"I would rather be accused of being over-prepared than under-prepared," the unit's manager, Peter Harris, told the Otago Daily Times.
Over the past month, unit staff members had been holding meetings to discuss the international and local economic conditions and to consider what could be done locally as a response.
An in-house council briefing delivered by three economists and a regional representative of the Ministry of Social Development offered an "incredibly sobering" analysis of the national situation, Mr Harris said.
The turmoil in large overseas economies was causing havoc around the world.
However, when you asked locals how bad things would get here, the answers, even from the economists, varied greatly.
"We decided that we could spend all day analysing the data and trying to predict the likely extent of the damage to our local economy or we could concentrate on preparing to meet the challenges of a potential economic natural disaster and possibly help some local businesses."
The unit had focused on creating or highlighting programmes that could help businesses make more sales, collect money owing, collaborate with others and seek good advice, Mr Harris said.
"We wanted to make sure businesses knew what support is already available and [work on] developing new ideas that we can act on quickly."
Yesterday, councillors agreed to extend the marketing support grants (to subsidise marketing) to existing customers and suppliers rather than just targeting new customers.
Economic development committee chairman John Bezett said making sure established customers and suppliers were "solid" should be the first priority before seeking out new clients to give assistance.
The marketing support programme could pay for up to 50% of the costs of things such as market visits or trade shows.
Mr Harris said councillors were keen to see what could be done to make a difference.
While Dunedin did not have the highs and lows experienced by other city economies, it did normally mirror national trends.
Unemployment levels were remaining static in the city as they started to climb in other cities but Dunedin had experienced high levels of joblessness in the past.
"We don't want to be pessimistic and talk of the sky falling in, but we don't want to be naive either," he said.
