The January issue of Onward featured an article about how the EDB is working with the University of Tacoma Washington Global Innovation and Design Lab. With a focus on extending its reach to the local business community in response to the pandemic, systemic racism and economic hardships, the EDB asked the GID Lab team to apply human-centered design to help improve its 2021-25 work program.

Following a mini-EDB board retreat in December to brainstorm ideas and create prototypes, the GID Lab team issued a formal report on the collaborative work.

Setting the stage for implementation

The GID Lab report identifies three themes as priorities for the EDB:

• • Build an inclusive business community
  • Connect the EDB to job seekers
  • Connect the EDB to businesses

The report also lays out implementation of prototypes by levels of challenge: easy, mid-level and long-term.

“We look forward to digging in deeper,” said EDB President Bruce Kendall. “We’re pivoting to meet the challenges in the future. It all coincides with the mission of the EDB.”