The Job That Never Ends Beating the local business community's drum is a lot harder than it used to be.

Imagine you're a juggler, and the number of balls you haveto keep in play is doubled with every toss. That's what hasbeen happening to many U.S. economic development agencies, saysKurt Chilcott, chairman of the International Economic DevelopmentCouncil.

Historically, economic development focused on bringing jobs intoa region. But in the past 20 years, their roles have expanded toinclude working with existing businesses, helping create new firmsand improving the assets that attract companies to a region,explains Chilcott. As if that weren't enough, the September 11attacks and the recent recession have officials scrambling to buoytheir economies. Increasingly, many say they're looking intheir own backyards for business--but do their actions bear outthat claim?

"The combination of the dotcom bust and Boeing layoff cost[this region] about 30,000 jobs," says Ben Wolters of theSeattle Office of Economic Development. One of the region'smajor small-business industries--tourism--also took a nosedive. Inresponse, the city began a marketing campaign to bring touristsback and shifted its focus from helping Internet companies grow toassisting a fledgling biotech sector.