Nation's Cities - December 19, 2011

2 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
December 19, 2011

REFLECTING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
Local Leadership for Job Creation and Economic Growth:
Economic Development Trends

by Christiana McFarland
Many of those involved in
economic development at the
local level have demonstrated
an incredible ability to not only
adjust to the tumultuous eco-
nomic conditions of the past
few years, but to think outside
the box and seize new oppor-
tunities.

Economic Development Peer Network
by J. Katie McConnell
The NLC Economic Development Peer Network will be
holding its first webinar of the new year on January 19, 2012,
at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.

New Economic Development Blog at Citiesspeak.org
by Brett Common
The Center for Research and Innovation’s
Economic Development team has introduced
a new weekly blog post series, “The Latest in
Economic Development,” which highlights
articles related to current trends, interesting
city programs and promising initiatives in local
and regional economic development.

investment strategies as a tool to
spur economic growth, particu-
larly in smaller and medium-
sized communities that may not
instinctively be on the radar of
international investors;
• Leveraging the
Internet and social media to
achieve economic development
goals and to build connections
to international companies;
• Supporting small busi-
ness trade opportunities by tap-
ping local and regional service
providers who have expertise,
industry networks and access to
the business community;
• Leveraging political
leadership to elevate the legiti-
macy of immigrant entrepre-
neurs and small businesses in
the work of local government
and to improve trust between
immigrant businesses and gov-
ernment; and
• Partnering with high-
er education, including com-
munity colleges, to attract and
support international students.
According to the Association of
International Educators, inter-
national students attending
U.S. colleges and universities
contributed $18.78 billion to
the U.S. economy during the
2009–2010 academic year.

Details: For more informa-
tion about NLC’s Economic
Development program, please
contact Christiana McFarland
at mcfarland@nlc.org or J.
Katie McConnell at mccon
nell@nlc.org.
This is the last issue of Nation’s Cities Weekly for 2011.
The first issue of 2012 will be January 9.
Nation’s Cities Weekly
Volume 34, Number 46 | ISSN 0164-5935 | December 19, 2011