If you are part of a group or organization, at some point you will probably wonder if what you have been doing has been successful or if the people involved are satisfied with the group.  There are many different ways you can go about evaluating this, from getting the group together and asking for feedback to conducting an online anonymous survey with questions that people can respond to.  However you decide to find out if you're doing well, you'll need to make sure that you carefully plan out what you want to ask.  Few things can be more frustating than asking a group questions with the intent to evaluate performance, only to end up with answers that are of no help to you because you didn't ask the correct questions.  This can happen if someone is not familiar with the purpose or atmostphere of the group or organization that they are looking at.  So how do you know that you're asking the right questions?  How do you make sure that you're getting responses from the people that you want?  There are a few things that you can keep in mind that will help you to answer these questions.  

Make sure that you really know what you want to learn - If you aren't sure what it is that you're looking to find out, then you will not be able to ask the right questions.   If you don't know what it is you want, how can you expect anyone else to?

Make sure they understand why this is important - Even worse than getting answers that aren't helping is getting no answers at all.  Make sure that you convey to those involved why this is important and how it will help things to work better.  

Don't operate in a vaccuum - Run your questions by someone else in the organization.  Don't assume that you got it right the first time and instead let others to point out ways things can be worded to get better results.  

Make it work for the group -If you're looking at a group of people who are technically challenged, conducting an online survey may not make a lot of sense.  You need to big a method that works for those you are trying to get answers from.  

The Membership Committee of the Maine Gay Men's Chorus recently conducted an anonymous online survey of the singing members asking about their satisfaction with the organization so far for the 2009-2010 season.  Before sending this out to the membership, the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors was consulted about the questions that would be asked to make sure they reflected the organization and what information was important.  The reason for this survey was also conveyed to the membership, letting them know what the information would be used for and how their contributions would help.  Because of these important steps, almost every member who received the survey completed it and provided valuable information that was in line with what the Membership Committee was trying to find out.  The results they have received will enable the organization to now improve for the remainder of the season and going forward in the future.  

In economic development we know what doesn’t work:  one way communication and top down government-lead initiatives.  This “old school” economic development process is characterized by committees lead by government staff that are “public official heavy”.  Business and citizens become involved only as an input to be checked off the project to do list.  Involvement in this old school approach typically takes the form of scheduling hearings and asking business representatives and citizens to step to the podium and give opinions and express wants and needs.  The information is then turned into a government focused strategy by the committee that creates programs to be delivered by government and consumed by businesses and the public.  The end results of this old school approach is includes passiveness on the part of the private sector, reports that sit on shelves, lack of implementation due to lack of resources by the public sector, or programs supported and run by government that fail to have an impact.

So the question is what does work?  While there is no one answer and foolproof process that can guarantee success, there are many conditions, approaches and practices that can lead to the creation of economic development strategies that get implemented and meet desired economic, business, and community outcomes.  The following is an overview of what we have observed and participated in at PolicyOne.

Letting the business and citizens lead and government support and leverage – Government does not have to be the one that come up with the ideas and then leads the effort.  Just like excessive government borrowing crowds out private borrowing, government lead initiatives crowd out grassroot initiatives.  Businesses and citizens come to believe that government will take care of it and become passive and non-responses at worst and consumers only at best.

Identifying actions that can be taken outside of government implementation and programs that do not require government control and expenditures - no matter what strategies are development roles, responsibilities and financial support that does not involve government should be consider first, not last.

Using business and industry associations and citizens groups not just to provide feedback and representation by their staff but to get local businesses and citizens involved and active - Business and industry associations are typically included in old school economic development initiatives, but their involvement is frequently through paid staff and the involvement can suffer from the same ownership and control issues experience with government entities.  A more productive use of business and industry associations is to utilize them to help stir up and engage businesses to directly participate.  The same could be said of citizen interest groups.

