Episode #1: The Basics of Economic Development
Economic Development Deep Dive
Publish Date: July 8, 2026
Length: 1 minute, 25 seconds
Summary
Economic development is about more than recruiting companies or building new developments. In the first Economic Development Deep Dive, we break down the many ways this work helps strengthen Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s local economy and improve quality of life—from supporting existing businesses and entrepreneurs to planning for future growth.
Video Transcript
“Kendall here with an Economic Development Deep Dive, a video series where we break down what’s happening in Eau Claire and how it all works.”
For our first video, we’re starting with the basics: ‘What exactly is economic development?’
Most people only hear about it in a headline about a company moving to town or a downtown block being under construction.
In economic development, we call refer to that as ‘recruitment’ and ‘redevelopment,’ and while, yes, those are two of our focus areas, we also work on other initiatives, like checking in with existing businesses to make sure they have the support they need to keep growing, or ‘retention’ as we call it.
We create articles, events, funding opportunities, and other resources to help entrepreneurs start businesses here in Eau Claire.
We keep a running list of available commercial properties to help businesses looking to move or relocate here—something we call ‘site selection assistance.’
We collect and publish important data so community leaders can use it to make decisions about the housing and infrastructure we’ll need to develop as we grow.
And we support educational institutions and other partners with ‘workforce development’ to make sure employees are trained for the jobs available in the area.
To keep it simple, economic development is ‘the practice of strengthening the local economy and improving quality of life’ for everyone who chooses to make Eau Claire their home. And now you know more about the work economic developers do to make that happen.”