You can’t build the economy from a single postal code

I've spent years working inside municipalities, nonprofits, and leading national programs across Newfoundland and Labrador. One of the most important lessons: regional and geographical representation matters.  Unfortunately, I often see provincially mandated organizations repeating the same pattern: impressive strategic plans, genuine commitment to serving everyone, but staff tables concentrated in or near St. John's.

This isn't malicious. A majority of the province's population is located on the Avalon. But Newfoundland and Labrador's economic future isn't uniform, and innovation is happening outside the overpass.

We have aquaculture in coastal communities, mining in Labrador, tourism anchored in regional assets, energy projects across multiple regions, and Indigenous-led economic development reshaping what's possible. Each sector has different needs, challenges, and stakeholder groups. The collaborative models rural communities have built, the Indigenous knowledge shaping economic development, the young people staying in their home communities to build something different - it all matters.

When your staff table doesn't include these voices and experiences, these realities don't shape your programming, and the decision-making process happens through a single geographic lens.

Having a truly provincial lens isn't about virtual consultations with every region. It's not about listing all the communities you serve on your website. It's about having people on your team who live the economic realities you're trying to support.

Working with organizations across the province, I've seen firsthand what happens when organizations get this right and understand that geographical location is important.  When organizations have regional offices staffed by people who are part of those communities, who understand the local context, and who are connected to the regional stakeholder ecosystem, the difference is night and day.

But when your entire team shares the same daily lived experience, that perspective naturally shapes what gets built. The challenges that feel most urgent are the ones your team encounters. The solutions that seem realistic are the ones that work in your community. The stakeholder voices that get heard most clearly are the ones in the same time zone as your office hours.

From my experience working with regional offices, I've watched programs succeed because the people designing them understood local realities. Not from consultation reports. From living it. Regional staff know which businesses are seasonal and why your application deadline matters. They understand transportation barriers that aren't visible on a map. They're connected to the informal networks where collaboration actually happens. They catch problems in program design before they roll out, not after uptake numbers come back showing clear geographic concentration.

This isn't about rural versus urban. It's about recognizing that economic realities, stakeholder relationships, and community dynamics vary significantly across the province. Organizations that get this right build better programs. It's that simple.

So what happens when organizations don't have a regional presence, especially in economic development? Program effectiveness suffers. Inclusion suffers. And provincial mandates go unfulfilled.  From my experience, the application processes often require high-speed internet that most of rural NL doesn't have, training sessions are scheduled during times that ignore seasonal work patterns, and programs are asking entrepreneurs to attend in-person evening sessions - perfect if you live within an hour of St. John's, impossible if it means overnight accommodations and lost work days.

The economic cost isn't just about who can't access the program. It's about the opportunities we're not even seeing because they don't fit the template we've built from one region's perspective.

Organizations will say, "We consulted with stakeholders across the province." And technically, it's true. There were Zoom calls. Regional representatives got invited to tables (even if it's the same people every time). Surveys went out widely. But having staff embedded in communities isn't the same as consultation. It's fundamentally different.

Regional staff understand stakeholder relationships because they're part of them. They know the history between organizations. They're connected to the informal networks where real decisions get made. They understand why a stakeholder says yes in a meeting, but implementation stalls. They catch the conversations that happen after formal consultations end, where people talk about what they really think, what they didn't feel comfortable saying, what they don't believe will actually be heard.

When I've worked with organizations that have a strong regional presence, I've watched how different the stakeholder engagement is. Regional staff aren't flying in to gather input. They're part of the ongoing conversation. They understand context, not just content. That depth of understanding directly shapes better program design, more realistic implementation timelines, and stronger local partnerships.

When organizations invest in regional capacity, the gap between consultation and genuine understanding disappears.

And when organizations talk about diversity and inclusion, geographic diversity rarely makes the list. Yet when provincial organizations concentrate teams in one region, they're systematically excluding perspectives essential to their mandate. I see this in hiring practices all the time.  Jobs requiring office presence in St. John's. The message is clear: if you want to work here, you need to be here at least 2-3 days a week. And "here" often means the Avalon.

When Indigenous communities, coastal communities, Labrador communities, and rural communities consistently see provincial organizations making decisions about their economic futures without including people who live those realities on staff, trust erodes.  If you're committed to Truth and Reconciliation and including Indigenous perspectives in economic development, that can't just mean consultation. It means having Indigenous staff from Indigenous communities in decision-making roles. It means regional offices that make it possible for people to participate without leaving their communities. If you're committed to including persons with disabilities, it means people can join your team without leaving their homes.

Before designing programs and services for the province, ask yourselves:

• Where does your staff actually live?

• If your organization has regional offices, does the staff there have real authority, or are they just service delivery points?

• When you're making decisions about provincial strategy, who's actually in the room?

• When you designed your programs, were people with lived experience from different regions part of the design process from the start?

• Did you test Avalon-designed programs in other regions, before or after the fact?

• Are we asking people to relocate when we could be building regional capacity where they already live?

Because we can't build a provincial economy from a single postal code.