Incentive Watch Thursday, February 24, 2005 Louisville is trying to jump into the UPS consolidation game. The company announced that it would shut down a sorting hub in Dayton and consolidate the work at one of its other existing hubs. Kentucky jumped in with a $20 million incentive package proposal. The package amounts to about $50,000 per job. Read more. Momentum Mississippi has hit a speed bump. Their proposal to authorize the state to issue $24 million in bonds to fund incentive programs has died in the legislature. Read more. Download a copy of the proposal. In Missouri, the state's new top EDPro indicated that he will move ahead with plans to revamp the state's incentive programs. The new program will follow the Oklahoma Quality Jobs model. Read more. Under this approach, the state pays a tax credit based on the number and wage level (quality) of the jobs created. (Created in 1994, the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program provides quarterly cash payments of up to 5 percent of new taxable payroll. The cash is paid directly to qualifying companies for up to 10 years. To qualify for the Quality Jobs benefits, a company must be either a central administrative office, a manufacturer, a research and development concern, or a specified service company. In addition, qualifying firms must have 75 percent of their total sales to out-of-state customers. Learn more) Massachusetts Governor Romney has proposed a $600 million economic stimulus package. One part of the proposal would provide cash grants to companies that move to or expand in the state. Read more. Peabody, KS joins a list of other rural communities that will give away free land to new residents. Read more. In part as a reaction to the way the Dell deal was handled, the North Carolina Press Association continues to argue that the state need more public disclosure of incentive deals. Read more. In New York, a state legislator is trying to pass a proposal that would keep the state from providing incentives to companies that create jobs out of state...another gesture to deal with outsourcing. Read more. (To learn more about what states are doing to counter outsourcing, read this review article. Meanwhile, in Texas, the governor is hinting that a big deal is in the works for San Antonio. Read more 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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