Gordon, president and chief executive officer of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, discusses his new book, “The Formula for Economic Growth on Main Street America.”
How did you get the idea for this book?
[During] consulting opportunities that I had around the country and around the world, it occurred to me that there are certain things that communities can do — or can avoid doing — that will enhance their ability to grow the local economy. Regardless of the setting, there are some consistencies you must observe. These aren’t really so much strategies for development as they are the essentials that communities have to observe to even lay the foundation to get started.
Who is going about economic development the wrong way?
There are many, many examples around the United States of communities that pursue economic growth — which is more of the same — as opposed to economic development, which is diversifying the economy. If you look at places like Seattle or Houston or Pittsburgh over the last 30 years, you can see what happens to a place that only has a single industry focus or [is] overdependent on a single employer.
What shouldn’t communities do?
Let me give you a few do-nots. It’s stunning to me that communities do and do not do things that would seem on the surface to us to be self-evident. One of the do-nots is do not pursue those businesses or business segments for which you don’t have the proper assets. Every community wants to be a technology community — and very few communities have the assets to attract them, either the labor force or the venture capital, or universities that train and provide the work force.
What should those areas do?
You can either acquire over time those assets that type of business does require, or you can purse those types of businesses for which you really have those types of assets. Do diversify the local economy.
– William C. Flook
