By: Brett Wiler, Vice President, Economic Development & Strategic Planning
September 29, 2026
Economic development strategies are only as valuable as the progress they generate.
These five questions can help your staff, board, partners, or implementation team identify barriers, clarify ownership, and focus on the actions that can move your priorities forward.
1. What’s the one big barrier?
If we could remove one barrier tomorrow, what would move this priority closest to implementation?
- Money and capital
- Site Constraints
- Infrastructure limitations
- Regulatory environment
- Market conditions
- Capacity and/or staffing
- Partner uncertainty
- Decision authority
Identify the constraint before adding another solution.
2. Who owns it?
Who wakes up Monday morning responsible for moving this forward?
If the answer is “everyone,” “the community,” or “our partners,” it probably doesn’t have an owner.
3. What keeps showing up?
Which recommendation has appeared in our last two or three plans but still hasn’t happened?
Don’t recommend it again. Figure out why it hasn’t happened.
4. What’s the next real move?
What is one thing we could accomplish in the next 90 days that would materially improve the odds of this happening?
Not another meeting. Not “continue to explore.” What actually moves it forward?
5. What unlocks the most?
If we only had the capacity to accomplish three things over the next 24 months, which would make everything else easier?
Don’t just prioritize what’s important. Find what unlocks the system.
Steal this framework. Use it. Improve it. Activate your plan.
Take these five questions into your next staff meeting, board retreat, strategic planning session, or implementation check-in.
Use them to focus the conversation, identify what is holding priorities back, and turn your strategy into clearer actions and next steps.
Want to learn more about overcoming implementation obstacles? Chat with us at the IEDC Conference!