When Adam Smith identified the three factors of production and the major contributors to a nation’s wealth in 1776, he may not have realized that he also defined one-half of the inputs for successful economic development 234 years later.

The “six inputs for community and economic development” is but one of the many new concepts, theories and tools offered in Brian Cole’s groundbreaking new upcoming economic development book Building Communities: 25 Strategies to Advance America.

Cole submits that Adam Smith’s three factors—land, labor, and capital—are but three of six inputs that communities must possess and utilize in order to improve their economic condition and overall quality of life.

Cole adds three more essential ingredients for successful economic development: quality of life, time, and discussion of strategy complexity.

The three long standing basics—land, labor, and capital—are essential not only for the growth and wealth of business and nations, but they are also three basic inputs that communities must have in place for economic development.

In short, communities must have available, accessible, and infrastructure-served land. Communities must be able to offer a labor force that is adequate both in size and capability to meet the needs of area and emerging businesses. Finally, communities must provide access to capital in order that area businesses can survive and thrive.

But simply having land, labor, and capital does not ensure the economic development success for communities today. There are three other considerations—inputs—according to Cole.

The fourth input relates to quality of life. That is, for many of the 25 economic development strategies identified by Cole, a community must offer a comparative advantage with respect to quality of life in order to successfully implement that given strategy.

Quality of life may relate to an area’s climate, recreational attributes, business and professional services, historic downtowns, cultural attractions, and so on.

A fifth input—time—is also a key consideration. That is, communities must realize that they must take a long-term approach to plan and implement successful economic development strategies. While certain strategies may be able to be implemented in a matter of months, for most strategies it will be a commitment of years.

A sixth and final input relates to “strategy complexity”. That is, certain economic development strategies require a community to have a significant comparative advantage with respect to many key success factors. Cole explains that key success factors are conditions or abilities possessed (or not possessed) by a community in order to implement one or more of the economic development strategies.

Cole’s Building Communities book defines each of the six inputs with respect to all 25 economic development strategies. Community leaders and economic development professionals looking to take a comprehensive look at viable strategies are well served to consider all six inputs before selecting and implementing such strategies.

Comparative Advantages of using the Building Communities Economic Development Strategic Planning Metholodogy vs. traditional planning methods

Are you ready to begin the Building Communities planning process? Building Communities is ready for you!