Focusing on partnering and coalitions among organizations as opposed to ownership and control – Economic development touches many aspects of our daily lives and businesses and as such involves many different organizations.  Often times one organization tries to own and control the process in an effort to justify or gain resources.  The end result is often lack of long-term support and implementation and continuance f the status quo.   Through partnerships and coalitions organizations can create economic development strategies that can be implemented through broad based ownership and shared responsibility.   The key is not focusing on ownership and control but rather community outcomes.  If the community becomes economically successful its businesses and organization will be able to succeed as well.

Using new media – New media was once the playground of the young and tech savvy.  Now it is being used more and more by the entire population.  It is an effective and low cost way to both disperse information about economic development efforts and to engage interested persons and allow input, feedback, and new ideas.  Blogs, websites, newsletters, and social media tools such as Linked-in and Facebook provide free tools for these purposes.

Through our work at PolicyOne we have come across several recent examples of how these approaches can work.

Scarborough Farmers’ Market – Seeded by the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation (which is lead by a private sector – business board) partnering with the Scarborough Land Trust (grassroots organization interested in protection of land and open space to benefit the community and environment) and regional farmers and vendors.  With this engagement a grassroots, bottom-up famers market was piloted in the summer of 2008 and with a once-week summer schedule launched in summer of 2009.  Vendors and interested community members are now in the process of refining the market for further success.  Except for a bit of administrative support from SEDCO, all of this was done with no grants or no public funding – simply the hard work and dedication of volunteers and vendors.

Buy Local Scarborough – Modeled after Buy Local efforts, small independent business owners in Scarborough Maine recently united and created the Buy Local Scarborough Initiative.  Like many communities across the nation, Maine street businesses and small independent businesses in Scarborough have been impacted by an influx of national chains, big box stores, and the national recession.  Rather than sit back and watch sales and revenues decline, a group of independent businesses joined together formed the Buy Local Scarborough initiative.  In three month the group recruited 80 members, produced its first guide/directory, launched a website, and developed plans for a consumer discount campaign. How was so much achieved in so little time?  The answer these businesses and volunteers didn’t wait for government approval or support.  They identified a threat – lost sales and revenues, developed a solution:  branding local and independent to boost business recognition, and implemented it.  A local councilor helped spearhead the effort but she was acting as a local business owner and using grass roots organizing as opposed to government command and control techniques.    

Maine Entrepreneurs Group on LinkedIn –The business and entrepreneur community in Maine has long recognized that networks are key to economic success as the facilitate knowledge sharing and peer support.  To succeed however, networks in Maine must overcome geographic dispersion and lack of density that exists in larger urban areas.  One entrepreneur, Kirk Hill, Owner of Quai Inc a software development business, recognized this need and challenge and rather than wait for an organizational or government program went ahead and created and Maine entrepreneur network on LinkedIn.  At first the network was mostly virtual consisting of the sharing information, advice and opinions via the on-line community, but is has since grown to over 900 members and monthly in-person get together to network, socialize, and dive into specific issues.  The meetings typically draw 30-40 persons and although networking may result in business leads the focus is on information and knowledge sharing.   The network is low cost (beyond Kirk’s sweat and blood) and is not support by any government program or funding.

These are examples of what we at PolicyOne have seen working using new approaches.  I welcome the sharing of other successful methods for grassroots engagement in the economic development process right through taking ownership and responsibility for implementation.

Predictive ability for emergency service requests represents a great potential for a safer community and cost-savings. The ability to predict the everyday variety of crimes, fires, and emergency medical calls is within reach. After 9-11, the trend toward information analysis and intelligence in law enforcement accelerated rapidly. Business intelligence analysis software and geographic information system technology has found its way into policing, not just in large urban areas but in small towns as well. National databases and information sharing among all levels of law enforcement make it possible to reduce the risk of terrorism threats.

