URBS 457/557: Economic Development
Spring Semester 2014
Monday 6:00 – 8:45 p.m.
This syllabus is subject to change without notice. Students should check D2L for the most
current changes.
Instructor: Mr. Mitchell R. Berg
E-mail: mitchell.berg@mnsu.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Phone/Voice Mail:
Classroom:
(C) 651-231-0357
(W) 507-389-5727
MSU Edina Campus
Text(s):
 Economic Development: Strategies for State and Local Practice, 2nd Edition, Koven and
Lyons (2010) ISBN: 978-0-87326-191-3
 Selected readings to be assigned – to be handed out in class
Optional:
 Urban Economics, 8th Edition, 8th Edition, Arthur O’Sullivan (2012) ISBN: 978-0-07351147-4
Course Goals:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of economic
development theories, strategies and tools.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge of:
1. Understand how economic development theories can influence local economic
development through the comprehension of:
a. Understanding why cities exist in the first place and what their benefits are to
society and to the economy
b. Understanding how market forces impact the development of cities
c. Understanding why firms cluster
2. Understand the role of how federal, state, and local governments can promote
economic development
3. Understand a city’s economic development strategic plan (SWOT) process
4. Design and understand a Business and Retail analysis Study and a Tax Increment
Financing Plan
5. Become familiar with economic development tools (e.g. non and financial incentives
and tax policies) and their application, including but not limited to:
a. Grant and loans
b. Tax Abatement and TIF
c. New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) and other tax credits
d. Other economic development tools
6. Understand how to conduct a Location Quotient (LQ) analysis
7. Learn current approaches to business attraction, creation, and retention
Instructional methods and teaching Strategies:
Students will learn economic development theories and become familiar with economic
development tools and strategies through a combination of teaching techniques, including but
not limited to:
 Lectures
 Guest Speakers
 Individual projects
Assignments:
The assignments for this course consist of individual and group projects and speaker
questions. I will not give partial credit for late assignments that come in after the class
due date; unless prior written agreement has been made between the professor and the
student. All assignments must also be submitted into the D2L drop box.
Assignments not submitted through the D2L drop box will not receive credit,
unless alternative arrangements have been made beforehand.

Writing Assignments (3 assignments)
You will be responsible to find and write about an economic development topic (to which
the instructor will announce in class.) You are to make a copy of the article and write a
2-4 page paper. Come prepared to discuss your article and relate it to our class.

Guest Speaker questions (5 guest speaker sessions)
You will be required to develop two (2) intelligent and meaningful questions to pose to
them. Your questions must be typed and have your name and date showing in the
upper right hand corner. In addition, you must submit your written questions to me prior
to the start of class to be eligible for credit.

Projects
o Project #1 - See overview of writing assignment (Graduate students will be
required to do a 10 minute presentation)
o Project #2 - See overview of writing assignment (Graduate students will be
required to do a 10 minute presentation)
o Project #3 - Project #2 - See overview of writing assignment (Graduate
students will be required to do a 10 minute presentation)
Final:
The final examine will be Project #3
Guest Speakers:
Throughout the semester guest lecturers may speak to the class. These appearances will be
listed on D2L or announced. Guest speakers may include community leaders, lobbyists, and
appointed or elected officials. Be sure to ask the instructor the week before their appearance
for some background information on speaker as you will be required to develop two (2)
intelligent and meaningful questions to pose to them. Your questions must be typed and have
your name and date showing in the upper right hand corner to earn credit. They are to be
turned in at the start of class in order to receive credit. Note: Open laptops, text messaging,
or cell phone use during these presentations are prohibited.
Student Code of Ethics:
Students should familiarize themselves with the university’s policy on plagiarism. Be sure to
use APA style guidelines when citing all your work. Plagiarized assignments will result in a
failing grade.
Course Attendance:
You are expected to attend each and every class. Students coming in late or leaving early will
not get full attendance points. This is a blended course, for which some of the classes will not
be held in person, but will be held on-line. For those classes that are held on-line students will
receive attendance points based on the quality of participation from the on-line discussions.
Excused absences are only permitted for University sponsored events or activities. A total of
15 class points will be awarded. Class participation shall be considered when awarding
attendance points.
Class Cancellations:
Due to inclement weather or events beyond the university’s or the professor’s control there may
be a class session (or more) that will need to be cancelled. Every available attempt will be
made to contact each student via D2L or at the least an announcement shall be posted on the
class door. Nevertheless, if a class is cancelled all assignments, readings and papers shall be
due on the date listed in the course calendar by 6:00 p.m. of the day of class.
