Saturday, May 10, 2003
We are starting to see state legislatures retool their economic development incentives away from recruitment and toward innovation.
Indiana's governor got his Energize Indiana economic development plan, but with some major modifications.The core of the plan is a $75 million commitment to a technology fund to encourage collaborations between universities and business. The plan also call for regional technology parks and fiber-optic communications among universities. Read the background.
Meanwhile, the legislature in Massachusetts is considering a similar $100 million fund to provide grants and loans to high tech businesses. In Maryland, the state's new economic development chief has made technology transfer from universities a top priority. In South Carolina, they are overhauling the state university system to strengthen the research universities. Here's a recent summary. And Iowa's Governor Tom Vilsack is bringing the $810 million Iowa Values Fund legislation back into a special session in just a few weeks.
Today in our history of innovation...
In 1869, the first railroad to run West out of Chicago was completed, running to Promontory, Utah.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
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:
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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.
Indiana passes innovation incentives
