DT #495 Becoming a Certified Economic Developer With Denisse Carter

Develop This: Economic and Community Development

Denisse Carter - Economic Development Administrator Doña Ana County

Dennis is joined by Denisse Carter - Economic Development Administrator Doña Ana County, a newly minted Certified Economic Developer. Dennis and Denisse discuss the certification process and the benefits of becoming a Certified Economic Developer.

T The coursework for the CEcD certification program is divided into 2 categories: Core Competency and Elective Competency

You must attend all 4 Core Competency training courses listed below

• Basic Economic Development Course (BEDC)

• Business Retention & Expansion

• Economic Development Credit Analysis

• Real Estate Development & Reuse

You must attend any 2 Elective Competency training courses listed below

• Economic Development Finance Programs

• Economic Development Marketing & Attraction

• Economic Development Strategic Planning

• Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Strategies

• Foreign Direct Investment & Exporting

• Managing Economic Development Organizations

• Neighborhood Development Strategies

• Technology-Led Economic Development

• Workforce Development Strategies

• Introduction to Entrepreneurship-Led Economic Development or Accelerating Growth Through Entrepreneurship-Led Economic Development

Attend CEcD Exam Essentials Workshop

4 Submit the CEcD Exam Application & Fee $610

T The CEcD Exam is made up of 3 sections:

Multiple Choice/Short Answer - The questions come directly from the training manuals for the 4 Core Competency courses and 2 Elective Competency courses, which are chosen by the candidate.

Essay - This section requires the candidate to write responses to prompts related to Business Retention & Expansion, Economic Development Credit Analysis, and Real Estate Development & Reuse. The candidate will also need to select 2 additional prompts and respond to those as they see fit.

Oral Interview - The candidate must pass both the Multiple Choice/Short Answer and Essay sections in order to move on to the Oral Interview. In this section, the candidate will be interviewed by a panel of current CEcDs. If the candidate passes this section, then they will be a newly minted CEcD with IEDC!