ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to build on what the other contributors have said, tries to put finance tools into perspective, and discusses the case for using many of these tools. It also takes a step back to explore why it is we undertake economic development, how to measure what it is we are trying to do with economic development finance, and why we should make a case for assessing what we know about financing tools. The chapter provides the reader some insights into some of the dilemmas surrounding economic development finance. More current economic development organizations do their best to encourage entrepreneurship. They assist tech companies by contributing to or providing support for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants in the hopes that federal funding will fuel a given product or service's development and help demonstrate its commercial potential. The case for working with industrial clusters across all industries has been gaining favor.
