Economic Development Authority
Georgetown-Quitman Economic Development Authority
Local Economic Development(LED)offers local government, the private and not-for-profit sectors, and localcommunities the opportunity to work together to improve the localeconomy. It focuses on enhancing competitiveness, increasing sustainablegrowth and ensuring that growth is inclusive. LED encompasses a range ofdisciplines including physical planning, economics and marketing. It alsoincorporates many local government and private sector functions includingenvironmental planning, business development, infrastructure provision, realestate development and finance.
The practice of localeconomic development can be undertaken at different geographic scales. Alocal government pursues LED strategies for the benefit of its jurisdiction,and individual communities and areas within a local government’s jurisdiction canpursue LED strategies to improve their economic competitiveness. Suchapproaches are most successful if pursued in partnership with local governmentstrategies. LED are thus about communities continually improving theirinvestment climate and business-enabling environment to enhance theircompetitiveness, retain jobs and improve incomes? Local communitiesrespond to their LED needs in many ways, and a variety of approaches can betaken that include:
- Ensuring that the localinvestment climate is functional for local businesses;
- Supporting small andmedium sized enterprises;
- Encouraging theformation of new enterprises;
- Attracting externalinvestment (nationally and internationally);
- Investing in physical(hard) infrastructure;
- Investing in softinfrastructure (educational and workforce development, institutional supportsystems and regulatory issues);
- Supporting the growthof particular clusters of businesses;
- Targeting particularparts of the city for regeneration or growth (areas based initiatives);
- Supporting informaland newly emerging businesses;
- Targeting certaindisadvantaged groups
Information taken from http://go.worldbank.org/EA784ZB3F0
BOARD MEMBERS
P. O. Box 114,
Georgetown, GA 39854
229-334-0903
229-234-3236
Danny Blackmon, Chairman Leslie Culver,Clerk
Mattie Johnson Mindy Ward
Ed Balkcom Jerry Green
Tyrice Foster
RELATED LINKS
U.S. Economic Development Administration
Georgia Department of Economic Development
RiverValley Regional Commission