EDOs have been measuring their performance for years, but with differing viewpoints, metrics have gotten muddy and misunderstood. In 2011, Atlas put together its first survey of EDO outcomes to assist EDOs in planning their marketing, business attraction, and business retention programs.

1. Competing in Economic Development? Use Metrics
Presented by

2. About Your Presenter
Guillermo Mazier – CEO
– Former economic developer and tourism marketer for the Costa Rican
Investment and Trade Development Board
– Managed economic development and tourism campaign for Tortugero, CR
– Industry speaker, content strategist and digital marketing specialist
guillermom@atlas-advertising.com
www.twitter.com/atlasad
How my kids describe me:

3. Introducing Atlas
1. Denver-based marketing services company specializing in economic development
2. Founded in 2001 with 27 employees
3. Has worked with more communities than any other economic development marketing
services firm in the past 10 years: 460+ economic development clients in 48 states and 6
countries
4. Specialize in providing branding, marketing planning, digital marketing, and GIS enabled
websites, all for economic development
5. Pioneered the industry’s first metrics based benchmarking approach for marketing, business
attraction, and business retention: High Performance Economic Development Marketing
6. IEDC’s High Performance Economic Development Marketing Partner
7. Frequent public speaker and lead speaker on benchmarking marketing, business attraction,
and business retention programs, as well as on branding, research, digital marketing,
websites, and GIS

4. View the slides, continue the dialogue
• Continue the Conversation:
– Follow us on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/AtlasAd
– Tweet questions using hashtag
#ASKATLAS
– Join High Performance Economic
Development LinkedIn group
• View and share the slides with your
colleagues (available now):
www.slideshare.com/wright0405

5. Outline
1. Introductions
2. The Metrics Situation in Economic Development
3. The Need for Metrics in Economic Development
4. What Happens if We Don’t Use Metrics
5. How to Put Metrics into Practice
6. Southwest Michigan First – Authentic Accountability
7. Wrap up/Questions

6. Setting the Stage for Our Metrics Talk

8. Do We As Economic Developers
Make a Difference?

10. Heraclitus of Epheseus,
535 BC – 475 BC
Albert Einstein?
Steve Jobs?

12. If you want to in economic development, part
of what you need to do is leverage the tools that you have,
the people that you have and the assets that you have to
that might not be comfortable, that might not
be fun, but at least takes you to a in a way that
is productive and increases the

13. Poll Question:
As a practitioner, how much do you think you impact the
overall economic activity in your area?

14. The Metrics Situation in
Economic Development

15. History of Metrics for Economic
Development
In 2017, the general
public still doesn’t
know the value of
what we do
EDOs have been
measuring their
performance for years
However, with differing
viewpoints, metrics have
gotten muddy and
misunderstood
In 2011, Atlas put
together its first survey of
EDO outcomes, to assist
EDOs in planning their
marketing, business
attraction, and business
retention programs
2011
In 2014, IEDC published
its “Making it Count”
Metrics for High
Performing EDOs
2014
2017

16. 125 < 25,000
Average companies served Typical number of establishments
in a community
Source: Atlas 2014 Benchmarking Study
EDOs Service Companies that
Comprise a Very Small Percentage of
Their Economies

17. Trends in the Profession That Make Metrics a
Moving Target
1. Digital is changing the way communities are being evaluated, and changing our
roles in the process
2. Workforce drives business locations, and opens up new ways for EDOs to
influence economies
3. The debate about whether the profession drives outcomes continues, even as the
Great Recession is in the rear view
4. There are more deals happening in communities, leading to more positive
impressions of EDOs
5. The investor/stakeholder mindset is changing, as demographics of those involved
in EDOs are changing

18. Why We Need Metrics for Economic
Development

19. There is Too Much Discussion About Whether or Not Economic
Developers are Essential, While Interest in Economic Development
Organizations Wanes

20. Implications if we Don’t Use Metrics

21. Budget Level
LOW JOBS
ANNOUNCED, 2015
HIGH JOBS
ANNOUNCED, 2015
Under $100,000 20 243
$100,000 to $249,000 2 1,500
$250,000 to $499,000 5 5,000
$500,000 to $999,000 4 4,283
$1,000,000 to
$2,500,000
35 8,000
Over $2,500,000 6 16,835
Source: Atlas Report - Why Metrics Matter, 2014
Average difference:
978x
The Spread Between High and Low Performing Organizations is
Staggering at All Sizes

22. How to Put Metrics Into Practice

23. How Does Your Organization Prioritize Business
Recruitment, Retention, and Marketing/Promotion?

24. Four Ways the International Economic Development Council
Defines High Performance
1. Internal Segment (Employee
satisfaction, funding sources)
1. ED Program Segment (Business
Attraction, Business Retention,
Business Creation)
1. Relationship Management Segment
(Relationships with internal and external
stakeholders)
1. Community Segment (Community well
being, in terms of demographics,
workforce, household income, etc.)