It also works for the crimes that a city such as Richmond, Virginia experiences routinely. An information management system for predictive crime analysis includes elements for data mining, reporting, and mapping with GIS software. Police officers receive the estimations or predictions for crime hot spots before their shift begins. The result is positive action taken to prevent crimes rather than a reaction to a crime already committed. Using the system, the city lowered its dangerous city rating in one year, dropping from fifth highest to number fifteen. The goal of these systems is to replicate the “intuitive nature” of a highly experienced police officer. Data collection is the key. Without baseline data, such systems have no predictive value also critical is a records management system that facilitates data mining.   

While this approach has application for arson crimes, attempting the same for building fires is unfortunately more problematic. Some progress in this regard is underway as a team of Australian geographers works with the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service for the purpose of better allocating fire service resources and save lives. In the terminology of geographic analysis, the research team is investigating the spatial-temporal arrangement of urban fires and their association with weather conditions, calendar events, and socio-economic conditions. The area protected by this particular fire service has a large migrant population. The budgets of urban fire-rescue services are limited and thus essential that managers and planners understand the underlying forces that drive where, when and why fires start.        

Using disaggregated fire incident data form Queensland Fire and Rescue Service subsequently aggregated to the Statistical Local Area, the team used the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ defined index of socio-economic disadvantage (SEIFA) as the basis to identify relationships between socio-economic disadvantage and building fires. They then used a regression model to develop predictions for the incidence of building fires over a range of socio-economic variables.

The geographers identified five significant predictors: percentage of unemployed, proportion of indigenous population, families living in separate dwellings, one parent, and parent families with children less than fifteen years of age. This study shows that mapping urban (building) fires for informed decision-making and resource allocation has potential for further application in other areas to validate the results.

Predictive ability for emergency service requests represents a great potential for a safer community and cost-savings. The ability to predict the everyday variety of crimes, fires, and emergency medical calls is within reach. After 9-11, the trend toward information analysis and intelligence in law enforcement accelerated rapidly. Business intelligence analysis software and geographic information system technology has found its way into policing, not just in large urban areas but in small towns as well. National databases and information sharing among all levels of law enforcement make it possible to reduce the risk of terrorism threats.

It also works for the crimes that a city such as Richmond, Virginia experiences routinely. An information management system for predictive crime analysis includes elements for data mining, reporting, and mapping with GIS software. Police officers receive the estimations or predictions for crime hot spots before their shift begins. The result is positive action taken to prevent crimes rather than a reaction to a crime already committed. Using the system, the city lowered its dangerous city rating in one year, dropping from fifth highest to number fifteen. The goal of these systems is to replicate the “intuitive nature” of a highly experienced police officer. Data collection is the key. Without baseline data, such systems have no predictive value also critical is a records management system that facilitates data mining.   

While this approach has application for arson crimes, attempting the same for building fires is unfortunately more problematic. Some progress in this regard is underway as a team of Australian geographers works with the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service for the purpose of better allocating fire service resources and save lives. In the terminology of geographic analysis, the research team is investigating the spatial-temporal arrangement of urban fires and their association with weather conditions, calendar events, and socio-economic conditions. The area protected by this particular fire service has a large migrant population. The budgets of urban fire-rescue services are limited and thus essential that managers and planners understand the underlying forces that drive where, when and why fires start.        

Using disaggregated fire incident data form Queensland Fire and Rescue Service subsequently aggregated to the Statistical Local Area, the team used the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ defined index of socio-economic disadvantage (SEIFA) as the basis to identify relationships between socio-economic disadvantage and building fires. They then used a regression model to develop predictions for the incidence of building fires over a range of socio-economic variables.

The geographers identified five significant predictors: percentage of unemployed, proportion of indigenous population, families living in separate dwellings, one parent, and parent families with children less than fifteen years of age. This study shows that mapping urban (building) fires for informed decision-making and resource allocation has potential for further application in other areas to validate the results.

In many organizations, the problem is not that people aren't coming up with new ideas to get things done - the problem is keeping track of them so you can follow through with them.  Getting a group of people together to brainstorm a solution is a great idea, but if no one is capturing and organizing the thoughts that are presented, then it is as if they were never presented to begin with.  One way of resolving this is by using the technique of "mind-mapping."

