ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
GOING GLOBAL –
IEDC 2017
A PERSPECTIVE ON ‘VALUE AND
RELEVANCE’ FOR AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS.
BY BILL MILLARD, DIRECTOR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT, HOBSONS BAY CITY COUNCIL
This article will argue that economic development
professionals in Australia should consider investing
some of their hard earned dollars on an IEDC
Annual Conference. The International Economic
Development Council is the world’s largest
professional organisation for economic developers
with more than 5,000 members across the United
States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand,
and other nations.
The author has been a member of IEDC for several
years and has attended three annual conferences
including Toronto, Canada in September 2017.
Setting aside the opportunities to visit and look
‘back of house’ at vibrant cities and regions, you will
meet, eat and socialise with some great people with
aligned interests, but also come home with a bag
full of ideas.
IEDC 2017 recently concluded in Toronto which was
the first time the conference had been held outside
of the United States. It was an overwhelming
success attracting around 1400 participants
including a few hardy souls from Australia and many
from around the world.
The ‘Going Global’ theme allowed me to hear about
and debate, high quality job creation, revitalising
communities, using creative arts to add commercial
value, competitive advantage, innovation,
entrepreneurship and so on. The presenters were
mostly practitioners and many examples were very
practical programs aiming to address issues that are
faced every day in Australia. Job loss, city centre
activation, changing land use, investment capital
attraction and business facilitation.
The keynote speaker was Dr Richard Florida who
is perhaps the world’s leading ‘urbanist’. He has
just released a book titled ‘The New Urban Crisis’
and also wrote ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’.
He makes a strong argument for corporations to
become better corporate citizens and focus on
wealth sharing and a fairer economy.
One of the most discussed topics is the current
search going on in North America by Amazon
for a second headquarters (alongside Seattle
Washington). Amazon have released a prospectus
seeking cities/regions to pitch for this business
which will involve some 50,000 jobs, 8 million
square feet of space and an investment by Amazon
of $USD 5 Billion. Not hard to understand that this
move has created a bidding frenzy, particularly from
cities and regions hard hit by the manufacturing
exodus over the past few years in North America.
At one of the best social functions of the
conference, some 200 economic development
stars and guests from around the world loved the
‘International Dinner’. I was lucky enough to draw
a seat beside the Head of Policy from the Falkland
Islands. It was fascinating to hear about some of the
aspirations and challenges facing the Falklands, but
it also put a whole new perspective on ‘remote’.
Earlier in 2017, submission of an abstract to
one of the conference themes resulted in an
invitation to present at the conference. My topic
was ‘Reconciling Objectives of Land Use Planners
and Economic Developers’. As background to my
presentation I undertook a short survey of town
planners in my network to uncover the ‘Top 5 Gripes
of Land Use Planners’ in dealing with development
applications. Likewise I surveyed economic
development professionals and members of the
development industry to understand their top 5
gripes of the planning process.
Having worked in regional and metropolitan areas,
with responsibilities for land use planning and also
economic development, I have developed a strong
view that economic developers can play a critical role
when they are alongside planners (both statutory
and strategic) in a supportive sense, rather than
as an advocate for a proponent or investor. My
survey showed however, that these myths about the
planning process by all parties, are heavily ingrained
and new ways of engagement are needed. I suggest
a practical approach for economic developers.
VOL.11 NO.1 2018 | 24