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How can economic developers use social media in your community?

Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have become part of the everyday lives of many of us. These tools are also becoming increasingly important for local government, take New York City’s new Give a Minute program for example. The use of social media by economic developers, though, is still relatively new (just 57% of International Economic Development Council members surveyed in 2009 were using social media). So how can those in the field put social media to work for the benefit of their communities? Social and digital media news site Mashable recently answered that question with examples of how economic developers are successfully using social media to strengthen or rebrand a region’s image, showcase story ideas for the media, attract former residents back to an area, link job seekers to jobs, and promote local and regional businesses and assets. The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, for instance, landed on the shortlist of a company seeking to relocate from New York City by rebranding the City through a microsite and gathering testimonials through Facebook, Twitter and its e-newsletter about why people love living and working in Orlando. In another example, the Roanoke Regional Partnership increased greenway and state park use by utilizing Facebook and Twitter to create and promote events, raise interest in local outdoor assets, share information about outdoor businesses in the region, and gather feedback from residents. If you’re thinking about how to make social media part of your toolkit, these examples clearly illustrate the opportunities for economic developers to use social media tools to connect with their communities and encourage economic growth. If you'd like to share how your community is using social media, connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Talent is critically important for urban success

CEOs for Cities, a national coalition of urban leaders in the United States, conducts ongoing research about the factors that contribute value and wealth to large metropolitan cities. Among these factors is the “Talent Dividend”, which shows an extremely strong correlation between increases in 4-year college attainment and per capita income in cities. Previous research by CEOs for Cities has suggested that up to 58% of a city’s increase in per capita income is attributable to the Talent Dividend, such that a 1% increase in attainment across the 51 largest US metros can contribute over $124 billion to the national economy. However, new research using income data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis suggests that the correlation between per capita incomes and post-secondary attainment is in fact as high as 80%.

For urban economic developers, the implications are clear. As CEOs for Cities states, “if increasing college completion is not at the top of your economic development agenda, you don’t have an economic agenda”. With urban economies also focused on job creation, the fact that those that have a college degree have unemployment rates over 10% lower than with those without also presents a compelling reason to focus on increasing educational attainment. While this must be achieved through a combination of strategies, including partnerships with post-secondary institutions and training organizations, the above research shows that the benefits far outweigh the costs of these efforts. To find out more about the Talent Dividend, including videos and a recommended reading list, click here.

Jobs and 'good' jobs - new employment metrics

As economic development professionals we are often tasked with reporting on employment rates. We typically cite employment increases, full-time employment, part-time employment, self employment and private/public sector employment. What these statistics don't tell us, though, is the percentage of workers in good jobs - meaning quality jobs rather than subsistence jobs that do little to raise an individual out of poverty or contribute to the country's formal economic output (to download a report  describing 'good' jobs click here).

Gallup, a global research-based consultancy, has developed a new method of reporting employment statistics. Based on a series of employment surveys conducted at least once per year in most countries, Gallup quantifies the percentage of the global, regional, and country-level workforce that is employed full time for an employer, underemployed, and unemployed.  They have discovered that countries with a higher percentage of workers employed full time for an employer tend to have higher GDP per capita. At the same time, countries with high underemployment tended to have lower GDP per capita. However, no relationship was found between unemployment rates and GDP per capita. Classification calculations have been standardized which makes the data comparable across countries, adding considerable value to what is presently available from other employment data sources.

These findings have global implications and relate directly to economic development professionals. The results have influenced global leaders to pay closer attention to not only creating jobs, but creating good jobs. For example, the availability of part-time work may disguise an underlying lack of full-time jobs, which goes undetected with typical unemployment measures. Gallup's underemployment measures present a truer depiction of the percentage of the workforce that is not working at its desired capacity.

The results are displayed in a number of interactive maps, which focus on unemployment, underemployment, and persons employed full-time for an employer. These results can be found here.

Testing a model and framework to inform local labour market planning

Understanding the local labour market and its relationship to economic development has certainly gained significant attention over the past number of years. Where once the focus was on traditional economic development practices, there is now clear value to presenting a profile of the available local workforce and its ability to transition and support both existing and emerging economic climates. The sharing of tools or strategic approaches that can advance a community's understanding of its labour force, skills advantage, and demographic makeup helps inform decisions and local planning.

The Niagara region in Ontario, Canada, has recently benefited from the utilization of such a tool. Through an international partnership with the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board in Pittsburgh, PA, the Niagara Workforce Planning Board profiled the area through the use of a 3D (Dynamics, Diversity, Density) framework and a human capital development model.  

The application of the 3D framework (you can see another example from the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board here) helped inform on such areas as quality of the local labour market, population demographics, industry makeup and migration. The human capital development model examined the key elements of prepare/educate/train and match/retain, which explored how the workforce is cultivated. By using the 3D lens in conjunction with a human capital development model, the region’s labour market is viewed as the complex system that it is with both macro- and micro-levels of implications for potential growth and sustainability.