|
Economic development is a process through which policy makers, citizens, and business owners initiate policies to promote the well-being of their community and improve the quality of life of its residents. At the heart of economic development is the creation of wealth and the use of that wealth to provide for social and economic welfare. Economic development is frequently equated with economic growth, and measured by indicators such as gross domestic product or per capita income. These are only partial (and sometimes misleading) indicators of economic development, which implies improvements in health, access to education, freedom of expression, and social equality.
This site is aimed at students, citizens, and policy makers engaged in professional economic development in New York State. Economic development in the U.S. is distinguished by a history of strong competition between states and regions to attract capital investment. That competition was carried out primarily through tax-based subsidies to individual firms. The field is changing dramatically, however. More recently, economic development policy and practice has broadened to incorporate sophisticated information about regional planning and what makes for job expansion. Economic developers are also implementing a broad range of programmatic strategies, including workforce development, supporting small firms and entrepreneurship, building a creative economy, and finding ways to foster sustainable development. The goal of this site is to help them learn about and implement these strategies.
For further information about this site, contact:
Susan Christopherson
J.Thomas Clark Professor
Department of City and Regional Planning
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853
607-255-8772
|
