University of Wisconsin - Extension

MADISON, Wis.-While many communities are interested in developing economic development strategies, few communities base those strategies on an assessment of the community's strengths and weaknesses. Andy Lewis, a Community Development Specialist for University of Wisconsin-Extension, argues that, "A community needs to examine its preparedness for economic development before implementing actions to improve jobs and income."

Lewis recently launched a web-based tool that can assist a community in analyzing its economic development strengths and weaknesses. The Community Economic Development Preparedness Index examines perceptions of activities and conditions in the community, over which individuals may or may not have some level of control. The compiled responses provide a reflection of a community's readiness to:

-- retain existing businesses and income,

-- attract new businesses, residents, and income, and

-- expand small businesses and income within the community.

The index is based in part on the Community Economic Preparedness Index that was jointly produced in the early 1980's by the Wisconsin Department of Development, Wisconsin State Rural Development Council, the Center for Community Economic Development, and UW-Extension. It was later modified by Mary Cole Laub of Alliant Energy and Karna Hanna, Executive Director of the Sauk County Economic Development Corporation. (This "Community Economic Development Checklist" was revised as part of the documentation for a handbook on meeting the obligations of what is known as the "Smart Growth" legislation). The current version of the index was made possible by funding from the UW-Extension Northern EDGE initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. The tool can be found on the web site managed by UW-Extension's Center for Community Economic Development (CCED) at: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/cedpi.htm.

Previous versions of the Community Economic Development Preparedness Index were really "checklists" more then a true index, which would calculate a "score" for a community. Researchers at the CCED thought there would be value in creating a true index that would allow a community to gauge progress over time and to seek out communities that had success on certain indicators. Furthermore, many of the checklist items on previous lists were not "black and white" issues with a "yes" and "no" option. And finally, it was a tedious task to tally responses on paper and come to consensus on many of the issues in the index.

Previous versions of this tool were typically completed with a group of decision makers in a meeting format. While Lewis urges the continuation of face-to-face community meetings to discuss the index results, the web-based tool allows all interested citizens to participate in the process.

Furthermore, as economic development strategies have become more sophisticated, the number of factors that contribute to a community's level of preparedness has grown. This means the process of completing a preparedness index as a site-based activity has become more tedious. The new web-based tool allows for the collection of input from anyone in the community and the analysis of data prior to a site-based meeting.

By compiling the results prior to a public meeting, it allows for a more productive group discussion that focuses on the community's strengths, weaknesses, and issues where few people seem to know the answers. Because the new index is now scalable, and can be tabulated by computer, it also allows communities to be benchmarked against other communities in Wisconsin.

This information can be invaluable as communities make their comprehensive plans ("Smart Growth") according to Roger Nacker, President of the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute (WEDI). By January 1, 2010, all communities that make land use decisions (municipalities, counties, or regional planning commissions) will need to base those decisions on an adopted comprehensive plan.

Legislation sets uniform state standards for such a comprehensive plan and specifies the nine elements that each plan must contain. Among these elements is economic development. All of this is explained in detail in "A Guide to Preparing the Economic Development Element of a Comprehensive Plan," which is available at WEDI's website at: http://www.wi-edi.org/publications.html. Lewis urges community economic development professionals to contact their County UW-Extension office to explore options for coordinating the use of the Community Economic Development Preparedness Index. Interested persons can also contact Lewis at: 608-263-1432, ablewis@wisc.edu.

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