International Economic Development Council 

In 2001, the American Economic Development Council (AEDC) and the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED) merged to form the world's preeminent organization of economic developers: the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). On the occasion of IEDC's recently-passed tenth anniversary, this web site celebrates the evolution of the economic development profession, the contributions of these organizations, and the story of the merger. In addition to IEDC's tenth anniversary, 2011 marked 85 years since AEDC was founded, 44 years since CUED was established, and 25 years of President & CEO Jeff Finkle's service to both CUED and IEDC.

Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED)

In 1966, problems of urban poverty and urban distress were the subject of much national attention. A loosely-federated group of city development chiefs concerned about the flight of businesses from their cities founded the Helping Urban Businesses (HUB) Club.

On February 10, 1966, Ed DeLuca, Baltimore's director of economic development, invited 20 mayors and their development chiefs to share information at a meeting in Baltimore. The informal HUB Council, financed by DeLuca’s office, held subsequent meetings and became formally incorporated on April 20, 1967. In October of that year, the HUB sought funding from the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The resulting federal grant of $151,530 enabled the Council to hire its first executive director, John Johnson, who had been director of the Delaware League of Local Governments. 

In 1971, as more cities and urbanized counties began to join, HUB Council changed its name to the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED) and moved its headquarters to Washington DC.

Ken Fry, Milwaukee's former commissioner of city development, became CUED's executive director in November 1972. In 1976, CUED elected Jim Peterson, EDA's Midwest Regional Director and a former Illinois state legislator, as its next executive director.

Throughout the 1970’s and mid 1980’s, CUED focused on federal policies and programs including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program started in 1974; the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) Program initiated in 1978; and tax credits for investments in historic properties in the early 1980’s.

By 1986, federal economic development funding was dramatically shrinking. That year, Jeff Finkle became CUED's new executive director. Finkle’s expertise in marketing and background as a HUD official under Reagan were welcome additions to the organization. He tightened CUED's expenditures and increased emphasis on promoting the organization’s conferences, shifting CUED's financial base away from government support and towards its membership.

The Clinton Administration came into office in 1993 committed to addressing issues such as technology development, workforce training, and community reinvestment. CUED's leadership and staff worked with the National Economic Council in the White House as it developed a new enterprise zone program and established a national export strategy.

Competition from abroad made CUED increasingly aware of advances being made by other countries with economic development initiatives. In 1995, CUED founded the International Network of Economic Developers (INED), in partnership with the Economic Developers of Canada (EDAC), the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA), and the Australia-New Zealand section of the Regional Science Association.

The closing of military installations impacted a growing number of communities and regions nationwide and thus became the subject of CUED conferences and publications. In 1996, CUED entered into an alliance with the National Association of Installation Developers (NAID) through which CUED provided management and administrative staff time, organized conferences, and published NAID's monthly newsletter. In 2004, NAID changed its name to "NAID, an Association of Defense Communities" (NAID/ADC) to reflect the association’s diverse membership – communities redeveloping closed bases as well as communities supporting active military installations. And in 2006, the Board of Directors accepted a proposal to officially change the name from NAID/ADC to the Association of Defense Communities (ADC).

CUED, through its conferences, research, and publications, worked continually to inform and educate its members on technology issues. From 1997 until 2001, CUED provided administrative, conference planning, and newsletter publishing services to the Association of University Related Research Parks (AURRP).

American Economic Development Council (AEDC)

From its humble beginnings in 1926 as a meeting of Chamber of Commerce professionals dedicated to industrial development, to the diverse, multi-focused profession economic development has become, AEDC represented and nurtured the economic development field for decades.

In 1926, F. Stuart Fitzpatrick of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and his staff met with H. Findlay French from the Industrial Bureau of the Baltimore Association of Commerce to develop a conference that brings together all chamber staff tasked with the job of industrial development. The chamber had two reasons to hold this meeting: to improve the general understanding of the work of industrial bureau managers and bring their work to a higher proficiency.

In 1926, the first conference among chamber industrial development managers was launched in Washington, D.C. George Smith was elected Conference Chairman, a position he would hold for the next five conferences, leading the group from a meeting of chamber officials to the launch of a new organization. At the fourth conference, the discussion focused on establishing a formal organization for industrial development managers, and at the fifth conference in 1930, the American Industrial Development Council (AIDC) was born.

Until 1949, AIDC meetings remained highly informal. Chairs were elected the opening day of each conference and participants met around U-shaped tables. In 1949, AIDC started distributing verbatim meeting reports. In 1953, AIDC established a permanent assistant secretary within the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. In 1957, the National Chamber of Commerce changed its internal policies and decided not to service other professional and trade organizations, so AIDC moved from Washington to set up office in Newark, Delaware. In 1958, AIDC incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Maryland. In 1960, AIDC had grown its membership from 22 conference attendees in 1926 to 817 members in 1960.

From 1960 onwards, the evolution of AIDC as an organization was linked to the development of the Economic Development Institute (EDI). The focus of the organization was on training and development, as a way of nurturing economic development as a profession.

In 1971, AIDC took additional steps to further professionalize economic development with the first Certified Industrial Developer (CID) exam administered in Denver, Colorado, resulting in the certification of 58 people. Renamed the Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), over 1,000 individuals currently carry the CEcD designation. AIDC also implemented training courses. Changing names from Basic Industrial Development Course to Basic Economic Development Course, this initiative not only introduced budding economic development professionals to the basic tools of economic development, but also served a wider audience of community leaders, elected officials, and other leaders involved in economic development.

In 1980 the executive committee voted to change the name from the American Industrial Development Council (AIDC) to the American Economic Development Council (AEDC).

In commemoration of several important anniversaries, IEDC staff has interviewed former AEDC, CUED, and IEDC leaders to document the history of the economic development profession. These interviews include commentary on the profession's early years, the merger between AEDC and CUED that resulted in the creation of IEDC, the current state of the organization, and the future of the economic development field in general.

Browse edited transcripts of these interviews