By Taubman Center for State and Local Government
Since 2018, the Taubman Center has been hosting the Economic Development Seminar, a yearlong, monthly seminar for students who are committed to public service and interested in state and local economic development. Through site visits, readings, and discussions with visiting economic development leaders from across the US, students learn about the field and its implications for policymaking and public administration.
Tracye McDaniel, President of TIP Strategies and former Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council, shared her insights with seminar students at HKS this spring. Learn more about Tracye’s experience and guidance for those interested in economic development below.
Q: What brought you to economic development?
Place and people shaped me in my journey in economic development. I have always held a strong belief that communities should not leave anyone behind.
I grew up in Waco, Texas, as a fifth-generation resident. My family instilled in me a deep connection to place, and that foundation has influenced everything I have done since.
I discovered economic development before I even knew its name. Right after college, I spent a brief time as a reporter.
During that period, I fell in love with stories about people and place. What stood out to me was that the most significant stories—the ones profoundly affecting people’s lives—were about whether communities had the opportunity to build something or whether they were falling behind. Jobs, schools, infrastructure, small businesses, and the choices families made about where to settle down: all these things are economic development, even when they are not labeled as such.
My career path was far from straight. I served as CEO of the Capital City Chamber in Austin—the Black chamber—where I learned firsthand that economic development is fundamentally about who gets to participate in the economy and under what conditions. After that, I spent seventeen years in the State of Texas Governor’s Office. There, I saw how policy, politics, and a sense of place must work together for lasting impact. My work with the Greater Houston Partnership then expanded my perspective to one of the most dynamic regional economies in the nation.
A pivotal moment came when I moved to New Jersey to build Choose New Jersey from the ground up—a statewide economic development organization (EDO). Five years of founding work went into building public-private partnerships and proving that a small state could compete globally. I eventually returned to Texas to lead the Texas Economic Development Corporation, bringing my career full circle. Later, I founded McDaniel Strategy Ecosystems (MSE) and joined TIP Strategies, where I now serve as President and Principal. Along the way, I had the honor of chairing International Economic Development Council (IEDC), an experience that stays one of the highlights of my career.
Over time, across roles—from the Capital City Chamber to the Governor’s Office, from Houston to building Choose New Jersey—I learned one constant lesson: economic development is about who gets to participate, and on what terms. Every chapter of my journey taught me something important. Some experiences showed me what I wanted; others revealed what I absolutely did not want. Both were valuable. Co-authoring a chapter of The Cost of Cool: Austin’s Tech Growth and the People Left Behind deepened my conviction. Growth is never neutral. It determines who can afford to stay, whose culture survives, and whether those who built a place still belong there. This is the question I have been exploring for more than thirty years.
Why do I continue in this field? Because economic development is one of the few professions where you can spend a career at the crossroads of business, government, and community—where success is not just about winning, but about creating alignment. Every community I have worked with has taught me about resilience, possibility, and the lengths people will go to for their home town. The work, at its best, is heart-work: supporting leaders through challenge, transformation, and hope.
And, after all these years, I still believe growth can be wiser, more inclusive, and truer to its roots—if we have the courage to lead with that vision. That is why I remain committed to this work.
Q: What issues surrounding economic development keep you up at night?
After more than thirty years in economic development, I have seen how the nature of our concerns has evolved, even as the stakes have grown ever higher. Below are the key issues currently resonating with EDO leaders, CEOs, and practitioners across the nation.
The Widening Gap Between Communities
Generational opportunities—such as AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing—are not being distributed evenly. Communities with talent, development-ready sites, power capacity, and political alignment are advancing rapidly, while others fall further behind. If we do not act intentionally, we risk looking back a decade from now and realizing we have exacerbated inequality rather than closing it.
Workforce Urgency
The workforce remains a critical and persistent challenge. Many communities lack the necessary people and training infrastructure, and competition for skilled workers is fierce across the country. Talent development and attraction has shifted from being a strategic priority to a matter of survival.
Infrastructure Capacity as a Dealbreaker
Essential infrastructure—power, water, broadband, housing, and available sites—has become a decisive factor. If a community cannot meet these requirements when opportunities arise, it is simply not considered. Site selectors are turning down promising proposals because the local grid cannot handle the demand.
Financing for Catalytic Projects
Projects with the potential to transform communities often struggle to secure funding under traditional capital markets. There is a pressing need for innovative tools, new partnerships, and patient capital that align with the timelines needed for meaningful community change.
Federal Funding Uncertainty
Changing priorities in Washington have left EDOs that relied heavily on federal programs scrambling. Those who diversify their funding base are better positioned, while the unprepared face significant risk.
Trust Erosion
Economic development hinges on trust. Unfortunately, there has been a noticeable decline in trust among communities, elected officials, and the public. Political polarization, NIMBY opposition, and skepticism about incentives are reshaping conversations. Rebuilding trust requires consistent effort, deal by deal and conversation by conversation.
The Human Cost of Growth
Growth brings its own set of challenges: Who can afford to remain? Whose culture is preserved? Whose community still feels like home? Leading practitioners are confronting these questions head-on rather than avoiding them.
Talent within the Profession
The traditional approach of running an EDO as a sales operation is no longer sufficient. The field now needs leaders who can navigate complexity, build cross-sector alignment, and foster ecosystem development even when no one has absolute authority. The pace of developing such leaders is not keeping up with demand, underscoring the importance of organizations like the IEDC in guiding this evolution.
