We have been an AEDO for four years, recently completing reaccreditation in 2014.

The LSCP now has two Certified Economic Developers on staff. I have been certified for five years and Caralee Swanberg, VP of Economic Development, completed her certification this month. This requires years of professional economic development experience as well as many hours of courses, training and the successful completion of both a written and oral exam. This certification is also through the IEDC. Subjects covered in the training are business retention and expansion, strategic planning, marketing/attraction, technology led economic development, real estate development and reuse, economic development finance, workforce development, entrepreneurial and small business development strategies and more. All of these topics help us to provide the businesses we work with in our region the highest level of service. If you see Caralee out and about, congratulate her on this prestigious certification. We are very proud of all of Caralee’s hard work and on passing the exams to achieve this certification.

Hopefully this gives you a little insight into how our staff and board are prepared to provide high quality economic development activities. For more information on the IEDC, visit www.iedconline.org.

PS – I was recently asked by a longtime friend and avid column reader how I find time to write, so I let him in on my secret. Yes, Dave, I wrote this one at night in my jammies too!

Amy Clickner, CEO, writes a bi-weekly column for the Mining Journal.