Free Economic Development Webinars
We're committed to empowering economic developers. We stay on top of economic development trends and technologies, research hot topics, and present solutions during our free online webinars. Subscribe to our newsletter for webinar announcements and tune in for actionable strategies.
Lights, Camera, My Town: How to Tell Stories That Put Your Community on the Map
đź“… Wednesday, September 10 at 12 PM CST
What if one powerful story could transform how the world sees your community?
Join My Town host and former TV anchor Cory Hepola for a high-energy webinar on using storytelling to attract talent, tourism, and business. Learn how to:
- Break outdated rural narratives
- Highlight what makes your town shine
- Pitch your community to national shows like My Town
🎬 Bonus: Applications are open for My Town’s next season—get insider tips to boost your chances of being featured!
Don’t miss this chance to bring national attention to your town.
Click Here for More Information and to Register
Recorded Webinars
Access past recordings of Golden Shovel Agency’s economic development webinars on our YouTube channel. Or scroll through the list economic development webinars to find resources and strategies to solve your economic development challenges. Email us to request specific information or schedule a free strategy session.
Discover how AI is transforming algorithms and advertising strategies, and how AI can be used to up your social media game. From how AI is changing organic search results to how AI can be used to optimize ad performance and track ROI, this webinar will show you how to work smarter—not harder—in your digital campaigns.
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Technology tools are revolutionizing how economic developers interact with local businesses, gather data, conduct business visits, and analyze information after the fact. Discover how technology can help you to scale your Business Retention and Expansion program and connect with more businesses without a large budget. Listen to real-world case studies that demonstrate the full impact of these technology tools in action.
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In a time of economic uncertainty, workforce challenges, and supply chain disruptions, communities must invest in their existing businesses. Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) programs are one of the most effective tools economic developers and chambers can use to generate jobs, strengthen local investment, and build trust with business owners.In this practical, results-driven webinar, you’ll learn:Why 80% of job creation comes from existing businessHow to...
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Is your community positioned to attract and retain top talent? In today's competitive landscape, successful communities must do more than just offer jobs—they must stand out as desirable places to live, work, and thrive.Join Amanda Ellis of Livability.com for a dynamic and insightful session on what truly influences relocation decisions and how your community can rise to the top of the list. Drawing on decades...
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Golden Shovel surveyed economic developers working in rural communities across America to determine what they are doing to attract investment and spur growth. This webinar features new data, along with insights from our experiences working with over 290 communities. Find out what strategies are driving growth and attracting the investment, businesses, and talent communities need to thrive!Â
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What are the most important website trends for economic development in 2025? How can your organization stay ahead of the digital curve for strategic effectiveness? Join Golden Shovel CEO, Aaron Brossoit, and Sklar Consulting founder and principal, Alissa Sklar, Ph.D., as they explore the top trends shaping economic development websites this year. From AI integration and innovative data tools to storytelling techniques and talent attraction...
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For economic developers, preserving local businesses is vital to maintaining community stability, jobs, and economic growth. Join us for a panel discussion that explores the powerful benefits of transitioning business ownership to employees and the role you can play in making it a reality.Â
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The retail world has undergone significant changes in the past five years, raising the question: how does this affect our communities? In this session, we'll explore the impact of retail, both nationally and locally, and its crucial role in the local economy. You'll gain an understanding of current national trends shaping the retail industry and receive valuable insights for communities looking to attract and retain...
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Succession planning is critical for maintaining momentum in business and economic development organizations. In this webinar, we will address succession planning for economic development and community organizations while briefly discussing how these same concepts and strategies can be applied to the local business community your organization is supporting
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Join us for an exclusive webinar, “Runways to Revenue: Unlocking the Economic Potential of Your Airport,” presented by Ron Kresha, aviation enthusiast and CFO of Golden Shovel Agency. This insightful session will delve into the economic potential of general aviation airports and provide actionable strategies for leveraging these valuable assets to drive local and regional economic growth. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding...
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Electric vehicle (EV) sales continue to rise year over year, and the average price of a light-duty vehicle in Q1 2024 was 9.0% lower than it was in Q1 2023. Communities, businesses, utilities, and residents across the U.S. are working to hit lofty targets, such as 56% of new vehicle sales being EVs by 2032. Hitting these targets not only has climate impact reduction benefits...
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This collaborative session explored innovative strategies for attracting, developing, and retaining skilled workers essential for community growth. Golden Shovel, a leader in economic development communications, shared proven techniques for workforce attraction, including digital marketing strategies, quality of life initiatives, and the use of advanced technology like VR and 3D tours to highlight community assets. Discover how to effectively market your community’s strengths and position it...
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This webinar explores best practices leaders can use to promote tourism in their communities this summer and beyond. The U.S. tourism industry generates $1.9 trillion in annual economic output and is responsible for 9.5 million jobs. We have gathered best practices from throughout North America so you can learn from those who have successfully incorporated tourism into their economic development strategies.
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Help solve your community’s workforce shortage by making it easier for parents to get back to work. Golden Shovel Agency has compiled best practices and childcare success stories from community leaders across North America. Learn about community-centric approaches to creating more capacity, collaborating with stakeholders, leveraging funding opportunities, and making a tangible impact. Attend this presentation to hear real stories and download our whitepaper so...
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What are the most significant website trends for economic development in 2024? Will your organization be sufficiently innovative to take on the challenges of the year ahead or do you risk falling behind? Join Golden Shovel CEO, Aaron Brossoit and GIS Planning/fDi Intelligence VP of Marketing, Alissa Sklar, Ph.D. for a look at the ten most important trends in economic development marketing online for the...
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This webinar was prepared to concisely explore AI and ChatGPT best practices tailored for economic developers, from thoughtful planning to infusing your unique brand into AI-generated content and helping you learn to proofread, edit, and creatively use data for maximum impact. This short, impactful session promises to empower economic developers with the tools they need to revolutionize their approach to content creation.
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Brian Abernathy, General Manager of Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, and Bethany Quinn, Vice President of Strategy and Content Development of Golden Shovel Agency, shared valuable insights and practical tips to help you secure the financial support needed for your critical initiatives. Whether you're working on matching grants or major projects, this webinar provides you with the knowledge and strategies to navigate the complex world of fundraising...
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Renee Wott, Vice President of Economic Development at GrantWorks and a former EDA employee, has firsthand insight into how to structure EDA grant applications for approval. During this webinar, Renee discussed grant requirements, how to overcome challenges and grant writing strategies. Watch the recording for tips on how to be successful when applying for Economic Development Administration grants!        Â
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Local businesses are looking to your economic development organizations to attract talent to the community, but turning interest into new residents and employees isn't entirely in your hands. Local businesses have a part to play in a prospect's decision-making journey, but too many don't know what to do.Here's what we covered:How the recruitment and talent attraction game has changed. What local businesses are doing to drop...
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Now is the time to rethink your economic development organization's 2023 marketing strategy. This webinar will introduce the power of SEO (search engine optimization) research and Google Analytics to prepare a successful, stress-free strategic plan. Participants will learn to use SEO data and analytics as the foundation for advertising and content. After understanding the raw analytics and keywords, participants will learn the components of a...
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Join us for our annual Holiday Happy Hour to wrap up the year! We'll be reviewing the greatest trends in economic development, client awards & special projects and opening it up for discussions and networking.
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Golden Shovel Agency and Convergent Nonprofit Solutions explored ways to strengthen your community’s competitive potential by improving quality of life. If quality of life improvements are not part of your economic development strategy - they should be.
How do you, as an economic developer, make the case to your stakeholders? How do you encourage people and businesses to invest in quality of life when...
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Bethany Quinn, VP of Strategy & Content Development, spoke with economic developers and community leaders from throughout North America to compile best practices and strategies that have worked to spur housing development at the local level. These solutions are being presented on this webinar and in our latest whitepaper so that economic developers can be inspired and empowered to solve the housing crisis for their...
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This is a webinar we hosted with D3G - the nation's leading full-service real estate due diligence firm. D3G works with housing developers and agencies throughout the country. They are involved in urban and rural housing projects and have helped to secure grant funding of $30+ million for a single project.
You don't want to miss the opportunity to hear from D3G's CEO, Rob...
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Join Golden Shovel Agency and HubSpot for a lead generation webinar you won't want to miss! Get actionable tips and insights on how to get real results from your lead generation campaigns.
Stop struggling to get results from campaigns that just don't produce. Leverage our combined knowledge to learn what you should start doing to generate leads. Golden Shovel Agency has over 240 economic...
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Join Bethany Quinn and Ron Kresha, Golden Shovel's VP of Strategy and COO, as they present the best practices in workforce attraction and development from throughout the country. We will be expanding upon the data for why we are facing workforce shortages while addressing the challenges that must be solved to make growing the workforce a top priority. Workforce shortages have been exacerbated by COVID-19,...
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The metaverse concept is here and growing. It promises to revolutionize our communication. But, it is full of uncertainty and frankly, the metaverse concept scares a lot of people. Golden Shovel Agency is the leader in virtual reality for economic development. This webinar will help you understand the metaverse and to see the potential benefits associated with virtual reality familiarization tours, site selection, and 3D...
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You want to recruit remote workers to your community, but how? Experienced economic developer and author Mark Lautman joined by Shelly Fausett to present information on five programs that have been proven to effectively recruit remote workers. Discover how these innovative programs can be used to build the economic base of all-sized communities, how the program works, and what you need to get started.
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Does it seem like the major cities get all the investments and your small community is stuck with nothing? This makes your job as an economic development professional even more challenging because without those investments, the more difficult it is to meet community needs for housing, jobs, medical facilities, etc. And don't even get us started with standard banking in small cities compared to major...
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As an economic developer, you are the community hero. You fight the good fight to bring in jobs, investment, improve quality of life, and solve workforce challenges. But what if your website is holding you back?
A website is unlike other marketing collateral. It’s a living, breathing entity with a job to do 24/7. In order to do this job, your site needs to...
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The National Disability Institute (NDI), a non-profit agency with a mission to raise the financial security and capability of Americans with Disabilities, will present on the "Hidden Talent Within Your Community." Nationwide, economic developers are focused on workforce development and attraction. NDI teaches community leaders and companies how to utilize talent within their backyard to fill open jobs. During this webinar, they merge data with...
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Do you still have questions about what direction to take your Opportunity Zone marketing? Have questions in regards to finding the right investment or creating an Opportunity Zone fund? Do you have questions in regard to building your community prospectus and getting it in front of the right people? Whether you've been doing your research, or just getting started, we're ready to help you get...
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Imagine if you could take control of your lead generation activity and convert sales-ready prospects before your competitors even got close? Lead Forensics is the software that reveals the identity of your anonymous website visitors and turns them into actionable sales-ready leads. In real-time.
Chris Murray, VP Partnership of Lead Forensics, reviewed some of the most relevant features of the Lead Forensics software and...
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Are you getting the best results from social media? Every economic development organization can improve its SEO results with some simple improvements. Backed by research and extensive experience, the Golden Shovel Agency team has put together these Social Media Best Practices to help you succeed.
Our presenters will teach you how to optimize your social media profiles, grow your following, and get more leads...
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Economic development organizations have changed to make small businesses their biggest priority. COVID-19 revealed that local businesses are the real economy that sustains community success. Small businesses also create 425% more new jobs than big businesses. The speakers covered effective tools and strategies that you can use to make sure you're implementing the best BR&E, entrepreneurship, and local business assistance.
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Yankton, South Dakota has taken a fresh approach to diversity, inclusion, and workforce attraction. They are "Connecting Cultures" in a fun and vibrant way. Learn how they set up this innovative program and the benefits of having fun with inclusion and diversity.
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We understand it can be challenging to keep visitors on your website, even with the flashiest, most updated, easy-to-use website. This could be because the content doesn't resonate well with them. However, it's just not reasonable, or possible to give each visitor a unique experience, right?!
Now, GSA's new geo-targeting tool makes it possible for you to customize website content based on the location...
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Learn how remote working, entrepreneurship, and the gig economy are changing workforce and attraction strategies.
Our presenters went over the new realities of what work and location mean. They laid out a structure for how to process how these changes will impact both what we can no longer do and what we will face immediately.
Case studies were also featured including specific examples...
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Golden Shovel Agency is thrilled to announce a new geo-targeting tool that allows you to personalize your existing website content based on the geographic location of visitors. On average, geo-targeting:
 Improves time-on-site by 25%
 Increases pages-per session by 30%
 Nearly doubles the conversion rate of your CTAs
 Brings in more quality traffic
Geo-targeting is a new tool, offered exclusively from Golden...
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COVID-19 has disrupted the economy, supply chains & how economic developers do their job. But it hasn’t stopped them from pushing forward for their communities.Â
Industry leaders are refusing to have their hands tied and are choosing to fight for economic recovery and future growth. Hear from economic development leaders on how they are fighting the economic impact of COVID-19 and pushing for a...
