Volume 1; Issue 6

Sign up for the July 17 EDA Webcast Now!- 2:30 p.m. EST 

To Register: http://edabroadcast.haverstick.biz

Seeing the Green: Bolstering Economic Development Strategies with 

Environmental Responsibility 

Join host Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development 

Benjamin Erulkar and our guests to learn how economic regions can strengthen 

their competitiveness through innovative and "green" sustainable development 

strategies. 

Guests will discuss regional strategies for conserving energy and increasing energy

efficiency, while also boosting economic competiveness. 

Panelists include: 

• Tom Darden, President, Cherokee Investment Partners 

• Ted Wysocki President and CEO, Local Economic & Employment Development 

 (LEED) Council (Chicago) 

• W. Paul Farmer, FAICP, Executive Director and CEO, 

 American Planning Association 

• Nancy McKeever, I-PLACE3S/Sustainable Energy Program Manager, 

 California Energy Commission 

To register, visit: http://edabroadcast.haverstick.biz

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) 

The role and view of the business community in economic and community 

development has dramatically evolved over the decade. 

Issues of interest include global competition, tight labor markets and 

environmental sustainability. In response, the Business Civic Leadership Center 

(BCLC), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was established to advance 

the role of business in communities through a variety of programs and services. 

BCLC creates networks that bring together corporate foundation heads and 

corporate citizenship professionals to communicate on common issues, share 

information and identify partnership opportunities. Currently, the BCLC has three 

active networks - the Corporate Community Investment Program (CCI), the 

Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program and Global Corporate Citizenship. 

The CCI program, established in May 2007, aims to advance the dialogue and 

partnerships among business leaders, policy makers, charitable organizations, 

economic developers and community planners. In fact, the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a grant to the 

BCLC in October 2007, to examine the role of the business community in economic

and community development. As part of this grant, BCLC is in the process of 

completing two unique tasks: 

1) Conducting a survey – in partnership with Indiana University's Center on 

Philanthropy – to uncover trends in how, where, and why companies invest in their

local communities; and 

2) Hosting community forums – which bring national companies together with 

Click SUBSCRIBE to Learn 

about other Exciting EDA 

News 

APA ́s Economic Development 

Toolbox Part Five: Visioning 

Economic Development 

A visioning process for sound 

economic development planning 

yields a statement of what an 

economic region hopes to become. 

 To support the implementation of 

the vision, economic development 

studies can help to define goals and 

objectives while also defining 

boundaries that make the planning 

strategy realistic and attainable. 

These studies, and the actions taken 

subsequent to them, help to move a 

region toward realizing its economic 

development vision. 

www.planning.org/eda/#5 

Coming Soon! 

September 9-10, 2008

EDA's Denver and Seattle regional 

offices will host the Peak Performance 

in Economic Development Conference 

at the Denver Convention Center in 

Denver, Colorado. [Website] 

October 19-22, 2008

IEDC 2008 Annual Conference, 

Atlanta [Website]

November 17-23, 2008 

Global Entrepreneurship Week 

[Website] 

EDA Reauthorization 

EDA is pleased to announce that the 

Department of Commerce sent 

Congress a legislative proposal to 

reauthorize EDA for five years. EDA's 

current authorization expires 

September 30, 2008. The proposed 

reauthorization legislation is good 

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local chambers of commerce, government agencies and civic organizations to 

identify opportunities for corporate citizenship to assist with local challenges and 

create positive change in the community. 

Research results from the survey are anticipated to be released in the fall 2008. 

Additionally, BCLC has completed the first set of forums which were held in Boca 

Raton-Del Ray Beach, Florida; Houston, Texas; San Jose, California; Rochester, 

New York; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Findings from the forums will be used 

to develop a suite of best practices and recommendations for better community 

sustainability. 

In addition to the CCI Program, BCLC’s two additional networks provide an 

opportunity to address specific challenges and opportunities for businesses 

engagement. The Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program works to mobilize 

efforts to aid economic recovery following nature disasters. In 2007, some of the 

most civically engaged companies, including Microsoft, Office Depot and UPS, 

joined BCLC's working group, an expert network of disaster assistance providers 

and economic recovery specialists, to bolster corporate efforts to be an effective, 

long-term partner to communities that have suffered a major disaster. Its most 

recent report on this subject, “On the Brink: Re-engineering the Nation’s Disaster 

Response Processes,” was released on Tuesday, July 1, and features 27 

contributions from corporate, government, nonprofit, and academic experts. 

BCLC’s Global Corporate Citizen Program, provides information and facilitates 

public-private partnership opportunities to help companies implement more 

effective and meaningful social and community initiatives in developing countries 

across the globe. 

For more information on BCLC visit: http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/default

Save The Date: – September 10, 2008 

2:30 p.m. -- Special One-Hour EDA Telecast/Webcast 

An in-depth view of strengthening American competiveness through 

cluster development will be explored with premier guests:

• Karen G. Mills, President, MMP Group 

• Michael Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard 

 University 

• Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President, Council on Competitiveness 

 

 

[Unsubscribe]

news for the economic development 

community because it includes new 

provisions that offer investment 

recipients more local control over 

revolving loan funds and construction 

grants. These provisions demonstrate 

how EDA is listening to, and acting 

upon, the economic development 

community's calls for improved EDA 

programs to meet the changing 

needs of the 21st century economy. 

Please monitor www.eda.gov for 

more information as this legislation 

progresses through Congress. 

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