A mind map is simply a diagram that is used to represent any number of words, ideas or tasks that are linked to a central idea.  It can be a much more effective way of tracking ideas than using an outline or just taking notes because it helps to better connect ideas together.  A map can either be very simple with multiple central ideas and single "spokes" to convey ideas attached to that central idea or a map can be more complex with ideas that branch off in further idea sequences from the central idea.  However you use the map it helps to connect the ideas together in a way that doesn't happen with just making a list.  

There is no one set way to do a mind map.  Some people will freehand draw a map while others like to have something that is more structured.  There is also software that is designed to help with keeping your mind map organized and can let you print and/or share with others in a variety of ways.  You can find a list of some of the software at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mind_mapping_software

There is a repository of historic fire insurance maps containing information that could be vital to your current work especially if you work in commercial real estate, development, urban planning, or insurance. I am referring to the collection of fire insurance maps retained by and offered through EDR as the Certified Sanborn® Map Report. This is a collection containing the original fire insurance maps of American cities and towns drafted by the field survey crews of the Sanborn Map Company. Crews mapped as many as 12,000 American cities and towns starting from the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. They collected information critical to fire insurance underwriters. The fire underwriters needed to know information about the risk associated with the building in question, its’ use, nearby structures, occupancies of those structures, location of fire hydrants, and generally the surrounding area. They mapped areas at large scale to provide the rich details. They noted construction methods, type of building materials used, processes undertaken inside buildings, and storage. Because the Sanborn crews returned approximately every 10 years, the maps represent a long-term record of land usage. Today this information is useful to developers who want to know about hidden risks, land use planners seeking the history of a location and its’ previous uses, and environmental historians. EDR supplements the digital Sanborn map with a series of historic aerial images by decade, city directories, as well as USGS topographic maps. EDR certifies the package of maps and images as accurate to a set of standards so that the information is in a sense validated for any potential legal issues.

If you do a quick search on any search engine, you will find many sites of people who say that they can tell you the essential tools or strategies you need to ensure success.  The problem is that all of them list different tools and strategies!  Every organization and business is unique so that it is not surprising that you will find a different list of items for different types of entities.  If you search for the "seven C's", you will find pages related to leadership, communication, consulting, learning and even more specialized topics like web design and coaching.  What I have discovered is that there are three fundamental "C"s that will not guarantee success (and be wary of anything that promises that) but will lead to a more productive and rewarding experience working with your company or organization.

• Cooperation - Competition is healthy; but so is cooperation.  Remember that you and the others in the organization or business are part of a team and as such are all working toward the same ultimate goals.  Not everyone may always get along or agree, but it is important that you don't stand in the way of someone else getting their work done.  Be there to answer the phone when they've got a question or offer up the documents that you might have that are what they're looking for.
• Collaboration - Like every organization, every person is unique with their own skills and talents.  Collaborating with others will enable you to help them think in new ways and come up with new solutions and also for you to find new strategies in your own work.  Collaboration doesn't mean that three of you all take a document and break it into three sections and all work on it separately, it means that you use your strengths to help offset what might be a weakness for others.  There might be someone in your office struggling with an issue that you found a solution to last week - help them out.
• Communication - probably the most important of the three, and also the most overlooked.  Communication is more than saying hello to your co-workers as you pass them on the way to the water cooler, it is an essential tool for any organization.  How many times have you started working on a project only to find out that someone else has already completed what you were working on?  Or how many times have you thought someone else was responsible for a task only to realize that they were never aware of that?  These are the pitfalls that occur when there is poor or no communication.  Check in with each other, see where they are at and let them know what you're working on.  If you have questions about a project or task, certainly go and ask someone.  Keep each other in the loop and you will find that things get done more smoothly and the stress of not knowing if something is getting done or having one person responsible for too many tasks will disappear.  

