Brewed Fresh Daily

Wow! Check this out. This post is about something Ed Morrison posted on his EDPro blog. But I struggle with the phrase "economic development". Jack and I had lunch with "the only man in Cleveland with any money (that's what mayor Jane said at a press conference)" and the three of us decided that there's technical language in many areas (academia, government, business, technology, etc.) that needs to be translated to be understood. One of those things is "economic development". So I googled. And stumbled upon an excellent google hack. If you use "define:" before the phrase you're searching for [i.e. define:Economic Development] google returns a list of definitions from around the web. I think my favorite is:

"Economic Development is the sustained, progressive attempt to attain individual and group interests through expanded, intensified and adjusted use of available resources." - Ron Shaffer

Back to Ed's post:

Mark Drabenstott is one of the leading voices for new economic development strategies in rural areas. He's vice president and director of the Center for Study of Rural America with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Last week in Iowa, Drabenstott put the challenge clearly: "We need to start believing that we are interdependent, not independent. We need to stop thinking like the independent Swedish farmer and start thinking like a quilting bee. We can't let county, city or state lines keep us from working together."

And you thought Easter Sunday at BFD would be any different? I guess I think of it as following my calling.