DT#449 Equitable Economic Development: Does Anyone Care?

<p class="MsoNormal" style= "margin-left: .25in; text-align: center;" align="center"> <strong><u><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Equitable Economic Development: Does Anyone Care?</span></u></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> <span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><strong><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Background</span></strong> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">-<span style= "mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Equity” has been used a lot over the last few years</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Definition: “The quality of being fair and impartial”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last year, the IEDC released its “Equitable Economic Development Playbook” which examined structural racism in ED and promotes equitable practices and standards.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The report highlighted four fundamental “prisms” through which equitable economic development strategies could be understood and applied.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in;"> <strong><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Acknowledge</span></strong> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">– acknowledge history</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in;"> <strong><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Target</span></strong> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">– programs and initiatives must explicitly target affected and vulnerable communities</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in;"> <strong><span style= "font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Collaborate</span></stro