2005 SSTI Conference Offers Two IEDC/CEcD Credits with Tech Square Workshop
SSTI's annual conference is already considered by many to be the nation's premier educational and networking experience for the tech-based economic development community. However, the ninth annual conference to be held October 20-21, 2005 - keeping with years past - gives certified economic development professionals even more reason to attend. Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies will be recognized by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) as a professional development event that counts as one credit toward recertification of Certified Economic Developers (CEcD).
In addition, this year for the first time certified economic developers can earn a second recertification credit by participating in SSTI's preconference workshop examining the success of the renowned Technology Square complex at Georgia Tech.
Technology Square: Proving the Power of TBED
Five years ago, Midtown Atlanta's Fifth Street Corridor - adjacent to the Georgia Institute of Technology campus - was a wasteland of used car lots, run-down warehouses and parking lots. Today, thanks to a model public-private effort that has involved an investment of more than $400 million, the area is a bustling educational, commercial and research district, home to a Georgia Tech campus expansion. The mixed-use Fifth Street Corridor is now a hotbed of technology industry and the new hub of Georgia's economic development community.
Technology Square is home to nearly two-dozen start-up technology companies that are associated with the Advanced Technology Development Center, one of the world's top university-affiliated incubators. Technology Square also is headquarters for the Economic Development Institute known for providing engineering extension services to Georgia industry statewide and economic development organizations ranging from the Georgia Department of Economic Development to the state's Quick Start worker training program.
Savvy tech-based economic developers visiting Technology Square might wonder if a similar public-private initiative could turn around sections of their communities. Technology Square is unique, but there are many reasons why Atlanta's award-winning "Intersection of Innovation" can serve as a great model for other universities and communities that want to build tech-based economies.
For this day-long, intensive preconference workshop, SSTI is working with the Advanced Technology Development Center to show participants the keys to Technology Square's success. We'll hear directly from the people who made it happen: from concept and planning to financing and management.
As the workshop will be conducted on-site at Tech Square, please note that attendance will be limited to ensure the maximum value for preconference registrations. More information, including topics to be covered during the day and a registration form for the full conference, is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Conf05/preconference.htm
More Information on Becoming a Certified Economic Developer
The IEDC CEcD program is designed to unite the economic development profession around a core level of professional competency in eight topic areas. To sit for the certification exam, prospective candidates must have 10 years of professional experience, or at least four consecutive years of paid experience, and a series of professional development training courses across at least six of the nine competency areas. Sixteen hours, or the equivalent, of professional development in two additional areas of economic development also are required.
An important goal of the CEcD program is to ensure that those who are certified continue their own professional development and continue to contribute to the profession. IEDC recognizes the attendance of select non-IEDC events as a way for a CEcD to contribute to her or his recertification.
IEDC encourages members of the economic development community to participate in nationally recognized events, such as SSTI's ninth annual conference, to increase their knowledge, enhance the profession and participate with peers in the field.
Join us at SSTI's Ninth Annual Conference!
Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies will be held in Atlanta on Oct. 20-21, 2005. In addition, four intensive preconference workshops will be held on Oct. 19. Registration and other information is available through SSTI's annual conference web portal: http://www.ssti.org/conference05.htm