This past Saturday morning, a group of people representing organizations involved with local economic development continued their collaborative efforts on In-Fill and Redevelopment. Joining the NDDC, the EDA, the Chamber of Commerce and the Planning Commission were a number of property owners and the NEC.

The group reviewed the ideas relating to Market, Barriers, Assets, and Action Steps generated at the first session. There was some clarifying of terms and sharing of experiences but the focus was on moving toward prioritization of action steps for 2009.

It was of interest to me that although there were common themes to both discussions, there were clearly a few nuanced differences too. While there were a number of action steps related to our market(ing) and financial tools in the first session, the group in the second session was far more focused on removing obstacles and supporting successful models.

The attendees from both sessions are now selecting their top five priorities. We are planning to conduct a third session in mid-January and intend to produce a work plan/action matrix with names and dates assigned to the tasks.

Working together, we can accomplish great things for Northfield.