ABSTRACT
A number of important findings related to the policy position of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) as generators of economic development have emerged a critique of the relevant discourses surrounding the theoretical analysis of inter-firm networks and their formation and sustainability. This chapter reviews the key findings, in order to place them in a perspective that is pertinent from both a theoretical and policy perspective. It is clear that TECs consider themselves to be important catalysts of inter-firm networks. Although TECs indicate that they are committed to network generation as a key component of their local economic development strategies, this commitment has not been transferred into widespread value-adding economic outputs. The scope for TEC intervention in business support has been critically limited by the low level of financial and human resources that TECs are able to commit to their business and enterprise support role, due to restrictive government funding regimes.
