10 Principles in Economic Development - Equity
- How do you address disparities among areas
within your state or region?
- To what extent do you address the problems
of the economically disadvantaged in your area?
- How do you improve the productivity or long-term
economic viability of disadvantaged areas or populations?
Communities need to be concerned about the distribution
of economic benefits. Economic development efforts should be focused
on improving the productive capacity of those areas and populations
that are most disadvantaged and in need of assistance.
Underlying most economic efforts is the desire to
help distressed economic areas, such as rural communities that
have suffered from the loss of agricultural and resource-based
jobs, or to help populations that are unemployed or underemployed,
such as African American males in urban areas. Economic development
funds are frequently targeted to areas or groups of people who
are economically disadvantaged or suffering from the results of
economic change. For example, the programs of the Economic Development
Administration are targeted to chronically distressed regions,
which are largely rural areas, and urban areas suffering from
the effects of defense cutbacks and other economic dislocations.
State initiatives in several states emphasize rural development
and encourage economic and community development in urban centers
that have suffered most from economic changes.
Increasingly, public officials and citizens have
looked to economic development as a solution to ensure that benefits
of economic activity are shared equitably. Yet economic development
professionals are wary of just how much they can contribute in
this area. In our pilot tests of these ten emerging principles
with state and regional development groups, the principle of equity
generated the most disagreement. Some economic development officials
felt it was totally inappropriate to have a goal of equity in
an economic development strategy. Others applauded the inclusion
of equity as a principle and felt that it is too frequently overlooked
in setting priorities for economic development.
Economist Timothy Bartik argues that one way economic
development programs can increase productivity is by reducing
unemployment in high unemployment areas. The question is how to
do this and whether public economic development policies can make
a difference. It is important to make the equity goals of an economic
development strategy explicit and evaluate the success of strategies
to address economically disadvantaged areas or populations.
An example of an organization that applies the principle
of equity in its economic development efforts is Maine's Coastal
Enterprises, Inc. Since 1977, Coastal Enterprises, a private,
nonprofit community development corporation, has directed economic
and human resources to help Maine residents with low incomes reach
an adequate and equitable standard of living, working, and learning.
The organization draws on public and private resources to provide
financial and technical assistance for business development, housing,
and social services; to support innovative projects that address
the needs of individuals, families, and communities; to create
social and economic opportunities for individuals and families
at risk of poverty; and to engage in research and policy development.
The Minnesota-based McKnight Foundation established
six regional initiative funds in the mid-1980s to stimulate development
in economically distressed rural areas of Minnesota. Recently,
the foundation also started an urban initiative fund to encourage
development in distressed urban areas.
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