At this point, little is known about local government responses to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. This crisis is happening on Main Streets around the nation. This article examines how some local governments are taking collective action in partnership with other governments as well as with organizations at the local and regional levels. What is unique is that collective action is rare as it relates to traditional economic development practices, yet it is occurring and leading to offerings of multi-institutional grants and low-interest loans. However, some newer supply- and demand-side actions are the result of a lack of resources and need for expediency. Practitioners can learn about the collaborative economic development actions that governments are taking and how these partnerships can stabilize their local economies.

The purpose of this article was to examine the implementation of cooperatives as strategies of local economic development in selected communities of the City of Tshwane in Gauteng Province of South Africa. The article employs the case study approach derived from an interpretive paradigm where 25 semi-structured interviews were purposively administered to cooperative members, project managers, and community development workers among the three selected cooperatives in the City of Tshwane. The qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings of the article revealed various factors affecting the success of cooperatives as strategies local economic development. These include poverty, unemployment, limited government funding, limited access to ready markets, lack of expertise, lack of monitoring and evaluation of cooperative projects. Implications of the article indicate that these challenges hinder the City’s efforts to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality in communities. The article recommends the government to foster Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (MSPs) with the private sector and instill creativity and innovation among communities which is crucial for the sustainability of cooperatives.

Local economic development is a process in which local governments and community organizations are involved to encourage, stimulate, maintain, business activities to create jobs through increasing human resource capacity to create better products and fostering industry and business activities on a local scale. This study aims to find the appropriate concept approach in overcoming the problem. The Local Economic Independence approach was used in building this model by using 167 coconut farmer respondents, and path analysis was used as a data analysis tool. Research finding showed that 1) together and partially the local economic development variables ; human resource development, capital development, market development, development of economic institutions, simultaneously and partially have a significant effect on Local Economic Development; 2) Direct development of economic institutions has effect on Local Economic Development; 3) development of economic institutions have interactive effect on Local Economic Development of coconut farmer in the Sri Tiga village of Banyuasin district. The results of the study show that partially the variables of human resource development, capital development, market and social development have a significant effect on the development of community economic institutions. It is necessary to pay attention to 5 (five) factors, including: human resource factors, factors of capital, marketing factors, social (cultural) factors, as well as factors of community economic institution development. As for some factors that still have problems developing the business of coconut farmers in managing coconut waste in the village of Sri Tiga, among others, marketing factors, capital factors, and human resource factors.