Partnerships That Pay: Leadership and Innovation in Community Economic Development

Having a corporate community development program makes good business sense. The companies highlighted in this report view community economic development as more than corporate social responsibility: it is a strategy used to develop new products and services, retain and expand customer base, serve emerging markets and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders—customers, suppliers, the community and the government.

Document Highlights

The report focuses on four themes: the requirements for successful CED partnerships; the business rationale for corporate investment in CED; the types of CED partnerships corporations have established to meet their business objectives; and the benefits corporations and communities derive from CED partnerships.

The case study results indicate that corporations do benefit from being involved in CED partnerships. Research demonstrates that strategic corporate involvement in community economic development can enable a company to:

• build partnerships with community development corporations and government in order to leverage resources for development;
• contribute to the bottom line while assisting the community to become economically prosperous and viable; and
• enhance the company’s reputation and relationships with customers, the community and the government.