The inaugural “Know Your Region” workshop, held July 24th & 25th in Arlington, Virginia, was designed to assist practitioners in developing a forward-thinking regional economic plan that not only generates momentum for development in their own communities, but also helps them in accessing federal resources.

Targeted to economic and workforce development specialists, this workshop offered participants the opportunity to obtain:

1. A single coherent framework for identifying regional development opportunities and capitalizing on them;
2. A guide to understanding and detecting regional competitive advantage;
3. Hands-on guidance about how to mobilize leaders across organizations and jurisdictions;
4. A framework for monitoring and evaluating development plans and actions; and,
5. A network of like-minded colleagues to whom to turn as they developed their strategies.

In addition to providing practitioners with these resources, the workshop offered the curriculum developers an opportunity to gain first-hand feedback on the curriculum from front line practitioners.  Development practitioners representing diverse economic and workforce development organizations from 12 distinct states attended the workshop and assisted with curriculum testing and evaluation.  

Key findings from these evaluations include:

• 70.59% of those attending felt the organization of the overall workshop was excellent.
• 93.75% of practitioners attending indicated that the overall content was appropriate and informative
• 93.75% of practitioners attending reported that the workshop curriculum was applicable and practical
• 97% of practitioners attending indicated that they would recommend the course to other development professionals

To see full evaluation results, click here.

Modules One through Six are available in a narrated PowerPoint presentation. Click the appropriate link to view and listen to each module.

• Module 1: Collaborative RED Framework
• Module 2: Leading the Planning Effort
• Module 3: Detecting Regional Advantage
• Module 4: Formulating Strategies
• Module 5: Workforce Development
• Module 6: Executing Your Plan

Specialized training are being planned for workforce development and economic development professionals as well as policymakers in regions across the country. If you would be interested in having a workshop in your area, please contact us .