Overview

• Overview
• Getting Started
• Visioning
• Understanding your Situation
• Other Resources

Community economic development is most likely to succeed when it:

• is planned and purposeful
• engages many stakeholders
• complements the overall vision and strategic plan of the community

REDDI is structured to reflect and reinforce the fundamental importance of such an effective planning process. (See Site Navigation)

Although many strategic planning exercises now feature stakeholder input or citizen participation, their scope and approach to implementation can vary depending on how the plan is to be used, and by what organizations. The following are examples of strategic plans:

• a community strategic plan to guide a range of organizations or subsidiary processes
• a corporate strategic plan to guide a single community organization
• a municipal strategic plan to guide the Official Plan and other public policy
• a strategic economic development plan to guide priorities for ED programs and projects

Ideally, a comprehensive plan or community strategic plan is the over-arching umbrella under which other levels of strategic planning can be conducted. It is the source of values, vision and high level goals which guides more focused objective setting and action planning. An effective community strategic planning process builds a foundation of common goals which facilitates the establishing of partnerships by diverse local organizations. These partnerships are necessary for the implementation of specific projects, or for enacting ED strategies.

At all levels of strategic planning there are basic common stages as illustrated in the diagram below. Depending on the maturity of existing plans, a community may choose to cycle back through certain stages. For example, a community may continue with its vision and goals intact but renew its objectives or action plans following the monitoring stage.

Go to:

• Initiating the Process/Getting Started
• Visioning
• Understanding your situation
• Links to other resources