The Economic Development Department: Its Settings and Parameters

Abstract

This article describes in detail the setting in which the Economic Development Department operates in and its parameters. In terms of the setting, the environment within which the Economic Development department exists has become the most important element that has to be recognized, as the department has to navigate an obstructionist setting amid a hostile environment. The department must engage in constant communication with both public and private sectors, and operates on a longer timeline than its political masters. The Economic Development Department tends to have to continually justify its role, possibly because of its relative newness resulting in a lack of guidelines and integration. Staff are expected to be jacks-of-all-trades and the department may be structured in several different ways depending on the locality. Ultimately, the department requires the full support of many different areas within the government and the wider community in order to perform. Performance can be measures through the lends of 4 overlapping parameters, some more difficult to measure objectively than others: research, marketing, liaison, and image.