If, however, a class is cancelled the professor has the right to adjust the syllabus and course
schedule as deemed necessary. Any changes or adjustment to this syllabus or course
schedule shall be sent out in writing and, if possible, posted onto D2L.
Grading:
Maximum points 100
Attendance and Participation:
15
Assignments
15 (max. 5 points each)
Guest Speaker Questions
10
Midterm
15
Project #1
10
Project #2
15
Project #3 – Final
20
ADA:
ADA requires that the university provide services for persons with disabilities. For more
information regarding the services that are available to you, please contact the MSU Disability
Services Office at 507-389-2825 or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY). If you are a person with a
disability, please discuss any special needs with me within the first week of class. This will
allow you and the instructor ample opportunities to make arrangement for taking notes,
completion of assignment and examinations.
Other Policies: You should exchange contact information with at least two of your fellow
students. These contacts should be used to learn about what you missed when absent.
Assignments may be posted on D2L.
Overview of Writing Assignment
There are three writing assignments which are worth 10, 15, and 20 points each, for a total
maximum of 50 points. Please use the APA style guidelines for your citations used; please use
Arial, font size 11 or 12, 1 inch margins (top/bottom/left/right), when writing your papers.
Graduate students please asked to prepare to present both Projects 1-3 in front of the class.
Please be prepared to put together a 5-10 power point slide and be prepared to speak for 10-15
minutes.
Project 1 - Prepare an economic development report for a community of your choice (3-6 pages)
 Provide historical context to how the city formed and what economic activity spurred
your community to thrive
 Provide socio-economical background info and tell me about the community’s past,
present.
 Are there any competitive advantages that exist in your community
 What would you propose would help your community stay competitive in future
Project 2 – Prepare a retail trade analysis of a community (10-15 pages)
 Inventory and identify what is existing
o Identify the existing businesses and services in your community
o Identify traffic patterns
o Demographics
o Existing sales information
 Determine your trade area – primary and secondary
o Identify demographics of the primary and secondary trade area
 Examine what other communities of your size have for retail and services
 List retail and services that your community could obtain to fill in “gaps”
Project 3 (Final) - Prepare a TIF plan (10-15 pages)
 To be discussed in class
Presentation Rubric (for graduate student individual presentations)
Presentation
Visual Elements (5)
Delivery (5)
Novice
Problems with
organization and
style.
Competent
Proficient
Minor problems in
organization or errors.
Clear Organization.
Irrelevant Content.
Relevant Content.
Supportive Content.
Unprofessional
Quality.
Simple, Clear Design.
Error Free.
Neat Appearance.
Disfluency interferes
with presentation.
Minor disfluency or
awkward intonation.
Fluid and Expressive.
Unclear or difficult to
understand.
Clear voice, may lack
expression.
Facial Expression and eye
contact.
Conversational Intonation.
Content (15 )
Unclear explanation.
Does not address
main purpose and
objectives.
Provides explanation.
Relates main purpose
and objectives
Clear explanations.
Developed and applied
purpose and objectives.
Grading Rubrics
For Project 1
Spelling, Grammar and
Punctuation - max 15%
Content - max 45%
Analays - max 30%
Exceeds Expectations
A few spelling,
No spelling, grammar, punctuation or
or punctuation mistakes grammar mistakes
Addresses and may go
beyond addressing all
the bulleted items in a Adequately covers or
clear and concise
misses parts of the
manner
assignment
Articulates an insightful Response to the items
and thoughtful
asking for the student
response to bulleted
to give their thoughts
items asking for the
or impressions is
students thoughts and there or partly
impressions
missing
Citation - 10%
Includes properly cited
sources to APA style
guidelines
For Project 2 & 3
Exceeds Expectations
Spelling, Grammar and
Punctuation - max 15%
Content - max 30%
Meets Expectations
Mostly includes
citations and source
that adhere to APA
style guidelines
Multiple grammar,
punctuation, or spelling
mistakes
Largely missing or not
responding to many of
the bulleted items
Student does not provide
any response to the items
where they are asked to
give a thought or
impression
Does not include any or
misses sources and
citations and does not
follow APA style
guidelines
Meets Expectations
Needs Improvement
A few spelling,
Multiple grammar,
No spelling, grammar, or punctuation or grammar punctuation, or
punctuation mistakes
mistakes
spelling mistakes
Addresses and may go
beyond addressing all the Adequately covers or
Largely missing or not
bulleted items in a clear misses parts of the
responding to many
and concise manner
assignment
of the bulleted items
Tables and graphs are
accurate; easy to
understand; and
Tables, Figures and Graphs- contribute to the content
max 15%
of the report
Articulates an insightful
and thoughtful response
to bulleted items asking
for the students thoughts
Analays - max 30
and impressions
Citation - 10%
Needs Improvement
Includes properly cited
sources to APA style
guidelines
Tables and graphs may
include a few errors and
mistakes
Response to the items
asking for the student to
give their thoughts or
impressions is there or
partly missing
Mostly includes
citations and source that
adhere to APA style
guidelines
Tables and graphs are
inaccurate and/or
missing
Student does not
provide any response
to the items where
they are asked to give
a thought or
Does not include any
or misses sources and
citations and does not
follow APA style
Overview of Assignments
You will be responsible to find and write about an economic development topic (to which
the instructor will explain in greater detail during class.) You are to write a 2-4 page paper.
