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Profile of a Pennsylvania incubator
Monday, May 24, 2004 Here's an interesting story of an expanding incubator in Harrisburg, PA. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Economy Watch Sunday, May 23, 2004 Last week was thin for good economics articles. Here are the best ones I came across: Dismal science? Economists find forecasting fascinating G8 Ministers: Lower Oil Prices Would Help World Economy Gas Prices Spark Recession Worries Economist: Global competition strengthens U.S. posted by Ed Morrison | Nebraska prepares to update incentives Saturday, May 22, 2004 Business leaders in Nebraska are continuing to discyuss how the state should update its economic development incentives. The challenge is to update the incentive strategy to move toward more knowledge intensive businesses. Read more about what is going on. Go. At the foundation, this change is far more than meets the eye. Shifting incentive strategies involves more than moving from "traditional manufacturing" (whatever that means) to "high tech" (whatever that means). Instead, the real shift should be from luring companies to educating individuals. We need to be improving our skills continuously. Yet, incentives are still based on older concepts of subsidizing investments for developers and companies. posted by Ed Morrison | Regionalism discussions in Pennsylvania Late last year, the Brookings Institution published a report on development patterns in Pennsylvania. The report has had a big impact. It has touched off a series of discussions throughout the state on the opportunites for broader collaboration. (You can download the Brookings report from this page. As I noted in an earlier post, people in Pittsburgh held an interesting conference on Friday. On the other side of the state, community leaders were working on the same issue. How do you manage no growth sprawl? Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | OneGeorgia If you are looking for a state policy to promote rural development, Georgia has come up with an interesting model. The OneGeorgia Authority provides grants and loans to spur developmentin rural counties. Last week the authority announced its latest round of awards. Read more. Visit the OneGeorgia site. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Portland's display makers begin thinking like a cluster Portland has a cluster of digital display companies. But until recently, the companies have not come together to collaboprate. That is changing. Here's the lesson to EDPro's. A cluster organization will not form without clear value propositions. So it is interesting that the first meeting of this group focused on some clear value propositions: Networking: Create a point of contact between display industry entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who are seeking display investment opportunities; Retention and attraction: Attract new companies into the region, while supporting companies already here; Training: Work with local universities to develop technical and business curricula that will help the local display industry prosper; and Branding: Put the region on the map as a world-class center for digital display expertise, and especially, get the Society for Information Display to hold its annual symposium in Portland. These are good places to start in just about any cluster organization. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Maryland worries about biotech ratings California seems to be always first. Massacusetts seems to be always second. Maryland and North Carolian battle for third. So goes the biotech ratings game. Now, however, Maryland has slipped beehind North Carolina, and the criticism has begun. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Framing regionalism in Detroit In both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, the discussion of regionalism touches off fears that the Afgrican American community will lose power in any bargaqin is struck. Fueled by distrust, racial concerns threaten to slow down, if not derail, critical discussions on how to manage the region's economy more effectively. In Detroit, the mayor is leading the discussion in a different direction. By reaching out to surrounding communities -- including Windsor, Ontario -- Mayor Kilpatrick's leadership is triggering strong support throughout the region. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | NASCAR buzz is building in the Pacific Northwest Communities are continuing to buzz on the possibility of a NASCAR track in the Puget Sound region. Backers of the track have released a new economic impact study to bolster their case. Read more. Read more background on the proposed track. Article 1. Article 2. Article 3. posted by Ed Morrison | Pittsburgh's regionalism discussions last week, I participated in an engaging program in Pittsburgh that explored regionalism in Southwest Pennsylvania. The University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics, the Pittsburgh Foundation and Sustainable Pittsburgh sponsored the program. View the agenda. Sheryl Snyder, a corporate attorney from Lousville, provided us with some important insights into how Louisville, over the course of nearly fifty years, moved toward a city-county merger. (The first vote on a city county merger occurred in 1956 in Louisville.) The most significant factor in this conference, though, was the framing of the issue. The sponsors "connected the dots" among sustainability, competitiveness and regional governance. Equally importnat, they prommoted the idea that reginalism is a big, global concept. By focusing on the emerging partnership between Turin, Italy and Lyon, France (separated by 200 miles and the Alps), the conference sparked some good discussion on building collaborations between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Here's an article on what happened at the conference. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Northeast Ohio begins to think as a region You cannot act as a region until you begin thinking like a region. In Northeast Ohio, we are beginning to think as a region. Team NEO, a new multi-county economic development effort, represents years of effort to begin the process of thinking regionally. Bob Farley, Team NEO's top executive, gives his assessment of where the region is today. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Background on the Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission is one of the oldest economic development initiatives of the federal government. Here's a good overview article that provides some background on the ARC's work and the controversy that surrounds it. