The Little Black Book of Economic Development

About the Book

China and India are on the rise! The United States is sending jobs overseas! What is the 21st century coming to? Communities are hapless in their knowledge of how to respond at the local level to global pressures and competition. Holbrook calls his fellow economic developers to arms to address these daunting times and create unprecedented new opportunities for America’s future.

Don Holbrook sees the U.S. in a global economic struggle that will decide its’ future as a superpower.. This book is that blueprint for change that has been needed within economic development.

He urges our decision makers to adopt a sweeping program of reforms and comprehensive strategies he calls “Prosperity with a Purpose”.

As a Certified Economic Developer, Don has solutions that can revive towns & cities’ economic fortunes. He discusses how World Class Communities are a mindset not determined by geographic location or population.

About the Author

Don A. Holbrook, Certified Economic Developer, (CEcD) Don Holbrook is a private practitioner involved in the major elements of site location analysis for major private sector investment projects. He specializes in public backed inducements and incentives that reduce the risk of new business investments. He has worked on over 100 projects representing over 1 billion dollars in public capital investment generating more than 50,000 jobs in his 17 years in the profession. Don has specialized in creating customized incentive policies to increase equity and reduce operational costs. He is considered a foremost thought leader on what is referred to as Hybridized Public Capital Investments. Don’s approach is simple in deals there must be equilibrium that makes both parties feel satisfactory in their support for key business decisions to investment capital. He negotiates agreements that establish reasonable parameters for such investments to occur and removes the red-tape in order to establish an acceptable deal. He believes the process of developing world class communities is a paradigm shift in their mindset and not determined by their geographic location or population rather by the quality and vision of their local leadership. He advocates a seven step process to achieve such world class community mindsets.