PA connects with Germany Thursday, September 14, 2006 Another fascinating aspect to how economic development is shifting in our networked world. States and regions are developing their own trade agreements. Here's an example: Pennsylvania signed an agreement on alternaitve energy opportunities with a leading industrial state in Germany. William Norris, the famed entrepreneur behind Control Data, predicted this development in the early 1980s. Now, however, its becoming real. (Norris helped form the Midwest Technology Development Institute "MTDI" as a coalition of ten Midwestern states to expand technological cooperation among Midwest universities and industry in order to increase the availability of technology to industry, especially small businesses. MTDI was also created to achieve an equitable transfer of technology between the Midwest and foreign countries -- particularly Japan -- to create jobs and improve the economic welfare of the region.) In 1992, I was involved negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding between Massachusetts and Hong Kong. This agreement led to new opportunities for environmental control companies (principally waste water remediation) in Massachusetts. To propel our efforts we conducted the first video conference between Massachusetts and Hong Kong to demonstrate the technology of another Massachusetts company, PictureTel. Later, we launched the Greater China Business Network to encourage smaller New England technology companies to enter the Greater China market (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan). Opening global markets to smaller companies involves these types of intiatives. Building relationships. Sharing information. Creating networks. 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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