What does economic development mean to you?

What kind of question is that? :p
Today we had our leadership class. This one was all about economic development. The first speaker had each of us answer that question before we began this morning. Thankfully I had at least a general idea what economic developmnet is partly because of where I work and partly because of what my dad does for a living.
My answer at the beginning of class was that economic development is all about improving government and business relationships. While not a wrong answer it's definitely an incomplete one. Economic development is so much more than that. It's also about creating more jobs, increasing city revenue and then in turn bettering the community.
Oklahoma City has seen a huge turnaround in just the last 20 years because of the efforts being made in economic development. The downtown area of OKC has been completely changed. What once used to be a dangerous area is now a place where families go to spend time and feel safe while there. Whenever I have family or friends in from out of town I love to take them to bricktown. It's a great place to do tons of different activities all in one area. There are also a variety of wonderful restaurants there.
Overall I really enjoyed this class. The next one is going to be our community service project. It is the only one that lasts all day. Hopefully the weather will be nice because we're supposed to be working outside.
Well that's enough rambling for today.