Site Navigation

The process of community economic development is an ongoing cycle wherein each stage informs the next. The 5 main sections of this web site are organized to reflect these stages in a logical progression and are highlighted in dark blue across the top of the home page. This global navigation bar appears at the top of each page of the website.

The five main sections contain information and resources relevant for each respective stage as a community might proceed through a local economic development planning process:

• Socio-Economic Insight: gathering information (Insight button)
• Analyze Your Economy: identifying strengths and challenges (Analyze button)
• Strategies: setting goals and considering project and program options (Strategies button)
• Implement Projects: undertaking projects (Implement button)
• Track Progress: assessing success (Track button)

Mousing over and clicking on one of the five buttons will take you to the Introductory page of that section.

On the Home page a click on one of the icons on the right will also take you to the Introductory page of the section.

Mousing over a button on the global navigation bar will produce a drop-down menu of the sub-sections within that section. Clicking the highlighted sub-section name will take you directly to the sub-section, skipping the introductory page of the section. Please note that 'Analyze' and 'Track' currently have no sub-sections.

The sub-section buttons that appear on the drop-down menu on the home page will also appear on the introductory page of each section in a side-bar menu on the right-hand side.

Site Search

A Site Search box appears at the top left of every page on the site. Typing a term or phrase you are looking for and clicking on the Go button will then return a list of the pages in the site which have text matching the term you entered. Instructions for the variety of queries supported by the REDDI search function are found by clicking on Search Help to the right of the Go button. Note that only the lower level pages are searched. Higher level main pages are currently not searchable.

Crumb Trail

When you are in a sub-section a crumb trail appears below the navigation bar at the top of the page which indicates the sub-section and section names of that part of the site. Use the crumb trail to return to higher levels in the site. In the illustration below, for example, by clicking on Strategies you would exit the Downtown sub-section and return to the Strategies introductory page.

The following is a short overview of the types of information resources in each section:

1. Insight (Socio-Economic Insight)

   Resources in this section assist you with identifying where to get statistics on some of the fundamental socio-economic factors of a particular community.

2. Analyze (Analyze Your Economy)

   This section enables you to conduct several types of economic analysis to deepen your understanding of a selected local economy. Here you can: select your geographic area; choose from among several forms of analysis; perform calculations using built-in formulas and data; and then generate reports or maps in the electronic format you choose.

3. Strategies (Strategies)

   This section incorporates resources for specific areas of practice in the local economic development field. Among the subjects now included are "Business Retention and Expansion", "Economic Impact Assessment" and "Downtown Revitalization".

4. Implement (Implement Projects)

   The Implement section includes information relevant to project management. This material is at an introductory level, providing suggestions for where to learn more about the subject. It also includes information about developing a business case and Ontario government funding programs and business financing options.

5. Track (Track Progress)

This section has a relatively simple introduction to a complex and important topic area: further development of the resources in this section is planned.