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Kentucky moves to expand rural broadband Last week, Governor Fletcher in Kentucky signed legislation to promote the depolyment of broadband in the state's rural counties. Read more. The legislation is part of a broader strategy spearheaded by connectkentucky, posted by Ed Morrison | North Carolina's bonding initiative This November, voters in North Carolina will decide whether the state should provide broader development bonding authority to local governments. Here are a couple of articles to get you up to speed on the issue. Article 1. Article 2. You can also visit the web site for the proponents of the iniative. Go posted by Ed Morrison | Pennsylvania's Growing Greener initiative Pennsylvania is on the right track with its Growing Greener initiative. Started several years ago, the strategy is designed to position Pennsylvania as a leader in sustainable development. You can learn more about the Growing Greener initiative here. Last week, Governor Rendell proposed legislation to provide a sales tax holiday for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances. The Green Tax Holiday legislation will promote the use of energy efficient appliances such as clothes washers and dryers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, and room air conditioners. An average consumer pays about $1,400 on energy bills. Energy efficient applliances can cut as much as $400 off the bill. Read more about the Green Tax Holiday proposal. Go posted by Ed Morrison | Colorado's Entrepreneurial Hothouse Initiative Last week, entrepreneurs in Colorado launched a new effort to remake the entrepreneurial climat in the state. The Colorado Entrepreneurial Hothouse Initiative is being shaped by entrepreneurs in the state. last week, they held a summit meeting to define the idea more clearly. The promoters have started by recruiting a CEO leadership group. In addition, they have assembled a team of academics to research Denver's "core entrepreneurial competencies, entrepreneurial climate and resources." Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Portland, OR is focused on creatives Count Portland as another region focusing on "creatives". One of their initial ideas, a Creative Services Center, has misfired. But thaat does not appear to have dampened the enthusiasm opf supporters. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | California's working poor A new report explores an issue of growing importance to our national competitiveness. We are subsidizing the working poor through state programs, particularly in health insurance. Health care costs will be a key component of competitiveness in the coming decades. It's not clear that our system is working all that well. We pay a higher percentage of our national income to health care than other advanced economies. Yet, we cover less of population with health insurance. Read more about the California study. Go. You can download the report from this page (Free registration required.) posted by Ed Morrison | Early childhood industry in Louisville Early childhood continues to move into the economic development sphere. This movement is happening in two ways. First, I have seen a series of reports on the impact of early childhood development on brainpower. The basic point of these reports: early childhood education represents a good economic development investment. The Minneapolis Fed recently held a conference on this issue. Read more. The Committee for Economic Development has also issued a report on early childhood education. Download the report. Second, communities are starting to measure the economic impact of their early childhood industry. In effect they are starting to view early care as a critical cluster. Last week, Louisville released this type of report. Read more. Kansas City has also completed a similar report recently. Read more about Kansas CityGo. If you are starting to learn about early childhood issues, start here. posted by Ed Morrison | Loose rules in Florida brownfields Tuesday, May 18, 2004 It looks like communities in Florida are "gaming the system". They are designating braod areas as brownfield redevelopment areas. That designation enables local communities to tap into additional economic development incentives. There's only one problem. A lot of the areas are not contiminated at all. For example, just three of the 93 designated brownfield sites in Miami-Dade County actually are contaminated.Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Outsourcing report is updated Forrester Research Inc. has updated it's widely quoted study on outsourcing. Forrester now expects 3.4 million U.S. services jobs to move offshore by 2015, or 6.4 percent of the jobs in the affected categories. That's up slightly from its 3.3 million job projection of last year. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Web Watch: Texas Energy Center The Texas Energy Center, patterned after the Texas Medical Center, is an emerging cluster of leading research organizations, large energy companies and top universities assembled to produce vital, global energy solutions. The Center has activities in ultra-deepwater, petroleum exploration and production applications; advanced natural gas technologies; clean coal, hydrogen and next generation "zero emissions" power plants; advanced automotive fuels and infrastructure; fuel cells; and wind power. Visit the Center's new web site. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Rural areas should explore new governance models Rural areas need to embrace regional approaches to economic development, but this strategy entails overcoming difficult governance issues. The Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City sponsored a meeting to explore these issues this week. Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Weddle moves to RTP Rick Weddle, chief executive officer of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, will be the new president and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation. Congratulations, Rick. