Mismanaging the incentive game, part 3 Monday, July 21, 2003 The $63 million deal to keep Convergys in downtown Cincinnati would have been the biggest tax incentive package in the city's history. But last week, the mayor postponed a critical meeting when the votes didn't line up. Now, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, "With City Hall divided, people on both sides have lost track of who's in charge of negotiating for the city." Read how Cincinnati got into this mess. The Enquirer ran a good series of articles on the controversy yesterday. Read more. And here's another revelation...before proposing the package, the City never ran a cost-benefit analysis (one with explicit assumptions, anyway). So, the newspaper decided to do one. One interesting conclusion from their analysis: Ohio would actually collect more income tax revenue from Convergys employees if the company left the state and relocated in Northern Kentucky. All of this work should have been done by the EDPros in Cincinnati before this deal become public. Now, you've got a situation where journalists are doing a better job at regional economic analysis than the "professionals". (And, by the way, where is the State of Ohio on this issue of economic impacts? You'd think they would have done a regional analysis before committing their funds.) The real cost of this mess is long term...lost public confidence. Nobody is driving the bus. Dumb move for a city trying to get its economic development act together. Read more. Today in our history of innovation... In 1969, Apollo XI astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin blasted off from the moon after 21 and a half hours on the surface. They returned to the command module piloted by Michael Collins. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. 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.

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