Community Economic Development – What Exactly Is It?

In my new role in University of Missouri Extension, I have switched from small business development to community economic development. During the conversations with area residents, I am often asked, “what is community economic development and isn’t it just another word for economic development?”

The simple answer is no it is not just another word for economic development. The longer answer is similar to economic development but work in many other parts of the community. 

According to the Community Economic Development Handbook by Mihailo Temali, the definition of community economic development (CED) is “actions taken by an organization representing urban neighborhoods or rural communities in order to 1) improve the economic situations of local residents and local businesses and 2) enhance the community’s quality of life as a whole.” So CED concerns itself with people-based strategies and place-based strategies working together to improve the overall health of a community. 

Some common strategies in CED work centers around a town’s commercial district, creating microbusinesses, improving the workforce and creating job opportunities. With MU Extension, we work closely with the community and let them decide what areas they need to focus on regardless if it is on the most common accepted ones.  The local community knows what it needs to address and I serve as a facilitator or guide to developing a plan and working on the needs. 

CED accomplishes this by starting with the community and building up to local government (bottom up process) instead of starting with community government (top down process).  Extension has learned, if a community is to be changed, it has to have the support of the residents served. Without that support, the project could easily die without a chance.  In some of the communities Extension has worked with, we learned no community input and then the follow up and follow through is not successful because the community was not involved at the beginning. 

Extension has programming designed to help communities plan for their economic future. The first one is Building Local Prosperity (BLP). Here the state team works with the local leadership team (LLT), consisting of local community residents and government, to lead three monthly meetings with the result of a plan designed to address the identified issues and bring resolution.

A second one is Strategic Doing where the community spends one day dealing with a very specific topic and works to develop a plan. This method is fast paced and intense as it is designed to end the day with the beginning of an action plan the group can implement and start making changes to the community. 

Our third offering is a two part one – half day on fundamentals of economic development and the other half showing residents how their community had changed over the years. This is especially good for a community considering doing something in CED work,  as it challenges the resident’s perceptions of their community.  In the towns where we have done this, the attendees always come out with their perceptions of their community changed.  In one meeting, the group questioned me in depth on the reported role of agriculture in their community. But once, we came back and presented more information, they found their perceptions to be different than reality. This change then opened the door for new ideas to improve the community. 

If you or your community would like to learn more about these or other programs the CED department can bring to the community feel free to contact Richard Proffer at 573243-3581 or email him at profferrd@missouri.edu.