Community Economic Development Strategic Planning Programs: A case study of successful programs

Research

Cooperative extension has been engaged in planning and organizing for development in rural communities since its inception. With the rise of strategic planning extension services began to more formally use the concepts and tools of strategic thinking and management in their educational programming to help foment the economic and social development of rural America. To deliver these programs extension has often relied on Bryson's ten-step model for strategic planning. This research proposal presents findings from an analysis of successful extension-led community economic development strategic planning programs from Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is the result of the author's dissertation research. Two questions are addressed: To what extent did communities follow Bryson's modified community economic development strategic planning process, explicitly or implicitly, and were these elements critical to the success the programs? Secondly, are there differences in the perception of what constitutes a successful community economic development strategic planning program between key experts leading the extension programs and the local community participants? This research uses a multiple-case study research strategy to analyze the results in six communities where successful extension-led strategic planning programs took place. Cases from Wisconsin's Downtown Marketing Analysis, First Impressions, and Labor Market Analysis programs, and Minnesota's Business Retention and Expansion program are studied. This research was completed in the summer of 2005. The results provide insights into the strategic planning models for community economic planning and into case study research methodologies with community development education programs.