Women in Economic Development Jennifer Patterson leads Ontario’s economic developers by breaking down silos Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature Jennifer Patterson, president of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) has seen many changes over the past 15 years. Patterson started her career as a cor- porate sales manager in the tourism and hospitality industry. Today, in addition to her EDCO responsibilities, she is a senior business development consultant with the City of Hamilton. “People come into economic development from vari- ous backgrounds, from engineering and sales to plan- ning and public policy,” Patterson said. “In the past this was a career people learned as they went along but now there is a Masters in Economic Development program through the University of Waterloo and many resources for learning through professional development program- ming through associations like EDCO.” Patterson believes in education and the value of achieving professional designations. EDCO has re- sources and programming to help individuals achieve certification success. She says the EDCO’s membership demographics are changing. “There are definitely more youth getting in- volved right out of school and we have seen a significant increase in women entering the field. Currently our board is made up of predominately women and I am the fourth female president in the last five years.” She says successful economic developers share per- sonality traits common with successful sales and busi- ness development representatives. At the end of the day, economic development is all about selling a munic- ipality or region, identifying opportunities, thinking out- side the box, and connecting with people to share a vision. “The biggest challenge in our field is competition,” she said. “It’s all about how we position our communi- ties for investment; identifying our value-added proposi- tion and the benefits of investing in our community versus another. That being said though, businesses don’t see our borders the way government is mandated to.” She says the industry used to be very siloed. How- ever, she is seeing some of the biggest opportunities coming from collaboration and partnering, where com- munities develop joint initiatives and work with other government levels. “As key funders to some of our programs, they are strongly promoting more regional economic development,” Patterson said. “As commu- nity representatives, we work to educate our stakeholders to recognize that an invest- ment in one region, will also benefit the sur- rounding communities.” She adds that every economic develop- ment office is looking for investment in their own community that will lead to job creation and an increased tax base. “However, under- standing your supply chain and identifying industry gaps also presents opportunities where we can assist our industry by con- necting them with these new investments, whether in our own community or the surrounding region.” On another level, economic development offices are beginning to work with social media, “a challenge be- cause in government it’s either heavily monitored or not available at all,” she said. “This is definitely an area that EDCO is actively engaging in – as for Hamilton, our com- munity is actually very progressive and ranks number one in Canada for its use of social media.” Patterson’s goals include enhancing EDCO’s commu- nications. She also wants to ensure the association is providing the most effective resources and tools for members to assist them in their day-to-day jobs. “Not all communities or regions have the resources to support an economic development function. With that in mind we’re reaching out to provincial and regional associa- tions and communities to offer assistance by sharing re- sources and professional development programming.” Patterson says this community outreach has been a positive experience because it encourages collaboration, strengthens relationships, and profiles communities people don’t necessarily see on a regular basis. Further focusing her goal to break down silos, Patter- son is talking with industry as part of Hamilton’s busi- ness retention and expansion program, through her investment attraction efforts and her EDCO role, where she advocates on behalf of the economic development profession. “Economic development exists as surely as industry exists. We need to ensure that ministries, re- gional government and industry are reaching out to their local economic development offices because we all have a role to play in business expansion, retention and new investment.” Patterson says EDCO is in the process of rolling out a new marketing and communication strategy. “We’re working to partner, promote and educate. It’s all about how we can work together more effectively and more strategically.” The Canadian Design and Construction Report — Winter 2014 – 25