PADM 530 Politics, Strategies, and Initiatives of Community Economic Development

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Whether in strong economic times or economic downturns, the lifeblood of a community is economic development. Accordingly, effective community leaders, whether leading a village, city, or county, need to understand not only the history of economic development, but also key principles and strategies to help attract businesses and assist in bolstering the economic life of an area.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

The student will participate in 3 Discussions, posting one main thread of at least 600 words. Then the student must reply to at least 2 classmates’ threads in at least 200 words.

Article Review Assignments (2)

The student will write 2 article review assignments based on a designated articles corresponding to the designated module. Each review will summarize and critique the author’s position/conclusion in 500 words.

Public Administrator Generated Information Assignment

For this portion of the course, the student has the option of doing any one of the following exercises:

Option 1:

The student may conduct 2 interviews with individuals employed by an organization or community in economic development. Each interview must observe a 30-minute time limit. The student will present all recorded interviews using PowerPoint Online with embedded audio. The student must provide a written time gauge or slide number that locates the interview question responses. The student will also provide a written bio in the PowerPoint Online presentation for each interviewee, as well as a summary of each interview.

Option 2:

The student may conduct an exhaustive review of pertinent public sector generated data to scrutinize indicators of economic development status for the chosen jurisdiction. The student will then present the data in a 20–30-minute audio embedded PowerPoint Online presentation.

Option 3:

The student may conduct the combined activity of at least 1 public administrator interview accompanied by the review of select public sector generated data. With this option, the student will integrate qualitative (interview information) and quantitative (statistical data on development status) to approximate the typical approach to applied research and display the information he or she gained in a 20–30-minute audio embedded PowerPoint Online to satisfy this portion of course requirements.

Annotated Bibliography Assignment

The student will be expected to submit an Annotated Bibliography Assignment. These sources must provide the academic and research support for the Economic Development Analysis and Action Plan. The student is required to find and annotate 25 sources. Sources can include the various journal articles  and professional  publications pertaining to the challenges confronting your jurisdiction. Additional scholarly resources can be found through Liberty University Online’s Research Portal.

Case Study Assignments (2)

Case Study: Jurisdiction Declaration Assignment

The student will begin to prepare for the Case Study by submitting a project jurisdictional statement according to the provided template, detailing how the assignment requirements will be fulfilled. This assignment requires a declaration of the location that will be examined this term.

Case Study: Analysis & Action Plan

The student will submit an Economic Development Analysis with his or her proposed Action Plan, consisting of 15–20 pages, not including the title page, abstract, or reference page. This assignment will specifically target the situation of an American city, town, or county. In this assignment, the student will research and address the following information: economic situation, problems, SWOT analysis, legal and public policy issues, governmental atmosphere, and proposed solutions.