Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Pennsylvania's new governor Ed Rendell is pushing a new idea: tax incentives for businesses located near the state's colleges and universities. Called the Keystone Innovation Zones program, the idea is part of a legislative package the governor will submit to the legislature in March. Read more.
While the idea if building businesses around a univerity campus is a solid strategy, tax incentives -- or enterprise zones -- don't work all that well. A far better appraoch, but more complicated, would involve examining the state's technology transfer policies and the incentives (or disincentives) that motivate faculty to start a business. It also involves looking at faculty policies (like release time) and procurement regulations to see how much support the state actually provides to entrepreneurial faculty.
To get some background on these issues, review a report by the Southern Technology Council, "Innovation U.: New University Roles in a Knowledge Economy".
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Rendell wants businesses near university campuses
