On this week’s episode, Matt Bogoshian was lucky to have two exceptional guests from the global nonprofit, RTI International, come on Manufacturing an American Century to explain RTI’s history in supporting regional economic development, and where we all go from here to achieve sustainable growth. I had the pleasure of sitting down with RTI’s President & CEO, Tim Gabel, as well as Director for Economic Development, Sara Lawrence. As AMCC is leading an EDA Community of Practice, we had the good fortune to meet and learn about Sara through RTI’s Community of Practice for Build Back Better Regional Challenge award winners through this EDA initiative.

In the episode, Tim and Sara explore the transformative role of RTI in regional economic development. Originally established to combat brain drain and stimulate job creation around North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, RTI has grown into a global leader with a mission to improve the human condition. Tim shares this journey, and how the core of regional economic development that RTI originated from still guides its work in helping other regions advance their priorities. Sara goes on to detail how RTI supports broad-based economic growth with regional stakeholders through strategic planning, sophisticated data analysis, and effective storytelling. The two discuss RTI's role in the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, highlighting impactful strategies to adapt high-level information into approachable technical assistance that meets local needs. Curious about how regions can thrive through such innovative collaborations? RTI's journey offers compelling insights.

And, looking ahead, my guests talk about the importance of communities developing resilience to adapt and thrive even as external funding wanes. The conversation underscores a shared vision that we all ought to be working towards; that is the building of sustainable practices that leverage innovation and collective action to improve community well-being and economic competitiveness for American regions, onward!

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AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the pro bono expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.

Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Big Concept:

RTI’s Tim Gabel and Sara Lawrence speak from experience when they explain the importance of building lasting community capabilities for economic development beyond temporary public investment since they lived it! RTI played a major role in accelerating the “flywheel effect” driving North Carolina innovation and business development in Research Triangle Park. Now, RTI’s collaboration with the Economic Development Administration’s Building Better Regions initiative is bringing new energy to regions across the country to achieve sustainable development in manufacturing and across other sectors!

Participants:

• Tim Gabel, President & CEO; RTI International
• Sara Lawrence, Director, Economic Development; RTI International
• Matt Bogoshian: Executive Director, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative and host of the podcast.

💡 Key Ideas:

• Building “Muscle Memory”: Tim speaks to the importance of a region to continue collaborating iteratively and over a long period of time in order to build “reps” for greater community-level coordination.
• Focus in Noisy Environments: Sarah describes the difficult decision-making landscape for regional economic developers, and how long-term strategies and consistent improvement can help sustain momentum and focus to reach long-term development goals.
• Sustainability of Regional Development Capacity: Tim and Sara acknowledge difficult funding realities for regional economic development, and the herculean effort that goes into braiding federal, state and local funding with private partners to sustain decades-long persistence.

🔗Links to Learn More:

• Learn more about Tim Gabel and Sara Lawrence on RTI’s website.
• Find Tim and Sara on Linkedin.
• Read RTI’s announcement highlighting a new report about the future of economic development in North Carolina.
• Learn how RTI is supporting regional economic development through their Building Better Regions Community of Practice

Links to AMCC:

• Follow AMCC
• Find Matt on Linkedin
• Visit our website

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