Understanding Your Local Economy

Service Description

Understanding the strengths, gaps and pressures in your local economy. Every community has an economy, but in small towns it rarely looks like the charts and models found in textbooks. This session gives EDOs a practical, plain-language understanding of how their local economy works—the people, the businesses, the informal networks, the seasonal patterns, and the pressures that shape daily life. We focus on the forces that drive small-community economies and the unique vulnerabilities and strengths that come with a limited population base. You will learn how to identify the sectors that have the greatest impact, spot early signs of economic change, and distinguish between activity that feels busy and activity that builds the local economy. We explore how CED principles apply here: community-led decision-making, building on local assets, strengthening relationships and supporting long-term resilience rather than smokestack chasing. By the end of this session, EDOs have a clearer picture of what is happening in their local economy and how to use that information to set priorities, guide Council conversations, and focus their time where it makes the biggest difference. It is a practical, honest look at the economic realities of small-population communities—and foundational to economic development work. This webinar is part of the Community Economic Development Bundle. Contact Anna at Anna@smallplacesrock.com to register for the Community Economic Development Bundle of 10 webinars.