Recently, I was part of a panel for the Maine Town and City Manager’s Association on conducting municipal service and department reviews and assessments.  I have conducted several such studies including ones that assess all services as well as ones focused on a specific department.  Such efforts can be very useful for municipal leaders to improve service delivery as well as generate cost savings.  Over the course of these efforts there are several tips I have picked up which if followed will increase the changes for successful implementation.  They are as follows:

• Be very clear about why you are conducting the review – reasons typically y include trying to lower costs, lower taxes, improve service, expand service, improve morale, or improve customer satisfaction.  Your reasons can include one, some, or all of these but they need to be made clear upfront.  Along the same lines, be clear about which services and departments are to be included. 
• When evaluating services, separate human resource items like personnel reviews from the service delivery analysis.  Most importantly, do not conduct such an effort simply to make the case to terminate someone.  Human resource issues such as this require different toolsets than service delivery analysis.  Additionally, service delivery analysis takes time, resources and energy that are not worth expending for tasks they are not designed for.
• Be aware of review and assessment processes that that utilize one “silver bullet” technique.  There are many good tools and techniques for assessment and each has strengths and constraints at meeting particular needs.  A customized analysis drawing from several tools and techniques is often the best approach.
• Be upfront and clear on the level and type of public, council, and staff involvement required.  Assessment efforts take time and energy to be done correctly and regular staff work needs to continue on a day to day to day basis while the assessment is being conducted so proper planning is important. 
• Be clear and communicate to staff what is being done, why and how information will be used.  Assessments can be unsettling for staff.  Clear communication can help defray fear and result in a more productive process.
• Don’t be afraid to compare yourself to private sector entities that at first glance don’t seem directly comparable.  Instead, think about the customer service experience and try to include benchmarks for similar services in the private sector.  For example, tax collection offices often function much like bank teller services and benchmarks in that industry would be comparable and useful.
• Understand that reviews require data and information and the better the information that is regularly collected, the better the review and analysis.
• Finally and most importantly, do not conduct the review if you are not prepared to implement solutions and follow-through.  It is too resource and time intensive to do the work then ignore the solutions.

As a rural state covering a large extent, as well as having a diverse population, Maine communities face a challenge in providing for and maintaining effective local fire protection. As a local system, fire departments face the challenge head on and frequently the answer is found working with neighboring communities and other fire departments in their respective counties. It is useful then to consider the distribution and coverage of fire services, in the aggregate, at the county level. Here are three maps showing how firefighters add up at the county level in Maine.

The first map shows how fire departments are staffed by type of personnel be they paid, paid-on-call, or volunteer. 

 

  The next map shows the number of firefighters per capita, based on the county population.

 

The last map shows the number of firefighters in a given county per square mile.



To view the maps at a larger scale visit our fire service information page.

In economic development, attention is often paid to which areas of the country have low tax burdens and which have high tax burdens.  While not the only or even primary factor in driving business and economic development performance, tax burdens play an important role.  No area wants to be perceived as a high cost area and being considered low cost or even middle of the pack can help support economic development strategies.   In stable economic times, comparative tax burdens of states and regions seldom change as governments tend to follow the “business as usual” approach.  Thus, the ranking of states with regard to low vs. high tax burdens remains relatively constant.  However, all of this can change in a volatile economy.

The severe downturn in the national economic climate impacts households, businesses, and governments.  For government, loss of revenues associated with the downtown forces change.  This change can take the form of program and service reductions and eliminations, across the board spending reductions, tax increases, or some combination of all. The path taken in response to the economic downtown is in the hands of policymakers and the public and over time has the potential to re-shuffle the deck in terms of comparative tax burdens.  

Some states and regions will make the tough choices by identifying costs savings and program and service reductions and avoiding large tax increases.  Others will delay these tough choices by relying on tax increases or bailouts from federal grant and funding programs.  The net effect can move some areas from being high tax states to the middle of the pack or even being low tax burden states and vice-versa .  No doubt, making the tough choices will result in some pain as people benefit directly from the programs and services provided.  But in such tough economic times, a bit of pain now can make a more prosperous future.