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Economic Development.
Field writing from SourceLink practitioners on Economic Development.
Latest in Economic Development
Resiliency Is a System, Not a Moment.
A disaster preparedness platform built mid-storm in Hawaii. A dashboard with roots in a group chat in Puerto Rico. A statewide operations center shaped by Katrina and Rita. Three different approaches engaged the same four concrete steps any community can take to formalize disaster readiness—starting now. Alyssa Gossley's team was partway through launching Stay Open...
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Economic Development
Resiliency Is a System, Not a Moment
A disaster preparedness platform built mid-storm in Hawaii. A dashboard with roots in a group chat in Puerto Rico. A statewide operations center shaped by Katrina and Rita. Three different approaches engaged the same four concrete steps any community can take to formalize disaster readiness—starting now. Alyssa Gossley's team was partway through launching Stay Open...
Nov 02, 2026
Uncategorized
No Wrong Door: How Scott Asmus Is Building Nebraska’s Entrepreneurial Navigation System
Scott Asmus did not come to entrepreneurship with a traditional playbook. He came with an outsider’s eye, a deep belief in putting people first, and a determination to make Nebraska’s entrepreneurial ecosystem easier to navigate. Through SourceLink Nebraska, he is helping turn a maze of resources into a connected system built around real people, real needs, and real movement.
Sep 17, 2026
Economic Development
Be Prepared So Your Community Can Count on You
Financial disruption, cyberattacks, and infrastructure failures require the same planning as natural disasters. Water rescues on a flooded Main Street. Sandbags and boarded up storefronts on a Gulf coastline. Merchants sifting through shingles and plywood in the aftermath of 125-mile-per-hour tornadic winds. These are the media images we’re accustomed to seeing when natural disasters strike...
Aug 23, 2026
Funding & Resources
Beyond the Grant: How Entrepreneurship-led Ecosystem Builders Fund for Resilience
Many of us feel like we have been playing financial Jenga the last couple of years. When a federal grant is pulled here or a state allocation is pulled there, an organization’s entire funding tower could end up on shaky ground, especially if it was the largest or sole source of funding. The question isn't...
Aug 03, 2026
Economic Development
Building Momentum: 15 Years in the Making
Detroit’s recently launched MI Small Business Helper platform took years of persistent development to become a national model. Here’s what ecosystem builders can learn from their experience. Detroit is a city that’s shown it can take a punch. It’s also shown it can build something that lands. After years of building the foundation, pushing through...
May 28, 2026
Economic Development
A Turning Point for Economic Development: Entrepreneurship and Ecosystems
Economic Development Week is the right moment to name what is happening in our field and why those of us who champion entrepreneurship-led economic development need to speak up even more. Economic development is changing. IEDC’s new Dimensions of Economic Development Practice report gives us more than a snapshot. It gives us a measurable, fieldwide...
May 07, 2026
Economic Development
Beyond Celebration: Aligning Small Business and Economic Development Efforts
This year, The SBA's National Small Business Week and the International Economic Development Council's (IEDC) Economic Development Week land at the same time; the first week of May. That overlap is more than a calendar coincidence. It’s a reminder of something economic developers and ecosystem builders see every day: you cannot separate entrepreneurs from the systems that...
Apr 30, 2026
Economic Development
Entrepreneurship Is More Than a Buzzword in Economic Development
The words communities use to describe entrepreneurs now shape who participates, who gets support, and how local economies grow. For a long time, economic development in the U.S. followed a familiar script: communities competed to attract large employers. Success was measured in metrics such as tax revenue increases, job growth, and square footage. Entrepreneurship existed in...
Dec 23, 2025
Economic Development
Santa Fe Small Business Navigator: Building Systems That Support Entrepreneurs at Scale
Across the field of economic development one truth stands out: supporting entrepreneurs requires more than good programs; it requires good systems. The city of Santa Fe has no shortage of entrepreneurial talent, committed partner organizations, or inspiring success stories. What’s harder is addressing the systemic side of the work. Becoming an entrepreneur depends on dozens...
Nov 25, 2025
Economic Development
Fueling Entrepreneurship in Rural America
Across small towns and wide-open regions, rural ecosystems grow faster when ecosystem partners invest in shared systems, transparent communication, and relationships that span towns and counties. Mark Burdette has spent more than two decades moving entrepreneurship forward in West Virginia, sometimes pushing, sometimes nudging. “Rural communities are kind of all I know,” he said. The deputy...
Nov 24, 2025
Economic Development
Ecosystem Unfiltered: Your Questions, Their Wisdom
Communities across the country are engaging in entrepreneurship-led economic development to give small businesses the best resources they need on their entrepreneurship journey. When trying to bridge gaps and solve problems, there is no “one size fits all” solution. When looking for strategies to bolster small business growth, it helps to look at those who...
Nov 21, 2025
Economic Development
How Data Becomes an Ecosystem’s Superpower
In Puerto Rico, new insights from ecosystem-wide data reveal who’s starting businesses, what drives their success, and how communities can respond faster when challenges hit. In resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems, data is the connective tissue. When it sits inside organizational silos, the picture is fragmented. But when it’s shared, analyzed, and acted on collaboratively, the entire...
Oct 29, 2025