For six months, Brookings worked with Nashville and two other metro areas—Indianapolis and San Diego—in an experimental process, the Inclusive Economic Development Lab, taking research to ground to help economic development organizations better understand the complexity of these challenges and begin to approach inclusive economic development as a growth and competitiveness imperative. In a companion paper, Opportunity for Growth, Joseph Parilla describes the connection between growth and inclusion and outlines a framework for action from the economic development community, organized around the themes of dynamism, skills, and access. Here we offer lessons from these three economically diverse regions on how economic development organizations (EDOs) can begin to translate that growing recognition of the need for more inclusive growth and potential for leadership into real understanding and institutional commitment.

Read More Here: Committing to Inclusive Growth: Lessons for Metro Areas from the Inclusive Economic Development Lab