Saturday, October 01, 2005
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
That's a little bit of the predicament for site selection consultants who evaluate locations based on costs. Take the case of The Boyd Company.
The New Jersey-based consulting firm has a long and distinguished record for evaluating different sites based on detailed cost studies. (They develop a cost model for a model facility -- say a warehouse or corporate office -- and then use that model to gather costs from different locations.)
The problem is that not all business decisions are driven by cost.
In mature markets, cost structures play a very important role in competitiveness. But in emerging markets, costs are less significant to the existence of open innovation systems. This explains why high value businesses continue to emerge in high cost locations.
So, the folks in Phoenix are right, I think, to criticize the latest report from Boyd concerning locations for biomedical companies. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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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.
Different yardsticks for location decisions
