For too long, state leaders have crafted economic development plans that act like regions don’t matter. Resources have been spread thin across states, with decisions based on politics rather than pragmatism. Such efforts have produced lackluster results at best; the repeated failure to build on individual regions’ distinctive assets represents a series of opportunities missed.
Across the United States, a handful of governors and state legislatures have come to the realization that state economic development efforts must be attentive to the particularities of regions and metropolitan areas. These leaders are working with their regions to craft and implement innovative bottom-up economic development strategies that prize local knowledge and regional strengths over something-for-everyone approaches of the past.
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