ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

In the arena of strategic planning and economic development, a worldwide list of clients has called upon The Pathfinders to develop and implement sales and marketing strategies; provide guidance on policy, impact, and financial issues; provide organizational development assistance; and, increase the effectiveness of the business recruitment function.


Representative Economic Development Projects:

U.S. Department of  Defense

Beginning in 1988 with the downsizing and closing of military installations, the Department of Defense funded The Pathfinders to produce comprehensive marketing strategies to convert those closing installations to civilian business parks and provide economic recovery strategies for more than four dozen communities which were affected by the closures.

Superconducting Super Collider

After Congress canceled the Superconducting Super Collider project (which included an atomic particle accelerator tunnel 30 miles in circumference and 500,000 square feet of laboratory space), the government called upon The Pathfinders to develop the marketing strategy to dispose of those unique, difficult-to-market facilities.

Muskegon, Michigan

As part of a Sudden and Severe Economic Dislocation Recovery Strategy funded by the EDA, The Pathfinders provided a socioeconomic impacts study and produced a comprehensive strategy designed to replace jobs lost, develop new programs and infrastructure, and produce a development finance plan for this Western Michigan County due to vanishing automobile industry employment.   It was cited by the EDA as being an exemplary strategy.  A subsequent contract was awarded to The Pathfinders to develop organizational guidelines and parameters within which to implement that strategy.

Delaware Indian Reservation

Funded by the U.S. Interior Department, The Pathfinders produced a business recruitment and economic development strategy to bring jobs to these Indian Lands in Central Oklahoma which had no industry and were experiencing an unemployment rate of almost 25%. It involved a feasibility study for a business park and the development of a real property management plan.

The Nation of Jamaica

Under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development, The Pathfinders undertook a three-year project to develop an economic development and business recruitment strategy for this island nation, establishing its business recruitment network in North America, Europe, and the Far East; training its staff; and, actually implementing the strategy which resulted in significant employment generation in Jamaica.

San Bernardino County, California

The Pathfinders organization was responsible over an eight-year period for crafting an economic development strategy and conducting the business recruitment functions for the County of San Bernardino. Additionally, The Pathfinders established the County's presence from a business recruitment perspective in Europe and the Pacific Rim, establishing offices for the County in London and Tokyo.

Peterborough, England

Retained by this "New Town" in the north of England, The Pathfinders assisted it in restructuring its business recruitment organization and developed and implemented a business recruitment marketing strategy for North America.  Over a two-year period, that marketing strategy produced over two dozen manufacturing operation locations in that community from the United States.

Frisco, Texas

Faced with the problems associated with becoming a "bedroom community" as a result of its proximity to Dallas and the competitive influences of the nearby Legacy Industrial Park in Plano, this community retained The Pathfinders to identify targets and produce an effective economic development strategy to bring jobs and corporate facilities to Frisco.  Since its implementation, that strategy has succeeded in the attraction of employers and capital investments to Frisco, mitigating the jobs/housing development imbalance.
 
Similar projects have been conducted for clients, included among which are:
 

Anadarko, Oklahoma

Memphis, Tennessee

Atlanta, Georgia

Mesa, Arizona

Baldwin County, Alabama

Monroe, Louisiana

Benton Harbor, Michigan

Pensacola, Florida

Blytheville, Arkansas

Plattsburgh, New York

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Columbus, Ohio

Reno, Nevada

Corpus Christi, Texas

Southeast Minnesota

Culpeper County, Virginia

Spokane, Washington

Denver, Colorado

Springfield, Illinois

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

State of New Mexico

Independence, Missouri

State of South Carolina

Indianapolis, Indiana

The Philippines

Jackson, Mississippi

Victorville, California

Kansas City, Kansas

Watertown, South Dakota

Lexington, Kentucky

West Midlands (UK)

Maryland Eastern Shore

Wilmington, Delaware