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Interview with EFM: Building civic collaboration For those of you curious about how I've been spending my time in Northeast Ohio, here's a recent interview with me in Cool Cleveland. Read the interview. We face a big challenge in economic development: building collaborations in the "civic space". By the civic space, I mean the space that exists outside the four walls of any single organization, profit or non-profit. Building civic collaborations is tricky, because there are no rules in the civic space, unless we create them. At REI, we are building the infrastructure -- the tools and the training -- we need to build these alliances. SBC Foundation is supporting our work to develop these new approaches for communities to use. posted by Ed Morrison | Economy Watch Sunday, May 16, 2004 Here are some good articles from last week. US consumer optimism hits lowest this year U.S. Treasuries defy strong data to march higher Dollar Posts Gains After Economic Data U.S. trade gap hits record high Producer Prices Up; Retail Sales Down Dollar posts gains after U.S. economic data Economic momentum begins forcing companies to hire posted by Ed Morrison | Interested in promoting angel investing? Saturday, May 15, 2004 You might check out an upcoming seminar at the University of Southern Illinois. This is the type of seminar you could launch in your community in order to explore interest in angel investing. Read more about the seminar or visit the web site. If you want to learn more about angle investing, visit the Angel Capital Association web site. The Kauffman Foundation promoted the formation of this Association and is a major supporter of this approach to economic development. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Greensboro searches for collaboration Greensboro faces the same problem confronting many regional economies. The ground has shifted under our feet. We can no longer focus on a narrow "local" economy. We need to "think globally and act regionally". In Greensboro, that means trying to find the right path to collaboration. The Greensboro Economic Council is suppposed to find these pathways, but it is not easy.Read more. Meanwhile, in Maine, they are facing the same challenges of deifning and executing a regional agenda. EDPro Chuck Lawton advises Mainers to focus on small steps. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | CSI: Indianapolis? In Indianapolis, work is underway to develop a hub in forensic sciences. The anchor investment will be a $4 million lab. The Indiana Forensic Science Initiative is promoting the idea with a coordinated strategy. Yesterday, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education approved a new bachelor's degree in forensic science to be offered in the fall at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | School buys town for anti-terror training Now here's an interesting idea. New Mexico Tech has purchased an old mining town from Phelps Dodge. The school plans to use the town for anti-terrorism training. The town includes houses, an apartment building, a community center, a bank, a library and a bowling alley. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Are the winds of change sweeping Louisiana? Louisiana's got a new governor. I might be dreaming, but it appears that change may be starting to take hold in the Bayou State. For years, efforts at economic transformation have been derailed by insider, corrupt politics. Huey Long's legacy still lives on. This may be changing a little, at least in the southern part of the state. (It's too much to hope for wholesale reforms.) Here are some articles that provide hopeful signs that the conversation is shifting. Biotech researchers and entrepreneurs met last week in New Orleans. Read more. Information technology executives held a summit in Lafayette. Read more. And the Universrity of New Orleans held an entrepreneurship summit in New Orleans. Read more. Harvard University has selected the manufacturing extention program in Lafayette as one of a handful of finalists in its Innovations in Government awards. Read more. LSU, a day after the biotechnology gconference, announced formation of a venture capital fund. Read more. And Jimmy Lyles, head of the Baton Rouge Chamber, gracefully decides to move on after a distinguished career and taking the time to set the table for his successor. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Web Watch: Fremont, CA Some communities don't have a lot of incentives to throw at retail companies to bring them downtown. (That's a good thing.) In Fremont, CA EDPros are capitalizing on something that they do have: information. They have built a useful GIS-based web site to provide information to attract retail development. Read more and visit the site. posted by Ed Morrison | Blacksburg Electronic Village The Elecetronic Village in Blacksburg, VA represents a model for a connected rural community. People in Humboldt County, CA have begun to look at Blacksburg for some lessons on how to get connected. Blacksburg Electronic Village is a protal that serves as the starting point for citizens to get connected. It also serves as a valuable source of lessons on how to build a connected communtiy. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | North Carolina's biotech bet Friday, May 14, 2004 North Carolina has bet big on biotech, even though some EDPros remain skeptical of its potential. The pay-off may be there, but most agree that it will be a long time coming. Currently, biotech's 18,000+ jobs account for less than 0.5% of the state's workforce. Here's a good overview of where North Carolina stands in biotech. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Chicago's 311 service for city services For the past five years, Chicago has been operating a 311 system. It's a one-stop call center for residents and businesses to find out about city services. This approach makes sense as a good business retention initiative. This week, Chicago held a conference to share what it had leared from its 311 service. Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Combatting brain drain Student entrepreneurship initiatives are one way to get smart people to stick around. Read about what is happening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Albany, NY. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Senators try to reverse MEP decision Fifty-two senators have written the Seecretary of Commerce to try to reverse a decision to cut drastically the Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP). Congress earlier passed legislation to cut the pgoram from $106.6 million to $39.6 million. (A number of EDPro readers joined me in a letter to the Congressional leadership last January. Our letter objected to the cuts before they passed the Congress.) The Senate letter suggests transferring funds within the Commerce Department to restore funding for MEP. Read more. You can keep up with the MEP program (including links to the letter) from the website of the Modernization Forum. posted by Ed Morrison | Northern tier of Massachusetts looks for opportunities Consultants for the northern tier of Massachusetts have identified five promising areas for growth: manufacturing, renewable energy, the arts, ecotourism, and homegrown entrepreneurial businesses. