Bridging the Cultures of Extension, City Government & Economic Development

Success Story

Extension professionals can be significantly more effective programmers once we better understand the cultures of organizations with whom we partner. Participants will receive a vivid description of the worlds of city government(by a elected councilperson), economic development (by one who is currently immersed in International Economic Development Council training as well as local board participation through the years), and new community foundations (facilitated education leading to over 75 new community foundation entities set up last year).

For 15 years, the presenter has carried out innovative community & economic development programs -- including Building Communities for Tomorrow, Community Entrance Visioning, Greene Leadership, Fire & Emergency Services, and the Greene Bean project. Over 25 distinct programming efforts within the discipline have been conducted. However, once he stepped inside of city government as an elected official, the understanding of how to get our Extension job completed has been altered.

A fast paced uncovering of key considerations for educators will be shared. The intersection of government with emerging programming opportunities in community, business, industry, manufacturing and entrepreneurship extension programs will challenge the audience to look at our own Extension organization differently.