Blog Entry
Dance with the one that brought you.
Published Feb 16 at 8:28 am
Welcome to our blog. I'll admit I'm a novice when it comes to such but I certainly look forward to sharing some of my thoughts and reactions to community issues as it relates to growing an economy and improving our shared quality of life. In hopes that you won't get bored we'll be sure to take turns around the office offering our take on what's happening and sometimes why.
I am fortunate today to kick off the blog following the week we announce a significant investment in Meridian and Lauderdale County. I say fortunate because economic development that entails recruiting new industry is such a competitive business. I often refer to competing in an inverted market where there are actually more competitors than there are customers. How successful would your business be in such a market? More competitors than customers, no thanks. Such is the frustrating life of an economic developer whose community expectations lay only on new investment. Thankfully there is more to what we do than just recruit new companies, we are here to help the one who already calls this place home. My friend Chandler Russ at the Mississippi Development Authority coined a phrase, "100% of job losses come from existing industry." I love that. Nothing underscores more the importance of taking care of what you have, or "dancing with the one that brought you."
I hope you will return in the future as we explore the world of blogging here at the EMBDC. If you're up for it send me a topic and we'll take a shot at it.
Skip Scaggs, Manager of Business Development
sscaggs@embdc.org