Incentive Watch Saturday, February 19, 2005 The North Carolina Press Association wants to reform the state's open records laws to find out more about economic development incentive offers to companies. Read more. In Georgia, matters are moving in the opposite direction. The House has passed legislation to shield talks between companies and State representatives. A Senate committee is now considering the legislation. Supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect Georgia from other states that might steal prospects. Read more. Critics in Georgia, though, believe that this approach will lead to abuse. As the editorial staff of the Macon Telegraph writes, "HB 218 strips away - except to those in the inner circles of power - information important to our future and our fortunes. A small group of people, at the local level or in Atlanta, could work out details of an economic development project, hiding whatever information they deemed harmful, until the deal is approved." Read more. The Indiana Senate has passed legislation to enact a package of targeted tax cuts to stimulate investments in R&D, capital equipment, auto racing, and new companies. Read more. Meanwhile, across the border to the south, a critic of the governor makes the point that to attract business, Kentucky should not keep cutting taxes when significant investments in education go unfunded. Read more. EDPros in Idaho have formed a task force on incentives and released a report that advocates additional tax incentives for business. Read more. In Texas, labor leaders are shouting into the wind with a proposal to "prohibit the state from investing in any company that in the previous two years had created jobs overseas that could have been done in the United States." More than two dozen states have similar legislation pending, although no state has enacted the proposal. As the article notes, "[T]he proliferation of these bills is an expression of frustration with the inability of government and labor organizations to control job growth and movement in a world economy". Read more. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation last week announced $40.4 million in tax credits and training grants. Daimler Chrysler will recevie about 71% of the money. Read more. Meanwhile, in the Triad region of North Carolina, the march of Dell suppliers is starting. Between ten and twelve companies may move into the region, and as one EDPro notes, "I'd be shocked if the suppliers didn't request incentives." Read more. That may be true, but providing incentives to Dell suppliers strikes me as pretty dumb. Their operations are already tied to Dell. There's no reason to throw in (in the words of my Louisiana friends) lagniappe -- a little something extra -- to get these companies. 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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