by William H. Woodwell Jr.

More than 150 local elected leaders gathered in Denver to stake a claim for cities and towns in the national dialogue about how to ensure America?s economic progress.

In the face of concerns about the effects of globalization and the ongoing shift to a knowledge-based economy, participants in the Forum on Economic Vitality discussed strategies and tools that municipal leaders can use to strengthen local and regional economies from the bottom up. Participants also carved out an active role for NLC in advancing public understanding of how national economic vitality depends on the success of local economic regions.

?All of our cities and towns are subject to broad economic forces that can sometimes seem beyond our control,? said NLC First Vice President James Hunt, councilmember from Clarksburg, W.Va. ?But we cannot leave our economic destiny for others to decide.?

Forum participants, who represented 11 NLC policy and leadership committees, approved two resolutions that will be presented to the NLC Board of Directors in July.

The first calls on the federal government to work closely with municipal leaders to advance economic vitality in the nation?s cities and towns. The second calls for increased public discussion of the economic challenges and opportunities facing local economic regions.

?With this forum, we are reestablishing NLC and America?s cities and towns as an important and effective voice in national policy on economic development,? said Steve Burkholder, mayor of Lakewood, Colo., who chaired the forum.

The two-day program included presentations from an array of local leaders, business representatives, and experts on economic development, as well as small group discussions among forum participants.

And, in a reflection of the fact that local economic vitality depends in part on intergovernmental partnerships, participants also heard from Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, NLC?s director of policy and federal relations.

She talked about the Capitol Hill debate on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, transportation funding, housing and other issues that affect the success of local and regional economies.

Experts Discuss the Changing Economy, Implications for Cities

In his welcoming remarks to forum participants, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper described his city?s efforts to support home-grown small businesses through a ?hothouse? approach. He told the group that municipal leaders can go a long way to promoting local and regional economic vitality by ?cutting red tape? and eliminating other impediments that can keep small businesses from growing.

Hickenlooper also emphasized the importance of cooperation among municipalities in a region. In the Denver area, for example, 32 mayors recently collaborated on what Hickenlooper called the ?most ambitious transit initiative in the country?: a light-rail system serving the entire area.

?Lots of laws prohibit businesses from working together, but there are no laws against cities and suburbs working together,? he said. ?The partnerships we have forged with our neighbors will be the key that will help us compete as a region on the world stage.?

Participants also heard from noted experts on economic development issues about key challenges facing cities and towns today and how best to respond.

Joe Cortright, vice president and economist with Impresa Consulting, told the group that cities and towns can distinguish themselves in the global economy as centers of knowledge and new ideas. He advocated that cities position themselves as ?first, best or only? instead of competing exclusively on the basis of cost.

Cortright added that the key factor in the success of local economic regions in the decades to come will be the availability of educated and talented workers. ?Your people are your chief economic asset,? he said.

He went on to urge municipal leaders to consider a cluster approach to economic development, focusing on companies and industries that develop specific technologies and products and that gain advantage from their proximity to firms in related businesses.

Edward W. (Ned) Hill, vice president for economic development and professor at Cleveland State University, urged the group to ?fight the allure of economic development fads.?

He argued that traditional approaches to economic development have focused on demand ? for example, pitting cities against each other in the competition to land a single large employer. A better strategy, he said, is to adopt a ?supply-side focus? by investing in strategic assets, including people or existing business clusters.

Echoing Hill?s points was Susan E. Clarke, professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder who has surveyed local officials across the country about their approaches to economic development.

Clarke pointed out that globalization depends on localities ? ?cities and towns are where the work of globalization gets done,? she said. She added that municipal officials need to work together to frame a powerful story about economic development at the local and regional level.

Among the stories that she highlighted as especially effective in mobilizing action is one that couples human capital initiatives with the goal of reducing poverty.

?We need to think about the potential of our local and regional economies if we were able to use all the resources that are available to us,? Clarke explained, suggesting that cities and towns expand workforce development initiatives to enable more low-income residents to become job-ready.

Business Representatives Offer Their Perspectives

A panel presentation during the forum tapped the perspectives of three private-sector representatives on the question of how municipal leaders can best promote economic vitality.

Jane Prosch-Jensen, government affairs manager with 3M and co-chair of NLC?s Corporate Partners Leadership Council, noted that partnerships between business and government are essential to economic vitality.

IBM?s Amy David added that municipal leaders should focus more than anything else on making their communities appealing places to live, particularly given the increasing mobility of the U.S. workforce.

?IBM is becoming all about people, and people want to live where they want to live,? she said.

David also noted that companies like IBM, also an NLC Corporate Partner, pay very close attention to issues of education and training, and to the quality of local schools. ?We need (local leaders) to develop people whom we can employ and who will help us succeed,? she said.

Real estate developer Tom Gougeon of Continuum Partners urged local officials to focus on the basics of building a strong community with a vision for the future.

?What is your vision of where you want to be? What kind of culture have you created in local government? Do you know how to pick good partners? These are the kinds of things we look at when we are considering what communities we want to work with,? he said.

Gougeon agreed with many of the other presenters in remarking that economic development has shifted over the last 10 years from a ?locational strategy? to one that emphasizes the unique assets of the city or local economic region.

?Cities are getting back to basics and asking who are we and what do we offer,? he said. ?It is becoming more about people, skills, and infrastructure and about finding places that retain a good quality of life.?

Economic Development Officials: Workforce Development Is Key

In the forum?s final panel, two local economic development officials reflected on lessons from their cities? work.

Cecilia K. Sanchez de Ortiz, director of Denver?s Division of Workforce Development, said that her city has embarked on a huge shift under Mayor Hickenlooper?s leadership. Among the major changes: the former office of economic development now focuses on growing indigenous businesses in line with the mayor?s ?hothouse? concept. Denver also has embraced a regional approach to workforce development.

?Businesses don?t care where in the region these workers live,? she said. ?They just want to know they are available and ready to work.?

Robert Keber, interim economic development director for Savannah, Ga., agreed that workforce development has to be a priority for cities. He also emphasized the importance of a shared vision for local economic development among city and business leaders.

Lakewood, Co. Mayor Steve Burkholder concluded the forum by noting that participants had ?created the starting blocks? for a long-term effort to make economic vitality a continuing priority for NLC and municipal leaders. An important takeaway from the meeting, he said, was that cities and towns compete from a position of strength when they focus on building local assets.

?When businesses decide to stay and grow in our communities, or when new businesses come in from somewhere else, what counts is the quality of life we offer in our communities,? he said.