An “EDS” entrepreneurial community in action

There’s no better way to understand a concept than to see it in real life, and the Urban Industry Initiative in Philadelphia is a great example of the entrepreneurial development system and its branded version, the Entrepreneurial League System (R), explained earlier here this week.

You can read about the program here, but it’s essentially the EDS applied to an industry district in Philadelphia. It saved 350 jobs of 12 companies planning to leave, generated millions in new business and is one of two models the mayor uses as shining examples of economic development success in the city.

“The old inner-city neighborhoods of the northeastern United States were once a thriving mixture of industrial, commerical and residential economies. Manufacturing provided jobs to local residents, who supported commercial enterprises through their wages. We have the ability to revitalize and reinvent those neighborhoods to reflect the competitive realities of the global economy. Such a place-based mission can be achieved by using a strategy of building social capital.” Gregg A. Lichtenstein, President of Collaborative Strategies and co-founder of the EDS and ELS (R). Contact him here.

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