WHEN YOU ASK CEOs ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
By Andrew Wear
Over more than two decades working with local government, I ' ve seen CEOs grapple with most of the issues that shape local economies: development, housing, planning, infrastructure, investment and jobs. But it ' s less common to hear CEOs articulate how they think about economic development itself.
Earlier this year, Econovation and Economic Development Australia began a national research project to understand how local government CEOs think about economic development. Would they focus on familiar activities such as tourism, investment attraction and business support? Would they see economic development primarily as the responsibility of a specialist team? Or would they frame it differently?
During the project, I conducted 17 in-depth interviews with council CEOs or General Managers across Australia, alongside a national survey completed by 42 CEOs and General Managers. The research included leaders from every state and territory except the ACT, spanning capital cities and growth areas, regional cities and rural areas, and remote and Indigenous councils.
What surprised me initially was how strongly CEOs prioritised economic development. Nearly nine in ten survey respondents said economic development was either a core organisational priority or a high priority for their council. None regarded it as a low priority( see Figure 1).
Economic development clearly matters to local government leaders. It sits alongside housing, infrastructure, financial sustainability and community wellbeing as one of the defining issues occupying CEO attention.
FIGURE 1.
70 % 60 % 50 % 40 % 30 % 20 % 10 % 0 %
What I found particularly interesting was how differently CEOs arrived at that conclusion. The interviews were surprising and didn ' t always unfold as expected. Each CEO approached economic development from a different angle, shaped partly by the unique challenges facing their council area and partly by their own perspective.
Sam Johnson at Launceston is focused on growing his city to 100,000 people over the next decade. Because‘ people are naturally drawn to success’, the council uses positive messaging to‘ play an active role
Core priority( top 3 issues) High priority Moderate priority Lower priority
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