By Joe Driskill, state director of Department of Economic Development

JEFFERSON CITY -- Last month we began rolling out our regional development teams, representing a new way of doing business for the Department of Economic Development. Each team will include experts from DED, who are responsible for ensuring that state services designed to foster job growth and community development are as effective and coordinated as possible.

Through the use of these teams, the department is making a new commitment to provide services that are tailored to meet the needs of each region of the state. Because economic conditions vary from one part of the state to another, a more targeted strategy is needed in order to maximize the opportunity for job creation and community growth.

In order to better understand the unique strengths and needs of all areas of Missouri, the department previously sub-divided the state into 13 economic regions. Those regions were drawn to reflect areas where people live and commute to work and the retail trade areas commonly identified by businesses.

Economic data has been gathered and analyzed in those regions in order to provide both state and local officials with solid information that can be used in developing better regional strategies to attract and retain jobs and businesses and improve the quality of life.

Our six regional teams will be responsible for more than one economic region as they customize services to reflect regional demographics and issues. By early fall, all teams will be in place.

We are excited to begin this new model of service delivery. Because of drastic cuts in our funding and employees during the past two years, and the changing nature of business competition, our department has been put in the position of needing to do more with less. We must find new ways of being more effective in attracting and retaining jobs and growth opportunities.

We believe this regional development team approach will enable us to do that and make sure all state services related to economic growth are accessible to Missouri's workers, businesses and communities through a single point of contact.

Members of each regional development team will be able to quickly connect anyone who needs DED services with the proper agency or staff member who can help them. This new approach will provide faster and more convenient access to services.

It is really a "no wrong door" approach, where community leaders and business people won't have to worry about knowing the proper agency or division to contact. The regional development team will be in charge of making sure appropriate attention is paid to requests for assistance and that follow-up reports are made.

Each team will initially consist of five to six members from the Department of Economic Development. Teams will work from Jefferson City but will have frequent communication and in-person contacts with community and business leaders in each area.

The initial teams will have representation from the Divisions of Community Development, Tourism, Business Services, Workforce Development, and from the department's research arm, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

Staff from the Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, regional planning commissions, and the Missouri Manufacturing Extension Partnership (known as Missouri Enterprise) will also join the regional development teams as needs are identified in each region.

Additionally, local business, community and development partners will be an important part of the work of the regional teams, because many job creation and retention services for businesses and communities are provided on the local level.

As part of the transition to regional teams, the DED Web site, www.missouridevelopment.org, has been changed to highlight the state's economic regions and focus more on available services than on programs and department organization. Regional team members can also be contacted through the web site.