Economic development mainly focuses on rising the living standards of the populace, with the aim being shifting those who are considered as poor into a better economic status. Economic development programs, therefore, are those programs that are focused on transforming the bearing factors of a particular community, whether on a micro or macro level (Levy, 2013). Micro-level programs can be considered as those designed to specifically manage an economic factor affecting a person or a family. For example, a family with a handicapped child who needs specialized care stands in need of a micro-intervention. Conversely, a program that improves the public health of a community so that its members can benefit is a macro-level intervention program. Whereas the USA is by far the most powerful economy in the world, it still has large pockets of populaces living in mild and even extreme poverty, thus standing in need of a variety of economic development programs, some of which are successful, while others are counterproductive.
Business Incubators
Among the prominent economic development programs within my community is business incubation. Under this program, poor residents who have good ideas are given substantive support and assistance to transform their ideas into businesses. The supports include training on entrepreneurship, provision of loans on accommodative plans, and proviso of office spaces. Experts in startups are also made available to act as coaches and guides for the budding entrepreneurs within the community.
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The Actors Involved
Most of the business incubation is carried out by non-governmental organizations, private foundations, and not for profit corporations. The vast majority of these organizations have a religious affiliation and use sponsorships from the various denominations that they are affiliated to. The foundations are mainly affiliates of large corporations with some specializing in the business niches that their parent companies operate in. A few of the not-for-profit organization rely on state and federal funds to carry out their work.
Short-term and Long-term Goals
The short-term goals of the business incubation programs are both actual goals and placebo based goals. Among the actual goals include providing the members of the community with employment opportunities and a means of earning income. However, some of the business ideas being incubated may not even be tenable but are incubated based on whose ideas they are. For example, a former drug abuser may have a non-viable idea incubated for some time just to keep them occupied and off the streets as a viable economic activity is being considered. The long-term goals include the development of entrepreneurs from the members of the community whose startups can develop into proper businesses. The budding entrepreneurs would not only break the social stratification barrier but also help to transform the community by assisting others through employment (Levy, 2013). As more people become self-sustainable economically, the macroeconomic status of the community will be raised too.
Issues faced by the Economic Development Programs
The business incubation programs face two main issues; economic and social problems. The economic issue relates to a lack of funds to carry out the various obligations pertaining to business incubations. Many valuable ideas have been lost because sufficient funding was not available for development or registration of patents. The second issue is a social one and relates to the inability of the potential entrepreneurs to believe in themselves and the systems enough to act on the available opportunities. As outlined in Perry (2018), a form of economic learned helpless has developed among American minorities who in losing faith in the system, have by extension lost faith in themselves. Encouraging such people to trust the system again is often a monumental challenge.
Child Care Centers
Members of the lower echelons of the social strata are among the most fertile yet they may not have the means to take care of their children effectively. Many women lose their jobs and businesses because they have to stay home and take care of their little children (Kalil, 2015). Teenage pregnancy is also common within this social stratum, with many girls being unable to complete school because they have to take care of their children (Pascoe et al., 2016). Care centers take care of children so that their mothers can invest the time in micro-economic development projects such as employment, entrepreneurship, and education.
The Actors Involved
The main actor in this segment is a private foundation that trains stay at home mothers then gets them certification to use their homes as daycare centers. There is also a local organization that sponsors the children of needy parents to use the facilities available in the commercial daycare centers. Finally, local public schools offer free services but only for children of school going age.
Short-term and Long-term Goals
The short-term goals are to provide the necessary care and attention for the children of the less fortunate who would otherwise stand to suffer lack. When parents are tied up taking care of the children, they cannot contemporaneously work. The long-term goal is to break the perpetual cycle of poverty within the lower echelons of social strata where mothers remain poor because they had to take care of children, while children become poor because their parents were poor (Jost, Gaucher, & Stern, 2015). A teenage mother who gets an education or a working mother who does not lose her job taking care of children have better chances of providing a better future for their children (Pascoe et al., 2016).
Issues faced by the Economic Development Programs
This program face a legal and social issue which to some extent, exponentially limit its success. The legal issue relates to the strict regulation of daycare services more so for the very young infants. Not only is it hard to get a private home certified for use as a daycare but also do many of these centers get regularly shut down for regulatory infractions. Among the social issues relates to the reluctance by members of some cultural groups to allow their children to be taken care of by other people. Similarly, some people will only allow their children to be taken care of by their race or cultural counterparts. For the teenage mothers, the free time created by daycare centers will sometime increase the propensity for risky behavior that leads to more teenage pregnancy (Pascoe et al., 2016).
Conclusion
The economic development programs outlined above are examples of the many similar programs being carried out within the community. The specific examples above were selected because they combine micro and macro components that help alleviate poverty within the community. The business incubation program represents programs that actively work towards economic development within the community. Conversely, the child care example represents programs that passively aid in economic development, either by removing a barrier or creating a conducive environment. The totality of active and passive programs on the one hand with micro and macro impact-levels on the other work together to ensure the economic development of the community. Poverty is never a choice as has been evidenced by the perpetuation of social stratification in America. Instead, it is driven by environmental factors that make it easy for the rich to continue making money and harder for the poor to make any money. Economic development programs seek to break the cycle by transforming the environment around the poor so that they can also make money and become economically sustainable in the future.
References
Jost, J. T., Gaucher, D., & Stern, C. (2015). The world isn’t fair”: A system justification perspective on social stratification and inequality. APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology , 2 , 317-340
Kalil, A. (2015). Inequality begins at home: The role of parenting in the diverging destinies of rich and poor children. In Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality (pp. 63-82). Springer, Cham
Levy, J.M. (2013). Contemporary urban planning (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall Press
Pascoe, J. M., Wood, D. L., Duffee, J. H., Kuo, A., & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2016). Mediators and adverse effects of child poverty in the United States. Pediatrics , 137 (4), e20160340
Perry, A. M. (2018, February 05). Atlanta's economy isn't the problem, but a lack of faith in inclusion is troubling. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/01/08/atlantas-economy-isnt-the-problem-but-a-lack-of-faith-in-inclusion-is-troubling/
