In our experience, most organizations sweat the wrong details—or at least, details that do not reinforce an optimal vision or strategy. Instead of burning the midnight oil for this week’s newsletter or planning another golf tournament, NCDS encourages examining if activities like this have any lasting impact on where a community needs to go. 

To clarify, we would not minimize day-to-day challenges that certainly warrant attention. Still, with each passing year, the deeper challenges and opportunities that emerge time and time again as NCDS helps Chambers of Commerce and economic development organizations (EDOs) render those details somewhat inconsequential. 

What are the outcomes? Let’s find out. 

A Tale of Two Towns

We recently produced Roadmaps to Relevance & Revenue for two Chambers in communities that contrast each other in nearly every way. While one is a struggling Rust Belt town and the other a growing Southern city, they share strikingly similar challenges in terms of community & economic development strategy, collaboration, long-term vision, and, especially, what their stakeholders want and need from their Chamber of Commerce.

Community A: The Rust Belt Blues

This mostly rural community sits between three major metropolitan areas. Many have been through this place, without noticing, as they navigate the interstate to somewhere else. This community faces:

• Declining population
• Aging and blighted housing stock; population mostly rents
• Underperforming K–12 schools 

Yet, it has a lot working in its favor:

• Proud heritage & notable cultural assets
• Interesting historic architecture
• Strong employment in manufacturing & healthcare
• Substantial philanthropic investments available

Despite available grants and a cooperative civic environment, the town struggles with long-term economic uncertainty. Existing and prospective employers in strong sectors are increasingly worried about workforce sustainability due to housing and education challenges.

Community B: The Southern Belle

This southern community has grown rapidly over the past three decades, driven by federal government presence, migration from a nearby “sister” city, and local governments that said “yes” to almost any development. Its challenges include:

• Unplanned, uncoordinated growth
• A crowded landscape of 19+ overlapping community and economic development organizations
• No defining identity or shared long-term vision

Yet, it also has many assets to build upon:

• Excellent schools
• Abundant housing and recreational amenities
• Strong quality of life
• Steady employment in government, healthcare, and services

Despite growth “happening,” the community lacks strategic coordination and urgency around primary job creation. With no real angst about its economic future, most if not all momentum is fragmented and too many organizations face too little scrutiny or accountability.

Two Paths, One Playbook

Though each community faces nearly opposite demographic and economic trajectories, both ultimately share the same fundamental needs. Each has a future and a choice. 

Option A: leave the future to fate.
Option B: develop a coordinated vision that rallies the community around shared objectives.

While plotting their Roadmaps, we arrived at similar recommendations to achieve substantially different community objectives. 

1. Establish a Unified Vision

Both Chambers are perceived as having the agency, ability, and credibility to influence and lead better community outcomes, and uniquely capable of bringing everyone to the table. 

• The Rust Belt: NCDS recommended a unified vision to optimize place-based investments, revitalize the workforce, and reverse population decline.
• The Southern City: NCDS recommended a unified vision to steer development beyond reactive growth and to pursue real economic prosperity – not just population growth. 

2. Fill the Leadership & Accountability Void

Both Chambers are respected conveners and have an ideal opportunity to step into the void, aligning key players, assigning responsibilities, and holding the community accountable for shared progress. Interestingly, we found both Chambers have not asserted themselves as trusted conveners/honest brokers to the degree that community stakeholders want.

• The Rust Belt: NCDS recommended the Chamber should set the agenda for community success, define clear objectives, and assign ownership to various stakeholders. 
• The Southern City: NCDS recommended the Chamber help navigate the “silos,” bring leaders together, and clarify who does what to eliminate redundancies and create accountability.

3. Focus on Partnerships for Workforce Development

To develop a workforce pipeline, developing business-education partnerships will better align education and skills training with the needs of employers.  

• The Rust Belt: NCDS recommended the Chamber strengthen K-12 education-business partnerships, create internship programs, and develop career pathways to connect students with local jobs.
• The Southern City: NCDS recommended the Chamber strengthen economic diversification efforts and encourage job creation in high-value industries by leveraging the community’s higher education assets and institutions.

4. Emphasize & Implement Business Advocacy

Both Chambers were already appreciated for their advocacy work. But leaders in both communities want them to do more, and to proactively inform and educate elected officials about the needs of business and the implications of their actions on community prosperity. 

• The Rust Belt: NCDS recommended the Chamber bridge the gap, advocate for business needs, and inform policy decisions.
• The Southern City: NCDS recommended the Chamber push for structured dialogue between business and government, advocating for policies that drive desirable long-term growth.

Why You Need a Roadmap

Despite facing similar challenges and opportunities, every community is truly unique. So is every NCDS Roadmap. No boilerplate, cut and paste, or one-size-fits-all plans. Our recommendations fit your environment, with specific applications and implications for how ambitious objectives can be achieved by elevating your organization’s relevance and value. 

Your mission is the “why” and your strategic plan is the “what.” Our Roadmap integrates both with your community’s most important dynamics to give you the “how”–so you can take a more active and impactful role in shaping your community’s economic future. 

If you’re ready to get started, contact us today for a free consultation.