Modern Economic Development with a Focus on Inclusivity

In years past, economic development focused primarily on job creation and GDP growth as ways to measure progress. While these are still important measures, modern economic development practices have expanded to include a focus on inclusivity—making sure that economic benefits and an improved standard of living accrue to residents across the spectrum, and not just to those in select categories.

Similarly, the changing nature of work means that community characteristics such as broadband access, educational networks, and quality healthcare are as important as traditional infrastructure such as roads and railways. As such, many economic development organizations have expanded the benchmarks they use to measure “success” to include a broader array of metrics.

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