This new blog is a great example of the potential of local blogging to enhance economic development and to educate/inform local leaders and citizens. This new Blacksburg area blog has a nice mix of job opportunities, economic development news, and leadership issues. It is just what is needed in many local areas.
To make it successful, though, most communities will also need some training sessions to teach people about blogs, RSS feeds, and how to make good use of this new communications styles. Blogs are still poorly understood, and few people, even among the young, can tell you exactly what a blog or an RSS feed is.
Every economic development authority should be running a blog and a series of RSS feeds on a variety of topics, including enterpreneurial news, local quality of life issues, retail/commercial real estate opportunities, business management, and local governance.
How about your region? Are your economic developers using this new medium to communicate more effectively? If not, why not?
Bottom line: an economic development group that is blogging and using RSS feeds sends a strong message to businesses and entrepreneurs who might be looking at the region that the community is technologically savvy and connected. It's a powerful marketing tool. If your economic developers won't do this, maybe you need some new leadership at the helm.