Ball State University’s Building Better Communities’ (BBC’s) Primacy of Place™Initiative is premised on the idea that a great state is comprised of great communities, and those communities can improve themselves in partnership with Ball State University. BBC has provided comprehensive services that take place in or for the benefit of community partners throughout the state of Indiana. These partnerships serve to engage university faculty, staff, and students in addressing a wide range of community challenges. Primacy of Place™ represents a community’s strategic choice to dedicate its resources toward placemaking and the improvement of life experiences for residents, businesses, and visitors. Today, the most successful communities are those that recognize the critical importance of human capital in order to compete effectively for economic development. Talent is the single most important element in local economic development, and we believe quality of place is the primary factor in a community’s ability to attract and retain talent. The ongoing activities of the Primacy of Place™Initiative include a community awards program to recognize successful community quality of place initiatives, a conference to bring together business, university, and civic leaders to discuss how quality of place contributes to economic prosperity, knowledge groups to identify intellectual and creative resources related to Primacy of Place‰ã¢, and best practice databases to make resources readily available. Read the Case Study: http://universityeda.org/value-to-members/best-practice-sharing/awards-of-excellence/awards-of-excellence-2013-finalists/primacy-of-place-initiative/

1. Presentation to
University Economic Development Association
Pittsburgh - October 28, 2013
Primacy of Place Initiative
Dick Heupel, MA, CEcD
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

2. Primacy of Place
Primacy of Place represents a
community’s strategic choice to
dedicate resources toward
placemaking and improvement of
life experiences for residents,
businesses, and visitors.
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

3. Primacy of Place
Talent is the single most important
element in local economic
development, and quality of place
is a primary factor in a
community’s ability to attract and
retain talent.
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

4. Primacy of Place
The most successful communities
are those that recognize the critical
importance of human capital in
competition for highest valueadded economic development.
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

5. Primacy of Place
Initiative Components:
• Community Awards Program
• Best Practices Databases
• Primacy of Place Conference
• Publications
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

6. Primacy of Place Activities
Community Awards Program
Tactical activity designed to:
Own the space
Generate Publicity
Gather intelligence
Contribute toward knowledge base
Three communities awarded with original
artwork
from university Department of Art
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

7. Primacy of Place Activities
Best Practices Databases
Strategic initiative
Create and disseminate knowledge
Led by faculty and external partners
Supported by BBC staff
Presented publicly at conference
breakout sessions
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

8. Primacy of Place Activities
Best Practices Database Topics
Arts Integration
Community Design
Community Collaboration for Educational
Excellence
Community Well-Being
Municipal Governance
Community Readiness for Change
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

9. Primacy of Place Activities
Municipal Governance Database
Knowledge Group (KG) Leader: Dr. Charles
Taylor Extended KG members:
Ian Nicolini, Town Manager, Cedar Lake
Grant Kleinhenz, Town Mgr, Brownsburg
Librarian Joseph Roberts
BBC support: Suzie Jones, Rose Wright
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

10. Primacy of Place Activities
Municipal Governance Database Categories
Citizen and Community Engagement
Strategic Planning
Strategic Management
Performance Measurement and Improvement
High Performance Human Resource
Development
and Management
Community Collaboration
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

11. Municipal Governance
Building Better Communities
Ball State University

12. Primacy of Place
Conference:
Presenters:
Fred Kent, Project for Public Spaces
N. Thomas Linebarger, CEO, Cummins, Inc.
Sue Ellspermann, Ph.D., Lieutenant Governor
Sheryl Conley, President, OrthoWorx
Ball State Provost Terry King
Participants: 205
Follow-up inquiries include Indiana Grantmakers
Alliance for
presentation statewide.

13. Primacy of Place
Sample Publications:
White Paper:The Future of State and Local Economic
Development Policy (Heupel and Hicks, 2012, 2013)
Cultural Tourism in Indiana: The Impact and Clustering
of the Arts and Creative Sectors in this Recession (Hicks,
2009)
The Cultural Economy – Benefits, Challenges, and
Plans (Fosnight, 2013)
The Causes of State Differences in Per Capita Income:
How Does Indiana Fare? (Hicks, Devaraj, Faulk, Heupel, and
Canaday, 2013)
Opinion-Editorials in every major Indiana newspaper

14. Primacy of Place
• Replicability: Size doesn’t matter!
Universities, colleges, departments, and non-profits of any
size can study, teach, and engage in placemaking activities.
• Scalability: Bigger is better (for now)
• Placemaking most commonly practiced in medium to large
cities, but a number of vibrant small communities serve as
models for others.

15. Primacy of Place
• Sustainability: The Real Thing
The movement is real and here for the foreseeable future. Lack
of institutional continuity and commitment is a risk.
• Originality: Value-added
Ball State didn’t discover this phenomenon. Placemaking
knowledge leaders are most commonly found in larger
metropolitan areas and college/university towns. Ball State’s
originality is its integrated approach to developing and
disseminating knowledge broadly throughout the state through
public research and engagement.

16. University Economic Development Association
October 28, 2013
Ball State University + Economic Development