Response: Economic Development as a Profession: A Response to Visser and Wright

There is an assumption in the excellent article produced by Visser and Wright that professional education can be developed for economic developers by universities. This assumption rests too heavily on the notion that economic developers are professionals. This article asks the important question, Is economic development activity, no matter how noble, professional? Certainly, the generally acknowledged criteria of (1) specialized training, (2) an implicit service mission, (3) an organized body of knowledge, and (4) a code of ethics would have to be stretched to include economic developers. Nonetheless, it is argued here that economic development should be moving toward professionalization and training real professionals in a real and respected profession.