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | The changing dynamics of site selection Thursday, May 13, 2004 During the Charleston Innovation Summit, David Ginn, head of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, made an intersting point about how the Internet has changed the site selection process. In the pre-Internet days, Charleston would learn of projects 18 months ahead of the investment. Now, 80% of the site selectors rely on the Internet as a principal source of information. Places like Charleston learn of projects later in the cycle. When Charleston learns of a typical project, the decision is four to five months out, and Charleston is typically competing against four to six locations in two states. The point is simple: marketing cycles in economic development are compressed and intense. Communities need to be ready. posted by Ed Morrison | Charleston Innovation Summit explores strategies for the region Wednesday, May 12, 2004 For the next couple of days, I will be tied up with events in Charleston, SC. I will be attending the Charleston Innovation Summit, where business leaders will be exploring innovation strategies in the Charleston Region. The agenda gives you an insight how we are thinking about the challenges ahead. Read more. I'll pick up EDPro on Friday. posted by Ed Morrison | Incentives issues brewing in Nebraska Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Before it is even published, a KPMG study on tax incentives is drawing controversy in Nebraska. Read more. If you are interested in a listing of statewide tax reform studies, visit this page from the National Council of State Legislatures. I recently commented on the tax reform proposal prepared by Governor Fletcher in Kentucky. In my statement, prepared for the kentucky Industrial Development Council, I outlined tha main factors to consider in state taxation policy for economic development. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Michigan pushes regional skills alliances Suppoted by a $450,000 grant from the Mott Foundation, Michgan Governor Jennifer Granholm has announced a $1 million program to promote regional skills alliances. This initiative should be interesting to watch. For years, we have relied on a dysfunction Workforce Investment Act as a means to address training issues. A wide range of initiatives on the local level suggest, however, that employer consortia, work skills certifications, flexible career pathways, and more flexible credit transfers work. We'll see if the Michigan initiative can successfully leverage these lessons. Learn more. In another promising initiative, Michigan is moving to an on-line permitting system. The Michigan Timely Application and Permit Service will automate more than 32 different manufacturing-related permits and licenses. posted by Ed Morrison | Forbes magazine's best places for business Forbes magazine has published it annual list of the best places for business. Madison, WI heads the list of leading metros. Sioux Falls, SD heads the list for the best among smaller metros. Find your city. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Columbia schools resist incentives Here is an increasingly common story. A local school district resists the pressure from economic developers to offer tax breaks. The school officials are right on this one. Local economic developers, citing a survey of firms, indicated that incentives ranked as the most important factor in location decisions. Before jomping on these "facts", economic developers should pause. There is very little economic evidence that incentives matter much. But let's assume that they do work. Does it make sense to add to the costs of a local school system (by adding families through successful recruitment) at the same time that you are reducing the tax base? Let's assume that you add a plant with 250 employees, and that translates into 200 families, or about 400 school age kids. If the expenditures per pupil are, say, $6,000 per year, your recruitment effort adds $2.4 million in added operating cost to the school system. (Capital costs -- the investment in new school buildings -- is another factor, but I'll exclude that.) The strategy is simply not sustainable, especially in a global economy where brainpower matters. Read about what's going on in Columbia, MO. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | The survival challenge for rural hospitals Hospitals often form the hub of rural commmunities. But anyone who has spent much time in rural areas knows, these hospitals are having a tough time surviving. Here's a good article that reviews the situation. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Economy Watch Sunday, May 09, 2004 The most helpful articles I found last week: The Coming Week: An Eye on Prices 300,000 new jobs added in April Economic momentum pushes companies to add new workers Deficit Threatens Economy, Greenspan Says Services Growth Hits Record, Jobs Gain Outlook Brightens as Factory Orders Up Return of an economic demon: oil shock posted by Ed Morrison | Organizing a clean-up Saturday, May 08, 2004 It sounds simple, and it's one of the easiest places to start in economic development: Organize a clean-up. Mobilizing volunteers translates vague ideas into action. This step is critically important, especially in communities where cynicism runs deep: "Nothing ever gets done around here". Too much whining can paralyze economic development. Get inspired. Read what citizens are doing in Laramie, WY; with an old mill in Maryland; in Fairbanks, AK; in Prescott Valley, AZ; in Pascagoula, MS and along the Cuyahoga River here in Cleveland. posted by Ed Morrison | Quality urban design and economic development Building quality, connected places represents one of the central challenges in economic development in the years ahead. Smart people can live anywhere. They will choose to live in regions which pays attention to the details of quality urban design. Increasingly, we will be seeing the integration of urban design and economic development in leading edge communities. In rural areas, leading communities will embrace Main Street programs. States will support rural redevelopment by promoting quality design through programs like Renaissance Kentucky. (Learn more.) In metro regions, the issues are more complex, but no less important. Here's an example of a good resource from Kansas City. Go. At the state level, we are seeing this issue emerge through the growing attention to "smart growth" or redevelopment of existing infrastructure. Here's an update, for example, of what has been happening in Alabama, Mississippi, and Ohio. (In earlier posts this week, I also noted the challenges of "no growth, sprawl" in places like Pennsylvania and quality growth in South Carolina.) Importantly, these new initiatives transcend the old divide of "pro-growth" versus "no growth". They focus on a much more important issue of how to support quality, sustainable growth. In the past month, the European Union has released an insightful report on sustainable urban design. The report explores these issues, including the costs of sprawl and the challenges of building an affordable infrastructure to support growth. You can download the report from this page. posted by Ed Morrison | Anatomy of a deal: Williams International Last year, Utah enacted an incentive to lure aerospace firms to the state, and they have used it to attract two companies so far. Here are some details on Williams International. Read more posted by Ed Morrison | Richard Florida: Maine's got a mixed message The Richard Florida Creative Class Tour hit Maine this weekend, and his assessment was mixed. Read more. My guess is that Maine should not lose sight of the other aspects of its economy, though. Both the state's marine economy and boatbuilding are likely to be larger than Florida's "creative economy". Read more. And both are also good source of higher value added jobs. posted by Ed Morrison | Civic responsibility tax on the Big Boxes Here's an idea that's likely to get some legs: a "civic responsibility tax" on big box retailers. It's based on the premise that the national chain retailers do not reinvest in their communities to a sufficient level. Read more. This grassroots trend against the national chains is building some momentum. Austin has emerged as the epicenter. In Austin, the City Council has voted funds to study the local economic imapct of big box retailers. Learn more. The effort in Austin started with an independent bookseller, Steve Bercu. He commissioned a study on the economic impact of national retail chains. Learn more. You can download the economic impact analysis here. posted by Ed Morrison | Arkansas bags a Japanese auto parts plant Friday, May 07, 2004 Eastern Arkansas lost the Toyota plant to San Antonio, but they are continuing to market aggressively. This announcement makes the fourth parts supplier tied to Toyota that has announced a location in Eastern Arkansas in the past year. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | SCEDA focuses on clusters Cluster mania has hit South Carolina. Fueled by a recent report by The Monitor Group (Michael Porter's firm) and another report by Regional Technology Strategies (RTS), the state's economic developers are turning their attention to cluster development. Here's an update from their meeting this week. Read more. Read more about what's going on in South Carolina. Download the Monitor presentation from December 2003. Go. Download the RTS report from March 2004. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Pennsylvania launches cyber security initiative Thursday, May 06, 2004 Pittsburgh's Digital Greenhouse has launched the Pennsylvania Cyber Security Commercialization Initiative (PaCSCI), as a new economic developemnt initiative. The goal is to accelerate the development of student ideas into Pennsylvania-based businesses. PaCSCI will provide university student teams with support as they work to move their products and ideas from the conception phase at the university to commercialization. Participating students will receive support at the university in the concept phase where their cyber security ideas are initially developed. Students will continue to receive support from PaCSCI for the research and development of their product or idea. If the product proves to be successful, the students will then receive assistance from the program to form a Pennsylvania-based company. The final step of the program will be to provide early stage funding for the new company. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Madison's mayor begins dialogue with business leaders Madison, WI has a lingering reputation of being "anti-business", and the mayor is out to change that. He has published his vision for the city and asked business leaders for their thoughts. Madison represents a good case for competitive mid-sized cities. Learn more about what is going on. Download the mayor's vision. posted by Ed Morrison | Quality growth for South Carolina Wednesday, May 05, 2004 A new report by the Urban Land Institute calls for a new approach to managing growth in South Carolina. The report represents the first statewide effort to guide how cities should grow. It calls for more efficient land use planning to decrease the amount of land developed. It also encourages revitalization of existing communities, mixed-use development, and the preservation of natural resources. Read more. Download the report. posted by Ed Morrison | Not enough scientists A new report alerts us to a growing challenge: not enough young people are heading into careers in engineering and science. In the past, we did not have to worry so much, because foreign students came in to fill the gap. Increasingly, though, curbs on immigration and more intense global competition are drawing these foreigners to other markets. United States ranks 17th in the share of its 18-to-24-year-olds who earn natural science and engineering degrees, behind Taiwan and South Korea, Ireland and Italy. In 1975, we were third. Read more. (Free registration required.) posted by Ed Morrison | No growth sprawl Pennsylvania is facing the worst of all worlds: no growth sprawl. To illustrate, between 1982 and 1997, Pennsylvania's population grew by 2.5 percent, but the "urbanized footprint" in the state grew by 47 percent. This pattern of growth consumed farmland and open space. The consequence is higher "social overhead": the costs of providing public services -- everything from school buses to water lines -- goes up, but the economy is not expanding. David Rusk, a noted expert in the field, offers some suggestions on what to do. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Medical device industry attractive to Massachusetts Tuesday, May 04, 2004 In Massachusetts, the medical device industry represents about 6% of the manufacturing base, but it is one segment that is poised for long term growth. Equally important, the state views medical devices as a key leverage for other technologies in biosciences, pharmaceutical sciences, and nanotechnology. Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Venture capital market is starting to turn Here's a good article from the Washington, D.C. area that explores the shift underway in the venture capital market. First quarter activity is up from a year ago. Depending on how you measure it, nationwide activity is up between 10% and 24%. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | SW Virginia explores broadband options A number of rural communities are too small to attract private investment to deploy broadband. Added to that problem, federal and state regulations often hamper smaller communities as they try to build their own systems. A group in Southwest Virginia explored these issues in a recent Internet confernce. Read more. Article 1. Article 2. posted by Ed Morrison | Ohio commission pushes for business support of higher education A commission appointed by Ohio's governor has recommended that the business community get more engaged in impriving higher education in the state. The Commission calls for creating a private-sector-led Ohio Business Alliance for Higher Education and the Economy. The group would promote an expanded role for colleges and universities as contributors to the state's economic development. The commission's report is one of several state-level commissions on higher education in recent years. Business and political leaders are starting to connect the dots on the importance of higher education to economic development. Read more about the Ohio commission. Go. Download the Executive Summary or the full report. posted by Ed Morrison | Economy Watch Sunday, May 02, 2004 Here's what's going on in the economy. Vital Signs for the Week of May 3 Consumer spending rises modest 0.4 percent in March keeping economy rolling Economy and prices rise in U.S. Dollar Sags as U.S. GDP Comes in Below Expectations US economy grew 4.2 percent in first quarter; inflation creeps higher Insourcing Benefits For US Workers Debated High Energy Prices Could Affect U.S. Economy, Greenspan Says posted by Ed Morrison | Eastern North Carolina region comes together Friday, April 30, 2004 Eastern North Carolina, while not as organized as Western North Carolina, is making progress on implementing regional intiatives. The region's leaders are beginning to define a common agenda for action. Before you can act as a region, you have to think like a region. Read more. Vist the web site. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | EDA's annual meeting on regional innovation The Economic Development Administration has got it right. They are promoting the concept of regional innovation for their annual meeting in June. Learn more. Visit the conference web site. posted by Ed Morrison | Denver's new logo Denver has selected a new logo to promote both tourism and economic development. Two interesting facts make this story stand out. First, the logo will combine economic development and tourism. (A lot of communities have separate logos for each effort, a wasteful practice.) Second, the mayor got the new logo without spending anything. He understands that a community logo provides strong marketing, especially for local firms. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Fayetteville publishes indicators report Fayetteville, NC produces an “annual report card” that is agood example of how indicators can focus attention on specific areas to improve the community. MetroVisions is a citizen-participation forum, affiliated with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, which produces the report card. The report uses the technique of “Gold Stars” and “Red Flags” to rate the city’s performance. The report covers the areas of government, economy, education, health, mobility, natural resources, public safety, recreation and social well being. Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Wichita makes progress Wichita seems to be making traction on its economic development agenda. The new partnership, Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, has set a long-term goal to create 8,000 jobs within five year. Learn more. Visit the web site. posted by Ed Morrison | Speed Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Now here's an interesting news release. The Census Bureau is starting in 2004 to survey small business owners for the 2002 Economic Census that will be released in 2005. True. posted by Ed Morrison | Upstate New York expands collaborations Two important groups in upstate New York have come together to strengthen regional collaboration. The Greater Binghamton Coalition is about 18 months old, and it is following a strategy -- The BC Plan -- developed in 2002 by Angelou Economics. Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York is implementing the Essential New York Initiative. Now both groups are promoting even wider regional collaboration. Read more posted by Ed Morrison | Illinois venture fund Governor Blagojevich wants to create a $200 million venture fund. His proposal has passed the Senate, and now he is modifying it to get some traction in the House. The final initiative should come together in the next few weeks, since the legislature is scheduled to adjourn at the end of May. Read an update. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Kerry's manufacturing plan Here's John Kerry's plan to revitalize manufacturing. (But where's the czar?) Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Insights on outsourcing This morning's New York Times carries a good article on why some programming jobs are difficult to outsource. As one observer notes, "Only certain kinds of tasks can be outsourced — what can be set down as a set of rules. That which requires more creativity is more difficult to manage at a distance." Another point: Labor rates in India are lower, but productivity in the US is higher for some more complex projects. Finally, if innovation and speed matters to the business, outsourcing can undercut that strategy. Read more. (Free registration required.) Inc. also has an interesting article on outsourtcing from the perspective of the smaller enterprise. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Bank consortium for life science start-ups Tuesday, April 27, 2004 In what could be the first collaboration of its kind in the country, eleven banks in Kalamazoo have formed The Bank Consortium for Innovation. The focus will be to build life sciences in Southwest Michigan. The banking group has initially committed $130,000 of $200,000 needed annually to run Kalamazoo Venture Tuesday, a monthly forum to match entrepreneurs with venture capitalists. Consortium members will use the forums to learn about life-sciences and venture-capital strategies. Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Pennsylvania starts Keystone Innovation Zone initiative A year ago, Governor Rendell proposed his vision of establishing innovation zones around the state's coolleges and universities. Today, he accepted the first application for such a zone from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. The idea makes sense. Keystone Innovation Zones (KIZs) are designed to create "knowledge neighborhoods" close to colleges, universities and research institutions. KIZ status allows eligible companies located within the zone to apply for a pool of $25 million in tax credits. Franklin & Marshal College can also apply for $10 million in Innovation Grants to be used to start a tech-transfer program. Read more details. posted by Ed Morrison | Anatomy of a deal: Wichita's Bass Pro deal State legislators in Kansas are considering restrictions on financing that might delay a Bass Pro deal in Wichita. The proposal would block the use of sales tax and revenue bonds, known as STAR bonds, to construct a building to be used by Bass Pro Shops. Wichita officals are counting on Bass Pro to anchor a downtown development, Wichita WaterWalk. Legislators say that STAR bonds should be used for infrastructure, not to build a building for lease to Bass Pro. