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Growing networks of angel investors
Friday, January 31, 2003 I'm noticing a growing interest around the country in promoting angel investor networks. Angel investor networks have been around for a long time as an economic strategy. It's a simple, compelling idea, but it's not that easy to pull off. What's behind the new momentum? Several factors: an increased emphasis on innovation. Flat and declining support for "soft money" initiatives. And a growing sophistication among angel networks. But for an angel network to be effective, you need to train (and screen) both entrepreneurs and investors. This week, New Mexico held an angel conference to train both investors and entrepreneurs. Read more background. The conference web site includes a good example of a conference schedule with two tracks, one for entrepreneurs, one for investors. If you are planning to head in this direction, use the New Mexico agenda as a guide. Innovation Philadelphia building its angel networks to the next level formally by establishing a $5 million to $10 million fund for angel investors. Read more. To start your education about angel investing, you can download the Kaufman Foundation's recent report on best practices. More detailed research is available at the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research, where the concept of angel investing was first rigorously examined in the early 1980's. The Center now estimates in 2001 angel investors numbered 350,000, and invested between $30 and $35 billion in close to 50,000 ventures in the United States. Read more. posted by Ed | Helpful resources on workplace basic skills Most EDPros are not comfortable with education and workforce issues. In the past, we've never had to be. But all that's changed. We need to get up to speed on these issues quickly. Here's a web site worth passing on. It's not pretty, but it provides EDPros with a quick orientation to basic workplace education, a critical issue for many employers. It also can get you the key contacts what's your state. More important, the sponsors update it weekly. The web site, WorkplaceBasicSkills.com, fits into a good business retention package. posted by Ed | New broadband financing available in rural areas. EDPros in rural areas may be interested in a new Department of Agriculture program to expand broadband. USDA will provide the financing of about $1.4 billion in loans and loan guarantees to rural telecommunications providers. Read the transcript of the announcement. Many rural EDPros are not well plugged into the economic development programs of the Department of Agriculture. But they are extensive. This fact sheet can get you up to speed. posted by Ed | Michigan pushes collaboration in the tool and die industry Wednesday, January 29, 2003 Collaboration is easy to talk about but hard to pull off. That's why "cluster-based" strategies are so tough to implement. So, I was drawn to explore Michigan's effort to boost collaboration among smaller tool and die companies. As part of this initiative, Michigan is launching a pilot training program to address the competitive challenges of the tool and die industry. The program will train workers in new manufacturing methods. Read more. EDPros with large, mature industries should explore this approach. A recent report by the State pointed to training as one of the key drivers for maintaining this industry. The report outlines practical ways to improve collaboration within an industry cluster. Download the report. posted by Ed | Georgia Tech offers courses on economic impact assessments EDPros have a range of software options if they want to assess the economic impacts of different projects. Georgia Tech has one package that is easy to use, low cost, and well supported. They have several seminars planned for this spring. Learn more. You can download a demo. posted by Ed | Building specialized infrastructure for clusters One element of a cluster -based development strategy is to build specialized infrastructure. In Akron, this means building a pilot plant for small scale polymer production. In Montgomery County, Maryland, it means a science and technology research park geared to biotech. Akron's Pilot Plant is more focused and smaller scale. Montgomery County's project is much larger and more speculative. Building specialized infrastructure is a tricky business. The difficulty is figuring out if there is a sufficiently strong market demand to support the infrastructure (including capital and operating costs). That question turns on whether the anchors to your cluster are competitive and dynamic. Read more about what EDPros are doing with polymers in Akron and biotech in Montgomery County. posted by Ed | Do short term incentives undercut long term competitiveness? Tuesday, January 28, 2003 There's a plausible argument to say that they do. Corporate tax breaks directly influence local property taxes, the largest single source of funding for public schools. A report by the National Education Asssociation makes the case. The authors contend that tax subsidies are rarely evaluated for their effectiveness. They look at 5 states: Ohio, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, and Montana. In this era of tight state and local finances, this argument can gain some political traction. If you need to prepare yourself, read more or download the report. posted by Ed | Valuable data available... SBA has released some valuable data sets for EDPros interested in economic analysis. They include state and metro level data on firm size and dynamic changes. This type of information is critical to defining the scope of a BR+E program. The data is easily downloaded in Excel format. Go Michael Porter's Cluster mapping project has also released data for the year 2000. For a subscription of $250 a year, EDPros can download data. You can reach the cluster mapping project on their home page. Go Explore the free sections of the site first. You may not need much beyond that. If you want to explore in depth, get a subscription and some smart interns. Forget hiring a consultant to teach you about clusters. (I have yet to see a cluster report by a consultant -- including Porter -- that is worth the money. Disclosure: I have done one, but I didn't think much of it, so I don't do them anymore.) posted by Ed | Can SBDC's become more entrepreneurial? Pennsylvania's network of 15 Small Business Development Centers are proposing to move into a more aggressive entrepreneurial network. It's a bid to expand state support for the SBDC's. Read more. Go To learn more about your state's SBDC network, go here. posted by Ed | