I know that I have talked about this before, but it is well worth repeating. This is mostly for hard core economic developers but it’s an interesting program for all to consider.
One of the biggest problems facing New Brunswick communities when it comes to economic development is that they are not properly resourced, they don’t know what’s involved and they don’t allocate any serious funding towards economic development. There are regional economic development commissions that do good work but at the local community level – where the rubber hits the road – there is almost no direct effort to stimulate economic development (except in the largest communities).
Tennessee’s Three-Star Communities program literally provides a checklist of things a community must do to be ‘ready’ for new business investment. If the community meets that rather long checklist, they become certified Three-Star communities.
Wow, what a difference between this approach and New Brunswick’s.
Imagine if Sackville, Sussex, Minto, Harvey, etc. were all taking deliberate steps (calibrated, of course, to the size of their communities) to advance economic development.