Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Angelos Angelou, a thought leader in our profession, started his economic development career by guiding the economy in Austin, TX. Last week, he was in Cleveland, and I had the opportunity to attend one of his presentations.
Here are some highlights from his talk.
1. In Austin, 92% of the job growth comes from expansions and entrepreneurial start-ups. Only 7% to 8% comes from relocations.
2. In its development plan, Austin aggressively recruited companies that fit their target market. Their recrutiment efforts relied on extensive "corporate intelligence", detailed planning, and effective execution.
3. Austin limited incentives to anchor projects. Only 13 of the 800 companies that relocated to Austin received "hard" incentives.
4. The most effective incentives are "soft" incentives. Examples of soft incentives include providing in-state tuition to a companies employees (before they qualify) and providing adjunct professorships to key technical people.
Here's an update on the Austin economy. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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.
Insights from a thought leader