Please double space your paper and cite any sources using APA style guidelines. Come
prepared to discuss your article and relate it to our class.
1. Find a business which has relocated to Minnesota; identify what market forces
brought the company to locate here. (Refer to below grading rubric)
2. Conduct a LQ analysis of a community of your choice to that of the state for which
the community resides. Identify what industrial sectors have a high LQ and analyze
why? (Refer to the grading rubric for Projects 2 and 3)
3. Find two articles comparing and contrasting the benefits of government providing
economic development subsides to promote private sector growth in a community.
Please tell me if you agree or disagree and why? (Refer to the grading rubric for
Project 1)
Grading Rubric for assignment 1
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations
Spelling, Grammar
and Punctuation - No spelling, grammar, or
max 15%
punctuation mistakes
Content - max
80%
Citation - 5%
Provides an intro; body and
conclusion; addresses all
bulleted items in a clear
and concise manner;
articulates an insightful and
thoughtful response to
bulleted items asking for
the students thoughts and
impressions
Includes properly cited
sources to APA/MLA
standards at the end of the
paper
Needs Improvement
A few spelling, punctuation or
grammar mistakes
Multiple grammar,
punctuation, or spelling
mistakes
Adequately covers or misses
parts of the assignment;
response to the items asking
for the student to give their
thoughts or impressions is
there or partly missing
Largely missing or not
responding to many of
the bulleted items;
student does not provide
any response to the
items where they are
asked to give a thought
or impression
Mostly includes citations and
Does not include a
source that adhere to APA style source at the end of the
guidelines
paper
Course Calendar
January 13
 Introduction
 Market Forces in the development of cities – Urban Economics Chapters 1 and 2
January 27
 Market Forces in the development of cities – Urban Economics Chapter 2 and 3
 Project 1 due
 Project1 Presentations
February 3
 Economic Theory - ICMA Economic Development Chapter 2
 Local Quotients
 Assignment #1 due and class discussion
February 10
 City Size – Urban Economics Chapter 4
 Guest Speaker – Craig Waldron
 Assignment #2 due
February 17
 Discussion on Retail Analysis Assignment – Guest Speaker Adeel Ahmed, U of M
Extension
 Urban Growth- Economics Chapter 5
 Talk about project #2
February 24
 Guest Speaker – Jim White, Fine and Associates
 Urban Land Rent – Urban Economics Chapter 6
 US Census Presentation
 Topic for project #2 due and class discussion
 Chapter Recap
March 3
 Midterm
March 17
 Planning for Economic Development – ICMA Chapter #3
 SWOT exercise
 Guest Speaker – Anita Rasmussen
 Project #2 due and presentations
March 24
 Tools for economic development – ICMA Book Chapter #4
 Guest Speaker – Todd Hagen
 Talk about Project #3
March 31
 Current Approaches to Business Attraction and Retention – ICMA Book Chapter #5
 Assignment #3 due and class discussion
 Talk about TIF worksheet
 Topic for Project #3 due
April 7 – On-line
 Business Creation – ICMA Book Chapter #6
 On-line Discussion questions – TBA
 Project #3 - TIF worksheet due (submit online)
April 14 – On-line
 High Technology, Education and Development – ICMA Book #7
 On-line Discussion questions Due – TBA
 Project #3 draft report due (submit online)
April 21
 The Role of Local Government and Local Government Revenue – Urban Economics
Chapters 16 and 17
 Recap of Class
April 28
 Final presentations
 Final Project #3 papers due