168: Reimagining Economic Transformation for Distressed Communities with Rohan Sandhu

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson sits down with Rohan Sandhu, co-founder of the Reimagining the Economy Project at Harvard Kennedy School, to examine the convergence of industrial policy, market crafting, and place-based economic development strategies. Drawing on his 15 years of experience at the intersection of research and practice, Sandhu discusses how traditional economic development approaches often fail distressed communities due to uncoordinated policies and limited local capacity. They explore how forward-looking economic transformation requires moving beyond reactive, transactional approaches to development and better aligning workforce systems with economic growth initiatives. Sandhu's insights from his work on projects like "Bottom-Up Bidenomics" and "The US Place-Based Policy Supply Chain" offer practical guidance for practitioners seeking to build more resilient local economies.

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Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers

1. Shift from reactive, crisis-driven economic development to forward-looking strategies with a clear vision for transformation.
2. Focus on building local institutional capacity as a foundation for implementing any economic development initiative.
3. Identify and address the coordination gaps between overlapping economic development policies at federal, state, and local levels.
4. Recognize the limitations of matching fund requirements that often exclude the most distressed communities from accessing resources.
5. Develop funding models for local intermediary organizations that support capacity-building, not just project implementation.
6. Integrate workforce development explicitly into economic growth strategies rather than treating them as separate domains.
7. Use data visualization tools like economyinplace.com to better understand local labor markets and policy flows in your region.
8. Examine how industrial policy principles can be applied practically to support small and medium enterprises in your community.
9. Identify opportunities for "productive upgrading" of service sectors that absorb local labor.
10. Design economic development strategies that directly target persistent economic distress rather than focusing primarily on already-advantaged areas.

Special Guest: Rohan Sandhu.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Rohan Sandhu | LinkedIn
• Rohan Sandhu | Harvard Kennedy School
• Industrial Policy Is a Verb - ProMarket
• Servicing Development: Productive Upgrading of Labor-Absorbing Services in Developing Economies
• Industrial policy for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises | VoxDev
• Policy Works Podcast | Harvard Kennedy School
• Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka
• Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro