LOS ANGELES—The terms “technology” and “sustainability” make some people in the economic developers world cringe. “Find a way to communicate that will be meaningful. Know how to use the words 'technology' and 'sustainability.' Those are used with carte blanche now, and they don't mean anything,” said Erica Chapman, VP of global real estate and workplace productivity at Akamai Technologies, on the economic developer roundtable at the CoreNet Global Summit. Chapman spoke on the roundtable with Gray Swoope, president and CEO of VisionFirst Advisors and moderator Del Boyette, president and CEO of Boyette Strategic Advisors.

Swoope agreed that there were some terms that were off putting, like “quality of life,” and that it is always better to understand the intrinsic meaning of those terms and use examples to show rather than tell. “'Quality' of life is most overused term. That equates to a productive workforce, so use examples of how you have created a quality workplace or life,” he said. The speakers also said to eschew mailing out flyers and brochures. “I hate to get anything in the mail,” said Chapman.

But, the bulk of the discussion was positive advice for economic developers. All of the panelists noted the importance of understanding the business that you are servicing, because that is when you will get the best results and forge the best relationships. Chapman listed off the top qualities she looks for when working with an economic developer. The list included: be an educator, know your business, study your prospects, understand the risk of competing priorities, be proactive to other beneficial partners, get granular with data, be agile and behave like private sector, because “the public sector has a reputation for being slower and less flexible.”

The idea was a key point the discussion. “Economic developers should never lose site of the voice of the customer,” said Swoope. “I see communities and states that talk, talk, talk and they don't get to the roots of the problem.”

The summit focused on innovation, touching on everything from drone technology to workplace wellbeing to planning for the future.