Sunday, April 22, 2007
There are a lot of misconceptions about manufacturing...the notion, for example, that manufacturing is a business activity with no future in the U.S.
These common misconceptions have real consequences. When high school counsellors and parents repeat these fallacies to young people, it becomes all the more difficult to recruit young people into promising careers.
Here's a good commentary that takes on some of these myths. For example, during the "dot com" boom of the 1990's, the business press largely ignored a major business story of the decade: the exploding productivity in manufacturing. As the commentary notes:
“If we look at the overall productivity gains made through technology and management-related process improvement over the past two decades, manufacturing performance is nothing short of astonishing."
Here's another commentary from civic leaders in Indiana. 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.
The bad rap on manufacturing