25. Atlas High Performance Economic Development
Focuses on the Relationship Management Segment,
plus Outcomes from those Relationships
1. Internal Segment (Employee satisfaction,
funding sources
1. ED Program Segment (Business Attraction,
Business Retention, Business Creation)
1. Relationship Management Segment
(Relationships with internal and external
stakeholders)
1. Community Segment (Community well being,
in terms of demographics, )
Outcomes for jobs announced
and capital investment announced

26. Start With the Big 4, Then Get More

27. Poll Question:
Should we use outcomes to measure ourselves?

28. Poll Question:
Did your organization set measurable goals for your
marketing, business development, and business retention
programs this year (2017)?

29. Poll Question:
What is stopping you from implementing metrics for your
role within the organization?

30. Steps to Put High Performance
into Practice
1. Discuss your organizational priorities for marketing, business recruitment,
and business retention, and start with a simple score card
2. Assign metrics to certain staff
3. Set a plan to influence that metric for each staff person
4. Make the plan transparent to your stakeholders
5. Execute, report, and adjust

31. What Type of Organization Do You Want to be When
You Grow Up?

32. Assigning Metrics to Staff: What Metrics Does Each
Function Influence?
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES
/CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED
CEO/Executive X X X X
Business
Developer X X X
Marketer X X
Researcher X

33. Setting a Plan so That Each Staff
Person Can Drive High Performance
BUILD THIS

34. Economic Development CEO / Executive
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. All
Role He/She Plays
1. Setting the vision for the organization
2. Creating a culture of accountability and transparency
3. Setting the parameters for a metrics score card
4. Allocating staff and resources
5. Building capacity to ensure board engagement
Sphere of Influence

35. Business Developer
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Inquiries/Conversations with Companies
2. Jobs Announced/Conversations
3. Capital Investment Announced/Conversations
What He/She Should Focus On
1. Rapid response to prospects
2. Investigating prospect needs
3. Providing customized responses
4. Proactively prospecting
5. Filling, monitoring and maintaining BD pipeline
Sphere of Influence

36. Marketer
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Website visits
2. Ratio of website visits/inquiries
What He/She Should Focus On
1. Creating opportunities for BD, through marketing
2. Driving traffic to the website via search engines,
social media, email
3. Keeping content fresh and relevant
4. Leveraging the latest marketing tools and
software to create a competitive advantage for
her community
Sphere of Influence

37. Researcher/Economist
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Website Visits
2. Jobs Announced
3. Capital Investment Announced
Role He/She Plays
1. Creating outstanding and differentiated content for
all teams
2. Providing customized data to the business
developer
3. Managing and reporting on benchmarked data
4. Leveraging the latest data sources and tools
Sphere of Influence

38. Benchmark Your Community Using Atlas’ High Performance
Economic Development
1. Take the survey*
2. Opportunity to be featured in Atlas’ annual white paper
3. Opportunity to be honored/recognized at IEDC’s annual conference in Toronto
*We will email you the High Performance Economic
Development benchmarking survey!

39. “Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God,
do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.”
- Lee Iacocca
In Closing

40. A Case Study on Metrics:
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST
"The person who says it cannot be done should not
interrupt the person doing it.”
- Chinese Proverb

41. AUTHENTIC
TIM TERRENTINE
executive vice president | Southwest Michigan First
managing director | Consultant Connect
@timterrentine
www.catalystconnect.org
Atlas Advertising Metrics Webinar (2015)
ACCOUNTABILITY

42. The Economic Development Profession

43. WHY
Metrics?

44. NO
Metrics?
Your story will be
told…Hopefully by YOU!

45. AUTHENTIC
ACCOUNTABILITY

46. HOW WE GOT HERE

47. In 2011, Governor Rick
Snyder’s initiatives
divided the state into
various regions.
The seven
counties of
Southwest Michigan
were joined
together.
Southwest Michigan
First was selected to
lead our region’s
collaboration.
HOW WE GOT HERE

48. THE IMPORTANCE
OF DIVERSITY

50. BUILDING A CULTURE
OF RESPONSIBILITY

51. BUILDING A CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
REQUIRES
Commitment
Consistency
Communication
√
√
√

52. ESTABLISH A SYSTEM
THAT WORKS FOR YOU

53. KEEP SCORE

54. REGIONAL SCORECARD

55. MEASURING
THE REGION

56. BUSINESS GROWTH

57. VITAL URBAN CORES

58. EDUCATION

59. LOCAL GOVERNMENT

60. MEASURING
RELATIONSHIPS

61. RELATIONSHIPS

62. COMMUNITY & QUALITY OF LIFE
MEASURING

63. COMMUNITY & QUALITY OF LIFE

64. Tim Terrentine
tim@consultantconnect.org
269.553.9588
@timterrentine
www.consultantconnect.org
www.southwestmichiganfirst.com
HOW TO CONTACT ME

65. Questions

66. Thank You!
Guillermo Mazier
303.292.3300 x 232
1860 Blake St., Ste. B101
Denver, CO 80202
Guillermom@Atlas-Advertising.com
www.Atlas-Advertising.com