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Webinar: Community stakeholders as brand ambassadors

Not everyone in your community knows what economic development means, but it impacts everyone. This webinar looks at strategies to get stakeholders engaged.

Alissa Sklar
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on August 24, 2017
Alissa Sklar
Vice President of Marketing

Let's face it, not everyone in your community knows what "economic development" is, exactly. But while they may not fully grasp what it means to attract investment and business to your location, they are all impacted by it every day. 

 

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They drive by that empty, weed-choked lot on the corner of Main Street. They see the vacant site waiting for development on Highway 50. They want shuttered storefronts reopened, bustling neighborhoods and playgrounds fully of happy kids.

 

New companies. Jobs. Prosperity.

 

So while your community stakeholders may not always speak of economic development, they still get it.

 

Melissa Woodall, CMSM, understands this, and has developed specific strategies to engage elected, appointed, and employed officials, administrators and business leaders across your community. As senior vice president at Johnson & Associates, an economic and community development consulting firm, Melissa has worked with numerous communities over her 25 year career on strategic investment attraction. She'll be sharing many of these practical ideas - some of which cost nothing to implement - in a free webinar on September 14th, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT/ 10-10:30 AM PDT.

 

Melissa will speak to four specific area related to economic development, citing examples of implementations and projects she's worked with over the years:

  1. Educating and promoting community stakeholders about economic development
  2. Showing the continued value of economic development initiatives to lay stakeholders
  3. Getting everyone involved in populating a GIS sites and buildings database such as ZoomProspector Enterprise
  4. Using contests and giveaways to drive excitement and continued enthusiasm

 

"We all know economic development makes a difference, but it's another thing to hear them talk about it in the police department, school board and over at parks and recreation," she explains. She points out that the most effective economic development professionals recognize that their sales team really includes all of their community leaders, across the board.

 

Melissa will address the importance of the "elevator pitch" for economic developers, explaining the critical elements you'll want to include and offering an example. All of your stakeholders need to be made familiar with it.

 

"You never know if you are going to make a deal on the golf course, at a rotary meeting or walking through the grocery store, so they all need to know what to say when the opportunity presents itself," she says.

 

Join us Thursday, September 14th for this free professional development webinar. It may well turn out to be the most valuable 30 minutes you've got that week. Can't make it at that date or time? Register anyway and we'll email you a link to the on-demand video recording to review at your convenience.

Register: Engage Community Stakeholders

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