City Branding Can Impact Economic Development

by Caitlin Geary

This is the first article in a series on local economic development tools and practices. This article focuses on branding for economic development and highlights programs in Milwaukee and Lansing, Mich.
With city revenues declining, small businesses closing and consumer spending waning, cities have begun to strategically reposition their approach to economic development. Cities can use branding as a way to unite the community around a new competitive identity and to communicate their fresh approach to the outside world.

A strong community brand should be based on the assets and strengths of the city, its history and culture, the objectives of the broader economic development strategy and the collective vision and goals of residents, businesses and other community stakeholders. When a city is able to differentiate itself, build upon and showcase its local assets and present a unified front, businesses and consumers are more likely to be attracted to and invest in the community.

A brand is not something that can be purchased or even created from scratch; rather it is crafted over time through a deliberate, strategic understanding of what the community is, where it came from and what it wants to be.

For instance, Milwaukee recently began an aggressive identity-building campaign to become the “Freshwater Hub of the World.” For many years, fresh water research and water-technology companies that focus on water-energy, agriculture and other technology had been developing and prospering in the Milwaukee area. At one point, the city realized there were more than 120 water-oriented companies taking advantage of the city’s large concentration of pure, fresh water. Government and industry leaders believe that Milwaukee is in a unique position to replace its Rust Belt identity with one that builds upon the growing water-technology industry.

Many cities are also realizing the benefits of a regional identity for trade promotion and foreign direct investment. Local economic success in the global economy requires leveraging, strengthening and marketing the breadth of resources available in the region.

Public and private sector leaders in the Lansing, Mich., region increasingly realized that their greatest economic competition was coming from cities around the world, not neighboring communities, and created the Greater Lansing Economic Area Partnership. Through a regional economic development strategy and branding, the partnership offers targeted business incentives, networking opportunities, regional business development programs and workforce development programs and services. Government officials hope that coming together to showcase the region’s strengths and assets will be beneficial both individually and collectively.

In order for a brand to be effective, all stakeholders must communicate the collective vision and message. Local officials are in a unique position to ensure that economic development partners have the information that they need to support the message and to accurately convey the message to others.

Local officials can also use public speeches, interviews or contacts with prospective businesses to convey the community brand. Consistency builds support among economic development partners and other community stakeholders for the economic strategy. It can also help build trust among business owners and others interested in investing and expanding in your community.

Details: To learn more about NLC’s Center for Research and Innovation’s work on economic development, regional competitiveness and brand identity building, contact Caitlin Geary at policy1@nlc.org or Christiana McFarland at mcfarland@nlc.org.