As communities move past the effects of COVID-19 and the economic turmoil stemming from the pandemic, economic development professionals are fully engaged in recovery.
The 56th Annual Georgia Tech Basic Economic Development Course (BEDC) will arm these professionals with the tools and strategies needed to maximize opportunity and potential for local communities in a four-day course from August 28-31. (Register: http://tiny.cc/BEDC2023)
The new realities of today’s workforce in a post-pandemic economy means communities must reimagine themselves in ways that make them more attractive to people as places to live and for businesses to operate.
Presented by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute in collaboration with the International Economic Development Council and the Georgia Economic Developers Association, this comprehensive course will explore the use of placemaking as an economic development tool to help professionals create quality places where people want to live and businesses believe they will thrive.
The 2023 theme is Placemaking and Economic Recovery: Creating Communities Where People Want to Live and Businesses Want to Be. Keynote speakers include Eric Kronberg, founder of Kronberg Urbanists Architects, and Elizabeth Ward Williams, that firm’s director of urban design.
“We know the pandemic has changed the way we operate in a lot of ways with telecommuting and remote working being a fixed reality for business and job seekers,” said Alan Durham, BEDC course director. With work-from-home or hybrid commuting schedules the norm, communities need to rethink how they create strategies and make them more appealing to potential residents and business investments, he said.
“Our course is designed to teach attendees how to maximize opportunities in this new reality. People aren’t moving to a given community simply to be closer to work if there’s no central office or even a requirement to go into one,” Durham said. “So, it’s…
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