The “4^th Wave” conversation in communities

July 2025

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FOUR APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Do these sound familiar?

Industrial Recruitment

Grow Your Own

Cooperation and Partnership

Resident Recruitment

• Focus is in creating more jobs in a community
• Goal is to recruit a new business

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• Focus is on creating more jobs in a community
• Goal is to increase number jobs at current and emerging small businesses

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• Focus is on business development and growth
• Goal is to increase jobs by targeted investments

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• Focus is on creating communities where people want to live
• Goal is to increase jobs by attracting new people - jobs follow people

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Adapted from a presentation from Dr. Steven Deller, University of Wisconsin

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Industrial Recruitment

“Low taxes, low regulation, creates jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Incentives

Infrastructure Investment

Foreign Direct Investment

Goods producing companies

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Grow Your Own

“Jobs created by existing companies.”

Business retention and expansion

Entrepreneurship

Business

financing tools

Workforce training

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Cooperation and Partnership

“Strategic and targeted economic development.”

Focus on supporting and growing industry clusters

Build networks and ecosystems

Creation of public-private partnerships

Coordinating efforts across sectors and geographies

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Resident Recruitment

"Attract people, jobs will follow.”

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© 2021 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

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© 2025 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.