Introduction to Strategic Planning for IEDC Training Course

1. Economic Development
Strategic Planning
Jim Damicis
Senior Vice President
Camoin Associates
March 23-24, 2017
Denver, CO
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2. Jim Damicis, Senior Vice President, Camoin Associates
• Past President, Northeastern Economic Developers
Association (NEDA)
• IEDC, Economic Development Research Program,
International Economic Development Council
• Collaborator – Communities of the Future
• 25+ Years Experience in Economic and Community
Development
Service Lines
• Comprehensive Economic Development
Strategies (CEDS)
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Workforce Development
• Market Analysis & Financial Feasibility
• Evaluation & Benchmarking Indicators
• ED Communication & Marketing
Economic Development

3. 3
Introduction to Strategic Planning
I. What is it?
II. Why do it?
III. Context/key factors
IV. Benefits
V. Process
VI. Lessons learned

4. 4
Strategic planning provides a living vehicle for
community leaders to think strategically, to
make sound decisions in a sea of game-changing
circumstances, to focus efforts & to develop
consensus for collaboratively solving problems.
What is Strategic Planning?
Identification
Assessment
Implementation

5. Where are you & what
is your potential?
• Needs &
opportunities
• Situation & context
Where do you want to
go & why go there?
• Community vision
• Development goals
5
Questions Answered

6. How will you get there &
who will help?
• What will you do?
• Best people & available
resources
• Strategies & projects
What will success look like
for you?
• Key benchmarks &
metrics
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Questions Answered

7. X An event
X About planning meetings
X Developing a great well-written report
X Fulfilling a grant or regulatory requirement
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What Strategic Planning is NOT

8. Engaging broad spectrum of people
Inspiring people to work together
Putting individual efforts toward best benefit of
collective whole
Process that requires advocates and champions
Challenging & time-consuming
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What Strategic Planning IS

9. common barriers
focus on personalities & positions
o focus on shared interests & goals instead
lack of motivation for working together for change
being in the “comfort zone”
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10. o Workforce, workforce, workforce!
o Quality of place – amenities, infrastructure,
housing, recreation and culture, etc.
o Regional collaboration and holistic approach to
economic development
o Customer service driven – permitting and approval
processes, transparency, accountability
o Complex Systems requiring adaptability rather than
predictability
10
Factors Behind Local/Regional Development

11. o Shapes community’s future
o Defines community purpose
o Provides information base
o Provides realistic appraisal
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Strategic Planning Benefits

12. o Means to establish & maintain effective programs
o Provides guidance in structuring tactical operations
o No proverbial clean slate – it is continual
o Must assess current projects
o Use information gathered to adjust plans or establish
new goals
o Can be used for overall plans or sub-activities
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A Critical Tool

13. Compatible - with community vision
Feasible - given strengths & weaknesses
Implementable - given leadership & resources
Change-making - addresses most urgent challenges
Innovative - enables forward movement on most promising
opportunities
13
Ultimate Strategies & Action

14. Market
Feasibility
Financial
Feasibility
Citizen/Political
Feasibility
Organizational
Capacity
Technical
Feasibility
Ingredients for a Successful Plan
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15. o Organizing & pre-planning
o Identify & recruit players & stakeholders
o Create organizational structure
o Determine necessary financial & technical resources
o Visioning
o Develop shared vision
o Assessing the local community & economic
competitiveness
o Evaluate & define your situation
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Strategic Planning Process

16. o Identifying issues & formulating realistic
goals, objectives & strategies
o Publicizing the plan
o Identifying, evaluating, & prioritizing
projects
o Prioritize based on best approach & return on
project
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Strategic Planning Process

17. o Developing plans of action
o Set out sequence of events & resources
o Define physical steps
o Implementing plans
o May require an implementation structure or
modification of organizational structure
o Monitoring & evaluating outcomes
o Make sure goals & projects remain realistic,
worthwhile, & relevant
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Strategic Planning Process

18. oRetooling & adjusting
oPublicizing progress &
outcomes
oOngoing process
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Strategic Planning Process

19. o Shared sense of urgency
o Clearly articulated & well-understood vision
o Local champions
o Widespread participation & buy-in (or rather
“join in”)
o Shared commitment to progress
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“Must-Haves”

20. o Shared ownership (willingness to
collaborate)
o Knowledge of what success looks like
o Futuristic & proactive orientation in
thinking
o Willingness to self-invest
o A “let’s do it!” attitude
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“Must-Haves”

21. o Realistic & accurate definition of the
situation
o Good information
o Cumulative goals & objectives
o Balanced approach
o Options for mutual gain
21
“Must-Haves”

22. o Effective internal & external communications
o Openness to learning from others
o Involvement of external partners
o Easy-to-follow process
o Ongoing planning
22
“Must-Haves”

23. o Ongoing review of the status quo
o Continual cultivation & acceptance of new
ideas
o Continual recruitment of new faces to the
process
o Community celebration of all successes
o Resilience
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“Must-Haves”

24. o Not knowing how to best move forward
o Lack of shared community vision
o Apathy or complacency with status quo
o Poor working relationships
o Feeling of disconnect among citizens, leaders
o Inadequate volunteer support
o False expectations
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Common Barriers

25. o Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Break large projects into
smaller digestible components based on your organization’s and
partners’ capacity to implement
o Get comfortable making collective decisions without perfect
information and predictable outcomes
o Give collaboration and engagement within region, diverse
stakeholders, and the public more than lip service – design and
implement together
o Market externally AND Internally
o Understand what you can have impact over – i.e. at local level you
can impact land-use, zoning, permitting, customer service
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Lessons from the Field

26. o Questions you still have?
o Expectations for the next 2 days?
o Issues you would like covered?
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Questions? Expectations? Issues?
Credit to Freepik and flaticon.com for free use of assets

27. Contact Information
o jim@camoinassociates.com
o www.camoinassociates.com
o Twitter: @jdamicis
o Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jdamicis
o Economic Development Navigator: www.camoinassociates.com/navigator
Economic Development
Contact Information