Robert Pittman, Founder and Exec. Dir. Janus Institute
I hope this issue of the Janus Reporter finds each of you enjoying a fun and relaxing summer with family and friends and a successful one in your economic development, corporate real estate and related activities. Following the sixth annual Janus Forum held at our home base of Rabun County, Georgia in June, we (the Janus Institute and partner Conway Data) are busy working with local hosts to schedule future Forums across the nation and also strategizing on how the Janus Forum and Institute will grow over the next few years. However we evolve, a key role of the Janus Forum will continue to be providing a place for local economic development professionals to share ideas and best practices, and contribute to the body of knowledge in the profession.
The Forums in Rabun County this Summer and last, as well as the Forum in Florida at Watercolor this past Spring, however, have shown clearly the benefit of broadening our scope and including site consultants, corporate executives, and community leaders. We started this practice because economic developers who attended the early Forums realized the value of extending our unique brand of peer learning and networking to the entire “value chain” of those who work together from start to finish to locate or expand corporate facilities. Unanimously, the invited consultants and corporate real estate executives from companies such as Gulf Aerospace, Weyerhaeuser, Lockheed Martin and Equinix have given us very positive feedback on the format and model. The free flowing panel sessions with consultants and executives in open dialogue with the audience of economic developers have won rave reviews as one of the best platforms for all these stakeholders to learn from each other and advance the state of the art.
A key recurring theme is our Forums has been how much elected and civic leaders of all stripes impact community and economic development. Many discussions have revolved around how even the best economic development programs and plans can be stymied by unenlightened leadership, and, vice versa, how good leadership can move communities forward. In visits to hundreds of communities in my career as a business location and economic development consultant, I have had the privilege of meeting many wonderful leaders, elected and otherwise, who make a huge difference in the growth and quality of life in their communities. The Janus Institute has begun a periodic award to persons nominated by Forum participants who exemplify the standards of good leadership. Our plan is to bring more outstanding community leaders into our mix of economic developers, consultants and executives to further enhance the discussions and findings. In addition to bringing community leaders more into the Forum mix, we are considering creating a new “Janus Institute Communities” membership class. These Institute Communities could have their own forum where several members from each community that constitute the economic development “team” (economic developer, elected officials, planner, board member, or whomever) come together and learn from each other in a totally new format.
In short, the Janus Forum is evolving into a unique venue where all parties involved in the economic development value chain learn from each other and create new best practices. We thank all Forum attendees and sponsors for their wonderful contributions and support, and we look forward to expanding our Janus family.
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