Incentive Watch Monday, September 10, 2007 Here are some articles on incentives from the last couple of weeks. Michigan is trying out a Hire Michigan First requirement on its incentives. Not smart. This type of meddling might make good headlines, but it simply deflects from the core issues of needed innovations in education and training. Read more. (Thanks to Larry Holt for helping me fix the link.) Here's a list of projects before the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority. Reading through the list, I keep coming back to a central thought that it makes more sense to provide incentives to people instead of companies. Read more. Ocala, FL is trying to set rules for its incentives policy in order to provent abuses. Read more. Toledo and Buffalo are two cities that have been going after Bass Pro Shops for a long time. Read more. Governor Blunt in Missouri signed the economic development legislation that the legislature passed in its special session. The bill renews the Quality Jobs Program. Read more. You can learn more about the Quality Jobs program here. Here's an update on the task force in Kansas City that has been looking at TIF policy. Read more. Read a draft of the policy here. Here is a good article that outlines some of the emerging debate over incentives. 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.

The Web EDPro Weblog