The Challenge
Raise visibility
After learning of AOL co-founder Steve Case’s “Rise of the Rest” initiative, an effort to bring funding and support to innovative businesses outside of the typical tech spheres of Silicon Valley and New York, Hawthorne Strategy Group sought to expand our practice to support economic development organizations in mid-size cities. Amarillo, Texas, offered the first challenge for this new practice area.
Until recently, the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (Amarillo EDC) drove Amarillo’s economic growth from behind the scenes. Its efforts to attract new companies and assist established businesses were going largely unnoticed by the very community it was helping to succeed.