By Paul Hamrick, Executive Director, CELab

The economic development field is rapidly changing and increasing in complexity. The New Mexico Basic Economic Development Course is designed to help community leaders understand legacy economic development approaches and become current with new program initiatives and best practices.

Held on the campus of Western New Mexico University in Silver City every July, the course is one of several offered by the New Mexico-based International Academy for Economic Development that prepares participants for professional certification by the International Economic Development Council.

The five-day course covers the core components of economic development, including business retention and expansion, recruitment, workforce development, real estate, finance, marketing, and ethics.

Karen Baehr attended the course in 2018 with a curiosity for how economic development intersects with education.

“After a career in education and systems design, I knew that economic development and education were inextricably linked,” Baehr said. “The challenge I faced was trying to figure out how these two important community elements work together.”

The course goes beyond the fundamental building blocks of economic development strategy by providing a framework and methodology for planning and managing a complex economic development program. Participants work in teams to apply concepts toward creation of a plan for one of three designated New Mexico counties. The curriculum, including case study, is taught by experts with thousands of hours of field experience acquired in the state.

“I learned so much about the state and how business development actually works and how education intersects into this picture,” said Baehr. “The course helped me organize my thinking into an ordered system that covers all aspects of economic development and gave me hands-on experience with what it means to manage the economic development of a community.”

This year’s case studies have been updated to include methods to identify strategies to reach full employment, program areas that could be activated, and factors of production that would enable community goals to be reached on a planned schedule. Community leaders from three New Mexico counties provide information about current conditions, challenges, and opportunities that should be considered.

Baehr said the case study, combined with the learning lab, helped her grasp an immense amount of material that was relevant to creating a plan. She also expanded the network of economic development professionals she can draw upon in the future. “In just a week, I was able to work with and get to know some of the most experienced and influential people in the economic development profession,” she said.

The course is ideal for current or aspiring economic development practitioners, local and tribal government officials, financial institutions, chambers of commerce, public utility professionals, workforce developers, real estate professionals and others interested in creating jobs and improving their economies. Enrollment is limited to 45 people, and organizers expect the course to fill quickly.

Visit www.iaecondev.org/