Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Texas has passed a $295 million Enterprise Fund for economic development. The purpose of the fund is to back various initiatives, including keeping Sematech in Austin.
In response, Sematech has indicated it will stay in Texas, even though it has moved one of its research programs to Albany. Still, when you compare Albany and Austin, I'm impressed that Albany has fashioned an economic development strategy that is right for the times. Meanwhile, Austin has been either flopping around with Richard Florida inspired gibberish about "keeping Austin weird" or paying hand-wringing consultants worried that there won't be "the next big thing".
posted by Ed Morrison |
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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.
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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.
Texas legislature passes enterprise fund
