Dekalb County, GEorgia

Organizational Analysis and Implementation Plan

The recession has negatively affected DeKalb County, eroding its property tax base and leading to significant losses of revenue. The economic realities of the past two years require that DeKalb County’s leaders think anew about the community’s competitive advantages and the role, purpose, structure, and future of its economic development organizations. Through its consideration of an Organizational Analysis and Implementation Plan process, the leadership of the Development Authority of DeKalb County demonstrated its commitment to exactly the kind of new thinking that is required to navigate an ambiguous national economic future.

In order to address the County’s problems, the DeKalb County Office of Economic Development (OED), led by the Development Authority of DeKalb County, sought Market Street Services to help it create and develop a public-private economic development organization. This organization will seek to aid DeKalb County and its residents by marketing and promoting business investment opportunities with the goal of creating jobs and strengthening the tax base. The decision by DeKalb County’s leadership to implement a new organizational structure was a significant and positive action to reject the status quo and position DeKalb County for an even more competitive role in growing its prosperity.

The Organizational Analysis and Implementation Plan process was comprised of two phases. The first phase will focused on research and discussion of DeKalb County’s current and preferred economic development structure. This phase included a stakeholder input process and a comprehensive analysis of DeKalb County’s existing economic development program and capacity. The second phase leveraged these key findings and feedback into recommendations for an organizational Implementation Plan for DeKalb County’s new economic development organization.