While driving from meeting to meeting yesterday, I just happened to tune in on my radio to testimony from the Trayvon Martin murder trial. Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a forensic pathologist, was on the witness stand and one of the defense attorneys was questioning Dr. Di Maio to establish his credentials as an expert witness. The doctor was relating his time as medical examiner of Bexar County, Texas, in which San Antonio is the county seat. When he mentioned San Antonio, he stated he would “give (San Antonio) a plug – it’s the seventh largest city in the United States and a beautiful place to live.”
As an economic development professional, you’ve got to love that sort of organic community promotion. Unsolicited, unadulterated, I-love-it-so-much-I-got-to-exclaim-it testimony of your community’s quality of place! How does that happen? First, you can’t fake it – you have to have quality of place, whether a large city like San Antonio or an exurban area like Cheatham County, Tennessee. However, we can do a better job of how we tell the stories of our community and encourage our local folk to tell them – even brag a little bit – and with the power of social media (or a highly publicized trial), a little bit can go a long way.
About Daryl Phillips, CEcD
I am a professional economic developer. I presently work for communities and companies in developing and implementing workforce and economic development solutions as CEO of Phillips Economic Development Solutions (Phi EDS).
Prior to September 2017, I was the economic development professional who served a community team of elected officials, business people, community leaders and dedicated stakeholders for economic development in Cheatham County, Tennessee (pop. 39,880) and its four towns. During my five-year tenure, I served the team as Cheatham County grew over 1,700 jobs, turned around population declines at the start of this decade into healthy population growth, increased tourism expenditures 20.3% and local tax revenue from tourism 25.4%, grew sales tax revenue 36%, focused on developing the local workforce and was recognized by SmartAsset as having the 9th highest Incoming Investment Index of all the 95 counties in Tennessee.
I am a member of International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council, Tennessee Economic Development Council and International Council of Shopping Centers.
I have earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification from National Development Council and hold a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University.