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | New York's Empire Zone debate heats up In New York, the legislature is trying to figure out whether to reauthorize the state's extensive and controversial Empire Zone program. Republicans argue that the program is needed to stimulate growth. Democrats counter that the only thing the program stimulates is campaign contributions to the Republican party. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Site selectors talk During a recent panel discussion in Tucson, corporate site selectors gave their views on what a community must do to be competitive. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Ohio's Third Tier Network Ohio is building a dedicated fiber network to link the state's colleges and universities, their business partners, hospitals and K-12 schools to improve research and education. Yesterday, promoters visited the University of Cincinnati's Genome Research Institute (GRI) and demonstrated how the network will support medical research collaboratorions. For example, GRI will be linked with other Ohio researchers to share expensive instruments and educational resources for disease analysis and treatment. The network will allow researchers at one university to view the output of a scientific instrument at a research lab 100 miles away, reducing the time and costs currently incurred in research and development. A researcher at Youngstown State University can now partner with an industry researcher in Cincinnati to work on drug design as if they were in the same room. Learn more. Visit the web site. posted by Ed Morrison | South Carolina launches health research initiative Leaders of South Carolina's health research institutions announced an ambitious plan to establish 20 health-research centers around the state. Greenville Hospital System, the Medical University of South Carolina, Palmetto Health and the University of South Carolina signed a memorandum of understanding today to establish the South Carolina Health Sciences Collaborative. The initiative calls for four of the state's largest universities and health systems to invest $80 million over the next ten years to increase health sciences research, drive economic development, and improve the health status of the citizens of South Carolina. Each partner in the coop intends to contribute $2 million per year -- a total of $8 million per year -- which is eligible for matching contributions from the South Carolina Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act, also known as the Endowed Chairs Program. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | New Mexico launching marketing campaign for manufacturers Monday, April 26, 2004 New Mexico is launching a direct mail campaign targeted to manufacturers who produce for the Mexican market. The campaign will run over four months with a budget of $100,000. The state has targeted 4,000 U.S. companies that export to Mexico. Ther campaign encourages them to move to southern New Mexico for better proximity. An initial test mailing of 1,000 in January produced good results, so they have decided to roll-out the entire campaign. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Charlotte leaders head to Nashville The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce has organized its annual field trip for local leaders. This year they are headed to Nashville. This is a good practice that most cities should follow: get out and see how other cities are coping with the same challenges you face. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Announcement: Digital Cities Conference 2004 We're holding an exciting Digital Cities Conference 2004 in Cleveland on July 30 and 31. With thousands of free public wireless access points, Greater Cleveland has become one of the largest open wireless laboratories in the world. The Digital Cities Conference is a celebration of the remarkable impact of wireless broadband connectivity is making in people across the planet. Part symposium, part trade conference, part world's fair, Digital Cities will bring together innovative thinkers and doers. Thanks to generous support from Intel, Cisco, Sprint, Allied Telesyn and a growing list of technology sponsors, we're convening a global symposium that celebrates the positive impact breakthrough technology has on the world's cities. And we're going to award the best of show with a check for $10,000. Other cash awards will go to innovators in each major category of application. If you would like to submit a proposal, go to the Digital Cities web site. Go. We’re building the archetypal Digital City in Cleveland, complete with neighborhoods defined by major market segments. Explore the Healthcare Neighborhood and see how a surgeon in Paris confers with a radiologist in Cleveland during a procedure. Explore the Government Neighborhood and learn how the a major Midwestern city enhances public safety and convenience through a computer tracking system that manages snow removal (it knows where every plow is and which streets still need attention). Experience an interactive theatrical event in the “Cultural “District” where dancers in New York perform live with artists in Cleveland though a multi-media experience. We’ve organized the inaugural Digital City into 18 neighborhoods. If you have a story to tell, a demonstration, a lesson learned, partnership success, or a cool technology we’re inviting you to share it with the world when it comes to Cleveland. Healthcare in the Digital City Art in the Digital City Music in the Digital City New Media in the Digital City Higher Education and Leadership in the Digital City Government Services and Strategic City Planning City and Regional Transportation Services in the Digital City Public Safety and Homeland Security Media and Journalism in the Digital City Converged Public Broadcasting, News, and the Public Interest Bridging the Digital Divide in the City Organizing and Servicing Technology Companies in the Digital City The Creative WorkForce in the Digital City Schools in the Digital City Financing the Digital City Building Strategic Partnerships or the Politics of the Digital City Smart and Green in the City – Technology and the Environment Technology Innovation: Smart Tools and Systems for the Digital City Learn more. posted by Ed Morrison | Economy Watch Sunday, April 25, 2004 Economics 101 for this week: Vital Signs for the Week of Apr. 26 G-7 forecasts