Crossing the Next Regional Frontier

• The Era of Industrial Recruiting has its roots in the recruitment strategies that Mississippi adopted during the Great Depression and accelerated after World War II. During this period, economic development strategies emphasized financial incentives to attract factories, and focused on investments in physical infrastructure to move inputs to factories and finished goods to markets. • The Era of Cost Competition, which began in the early 1980s, emphasized industry consolidation and achieving economies of scale. During this period, multinational companies began globalizing their production operations. To compete, U.S.-based economic development organizations focused on providing more aggressive, deeper incentives. The focus in this era was more diffuse and relied on creating a business and regulatory climate that encouraged private investment by reducing costs. • Our current Era of Regional Competitiveness, which began in the late 1990s, emphasizes identifying each region’s competitive advantages and then prioritizing public and private investments necessary to exploit those advantages. This period is seeing the blurring of lines between economic and workforce development, as innovation emerges as a key element around which economic development strategies are organizing.