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Moving to a rural part of the country has never been more attractive. Coastal and population-dense areas of the country are experiencing a high-cost of living, COVID-19, and civil unrest. Any one of these issues alone can compel population migration toward less dense, rural areas of the country.
In a style unique to 2020, ALL three of these unique events are occurring simultaneously. Because...
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Plans, procedures, and everything we used to know has been thrown out the window as COVID-19 has taken over. With that, we can't assume that everything will just go back to "normal" when we come out of the pandemic. In this panel, our presenters explore the new roles of the economic development professionals post-pandemic and get into the nitty-gritty on business retention, automation, remote working,...
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The COVID-19 crisis will pass and communities that work to get heard now will be remembered after the crisis is over. Join us for this webinar where we will explore how to position your content, website and social media to best communicate within your community and with external audiences for the rest of 2020. Now is the right time to plan.
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The trade war and the COVID crisis have proven the value of shorter supply chains. Retail stores are closing, often permanently. The best solution to strengthen existing local manufacturers and provide the good jobs needed for social and economic stability for companies, minorities, and displaced retail workers is to reshore manufacturing.
This webinar will provide the tools to help your organizations guide the work...
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The right tools can enable businesses to grow and scale faster, farther, and more cost-effectively.  As communities everywhere pave their way forward through a global pandemic, it’s more important than ever to make sure supply chains are moving smoothly and working to save businesses money and resources. Navegate is the only comprehensive, global platform with all of the capabilities required to bring the power of...
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Yes. You can take full control of your lead generation activity and convert sales-ready prospects, before your competitors even get close. With Lead Forensics you can turn your anonymous website visitors into actionable sales-ready leads. In real-time.
Chris Murray, VP Partnership of Lead Forensics, reviewed during this client-only webinar, some of the most relevant features of the software, how to best approach new leads...
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Many local businesses have voluntarily or involuntarily closed down to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Even the businesses that have opened are operating at an extremely limited capacity.
This leaves local business owners at home thinking about how they can improve business and gain back lost revenues once things get back to normal.
Entrepreneurial workers will have time to plan the business they’ve...
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Aaron Farmer, President of  The Retail Coach and Aaron Brossoit, CEO of Golden Shovel Agency joined on this webinar for a 'fireside chat' exploring the changing face of retail post-pandemic and what that will mean for communities. They reviewed the trends in the retail landscape, discussed strategies for retail recruitment, and explored some of the new technologies that are defining the New Economic Development Toolkit.
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We understand more than ever that communities need to find alternative ways to showcase their assets. With the social distancing and travel bans, virtual reality tours are becoming the go-to method of allowing people to experience your community--without worry about travel restrictions. Join our PlaceVR team for how to create a memorable virtual experience.
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As we begin the new year, what is the latest update on retail development and opportunity zones, and what does it mean for your community in 2020?
In this webinar, Lacy Beasley, President of Retail Strategies, presented and reviewed on the following topics:
-The state of the retail industry
-Are opportunity zones viable incentives to attract retail development?
-How public-private partnerships are the...
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Ramsey County leaders wanted to effectively communicate with site selectors and companies looking to relocate, providing them information on the ample incentives offered by the east metro. In order to gain the attention of site selectors and showcase their resources, they needed a strong online presence with a user-friendly tool.
To accomplish this economic development goal, Ramsey County pursued an online incentives dashboard. This...
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"Going to work” is not what it used to be. The old model of employer-worker dynamics has been fundamentally altered.
The labor market for professionals is increasingly defined by flexibility in how, where, and when people work. This transformational change is driving rapid growth of remote workers, an expansion of “gig economy” (1099) employment opportunities, and major disruptions in the real estate market, which...
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As an economic developer, it is critical to take action to protect the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are specific things that can be done to help protect local businesses and the workforce. With the stimulus bill having been passed, it is important to understand what provisions are included for businesses and workers and how people within your community can access them. Golden...
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Now more than ever economic developers need to actively communicate within their communities and to prospective businesses. In this webinar, we shared strategies for how to communicate during the COVID crisis, along with communication strategies you can use to Get Ahead of the Curve when coming out of it. It is important not to go silent during this crisis.
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Intuition alone will not get economic developers through the COVID crisis. Leaders need to understand what content people are consuming and how to make sure your communication is crisp and razor sharp to reach your audience. In this webinar, we reviewed how to look at website traffic to determine the best approach for communicating through the crisis.
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