high growth, says oil price a concern Administration Says U.S. Trade And Budget Deficits Not A Threat To Global Economy U.S. Reports Jobless Claims Fall by 9,000 Fed looking for jobs, inflation signs IMF projects stronger world economy Greenspan Sees Increase in Interest Rates TEXT-Greenspan's comments on U.S. economy posted by Ed Morrison | The expansion of convention space Nationwide, convention space grew at 6.6% from 2002 to 2003. The pace of growth is not slowing. Increasing space and slowing demand makes the conventions center business very comeptitive. Here's a view from Washington State. Go. Although demand is down nationwide, dozens of cities are building convention centers – one source found that over 60 centers are under construction or being planned, according to industry expert Heywood T. Sanders, professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Many convention centers already built are underperforming. The problem starts with the "feasibility studies" for these centers. Here's what Sanders has to say: “I have reviewed over 70 such consultant studies for convention centers. They all say that if you build a new center lots of people will come, spend millions of dollars, create jobs and boost the local economy. "Those studies are typically based on inadequate data, poor analysis and inappropriate methodologies. If you go back, as I have, and compare how the studies have done in predicting how convention centers have actually done, their track record is remarkably poor.” Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | The retirement wave in Wisconsin Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Chief Economist, Terry Ludeman made a presentation last week to members of the Oneida County Economic Development Corporation. His message was sobering: Wisconsin faces a major challenge in filling the jobs of people set to retire over the next ten years. (His comments are important, because his analysis, I suspect, applies to more states than Wisconsin.) "We are faced with a tremendous number of people in the State of Wisconsin turning retirement age; approximately 40,000 people per year are turning age 65, and by 2010 that figure will reach 50,000. "The question is, 'Where do we find 40,000 or 50,000 people per year to replace those who are leaving the labor market?'" He goes on..."We have to figure out a way to hold on to our young, talented population. We cannot afford to continue to send them to college and turn around and give them a ticket to go somewhere else in the United States. We need to keep those young people in the communities they were raised in, or else our chance of making an economic success in small communities is nil." Read more of Ludeman's analysis. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Durham looks to create "museum without walls" Durham, NC is considering an ambitious plan to revitalize a downtown street, Parish Street, by combining exhibits and kiosks that illustrate the history of Durham's tobacco industry, African-American entrepreneurship and traditional arts and crafts. Parrish Street was the birthplace of the city's first tobacco operations. In the early 1900's the street represented the center of the city's African-American commercial district. Read more about the plan to revitalize Parish Street. You can download the report here. posted by Ed Morrison | Black Hills Technology Corridor Business leaders in the Black Hills of South Dakota are putting up $1 million in investment funds to build a techniology corridor. They are retaining Battelle to assist them in their planning. They are looking to the Oak Ridge Technology Corridor around Oak Ridge National Laboratory as their model. Read more about the South Dakota corridor project. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | Reviving Main Street in Winfield, KS Smaller rural communities often face a difficult challenge of building their economic base. Main Street programs represent a successful approach. Here's a good example from Winfield, KS. Winfield has a population of 12,000, and it is located about an hour southeast of Wichita. Here's a good background on how they have used their Main Street program to attract visitors from Wichita. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | North Carolina governor set to push more incentives Hammered by rural job losses, Governor Easley is planning to push the legislature next month for more incentives for economic development. Here's a good overview article of the situation in North Carolina. Read more. (Registration required.) In part because of aggressive incentives, the share of state revenues from corporate taxes has been dropping in the state. Read more. At the same time, Governor Easley will push hard for these incentives, since he is looking at a tough re-election campaign. posted by Ed Morrison | Incubator insights from Connecticut Here's an interesting story of a new incubator in Oxford, CT. The important lesson: incubators have a better chance of success if they are tied to regioanl educational institutions. If you are thinking about developing an incubator, this story can give you some guidance. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Regional government proposal for SE Connecticut: DOA Some municipal leaders reacted poorly to a consultant's proposal to establish a regional vision for economic development in Southeast Connecticut. A core idea: Create a regional profit-sharing system that would have the ability to raise taxes. One participant in the meeting reacted bluntly, ""It will never happen". Read more. posted by Ed Morrison | Web Watch: California TradePort California's trade web site has gotten caught in the downdraft of crumbling state finances. Now, a group of entrepreneurs have stepped in to revive the site. Read more. Visit the site. posted by Ed Morrison | Mississippi after school program Acrtiss the country, economic development organizations are stretching the traditional boundaries. Here's another example. In Mississippi, Three Rivers Community and Economic Development Corporation operates an after-school program for "at risk" students. What's the sense of this? We all face the same realities: We have too many students dropping out of high school. As a result, we have too few students pursuing postsecondary education. Workforce shortages are appearing across the country in everything from physical therapists to long haul truckers. Equally important, drop-outs add to the high social costs we all must pay. We not only lose their potential income, we are more likely to pay direct costs for dependency. For example, it generally costs over $20,000 per year to house a prisoner. Learn more about the after school program. Go. posted by Ed Morrison | |
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