Speed of Change and Governance
Rapid advancements—such as the impact of AI on workforce discussions and data center demand reshaping land use—are outpacing existing governance models. Most EDO board structures, planning cycles, and decision-making processes were designed for a slower, more predictable environment.
Pressure for Visible Results
There is relentless pressure to deliver tangible outcomes every quarter. Boards expect wins, communities want results, and elected officials seek headlines. Yet the most vital work—relationship building, capacity development, and ecosystem design—often goes unnoticed until its impact becomes undeniable.
My assessment of the challenges facing economic development does not diminish my hope for the field; rather, it sharpens it.
Q: What are you most hopeful about in the field?
The question of hope within economic development is one that invigorates and inspires, because its answer signals the direction our field is taking. I have genuine excitement for the next generation—those who are shifting the fundamental questions we ask.
Earlier generations focused on winning deals, emerging leaders are now asking: Who benefits from growth, and what are its true costs? This change in perspective will redefine the industry for decades to come.
Emerging Leaders: Values and Vision
Across HKS classrooms, IEDC training cohorts, TIP Strategies projects, and conversations nationwide, a new wave of leaders is making its mark. They lead with values, placing equity, inclusion, sustainability, and community voice at the forefront. These principles are not afterthoughts but rather the foundation of their approach. They expect economic development to foster belonging alongside growth, and the communities they represent will demand nothing less.
Systems Thinking and Cross-Sector Leadership
The new generation of economic development leaders thinks holistically, recognizing the interconnectedness of workforce, housing, childcare, infrastructure, climate, and mental health. They refuse to be confined by silos and are proactive about leading across departments, sectors, and jurisdictions. The traditional EDO-as-sales-shop model will not withstand their forward-thinking leadership.
Redefining Authority and Governance
Emerging professionals have a fresh relationship with authority. They are not swayed by titles and expect their voices to be heard from day one. Leadership is earned through trust, not demanded by position. This mindset will reshape governance structures, board dynamics, and the organizational design of EDOs.
Embracing Technology
These leaders are often AI-native and embrace technology without hesitation. Many Gen Z and millennials already use AI in their daily work. Their focus is not on whether to integrate AI, but why organizations lag. They are poised to accelerate the adoption of technology within the industry.
Sustainability and Well-Being
The next generation prioritizes the sustainability of their communities—and themselves. Rejecting burnout culture, they view their careers as a series of meaningful chapters rather than a climb up a singular ladder. This shift will affect how talent is recruited, retained, and developed, marking an overdue change for the field.
Transparency and Trust
Transparency about tradeoffs is essential for these leaders. They are weary of polished narratives that obscure displacement, rising costs, or exclusion. They will speak candidly about the challenges and insist on data to support their claims. This honesty is key to rebuilding the public trust that economic development needs.
Collaboration at the Core
Collaboration is not merely a tactic for this generation; it is the essence of the work. Recognizing that no single institution owns the future of any community, they build coalitions across public, private, civic, and grassroots boundaries.
Implications for the Industry
The result is an industry poised for a decade of greater inclusivity, honesty, integration, and imagination. Success will no longer be measured solely by jobs and capital, but by belonging, opportunity, and resilience—the metrics that communities truly value. Practitioners who thrive will be those who build ecosystems, embrace complexity, and foster trust.
There is confidence in this next generation. They will drive improvement and innovation. For those of us with decades in this work, the path forward is collaboration—combining experience with new perspectives to build what comes next, together. That is how the field gets stronger. That is how it stays relevant. And that is how we get to better outcomes than either generation could reach alone.
Q: Why is it important for you to come to HKS?
The value of HKS: I get to learn from amazing leaders!
Honestly, visiting Harvard Kennedy School is not simply about what I contribute—it is fundamentally about what I gain from the leaders in the room. Each time I engage with these individuals, whether they are considering careers in economic development, public service, or exploring uncharted paths, I walk away with greater clarity, sharper insights, and a renewed connection to the future of our field.
These emerging leaders articulate where they want to make a difference. Some are passionate about community-led growth, while others are focused on rebuilding trust in public institutions. Many grapple with the intersection of technology, climate, and inequality in the places they care about. There are also those who are still searching for their path—and their honesty is itself a form of leadership. By listening to their values, their ambitions, and their refusal to accept the status quo, I gain an early sense of where the work of economic development is headed, often before the headlines reflect these changes.
HKS is irreplaceable to me because it strengthens my connection to the next generation of leaders and keeps me attuned to the questions that will define the coming decades of economic development—not just those that shaped the past. It helps me break free from the consulting routines and industry jargon that can subtly limit innovation after years in the field.
My own breakthroughs in this work have largely been the result of mentors who challenged, believed in, and pushed me beyond my perceived limits. Speaking to students at HKS is my way of paying that forward, but it is also a source of renewal. The students bring fresh perspectives, sharpen my thinking, and remind me why this work matters. Each engagement at HKS leaves me more curious, more humble, and more committed to economic development. After more than thirty years in the field, this sense of renewal is invaluable. Economic development is critical work that often goes unseen—it determines who gets a future and who is left behind. HKS is the place where the next chapter of this work is being written. If we succeed, the next thirty years will focus not just on growth, but on belonging. I am committed to being part of every moment of this journey.
Onward!
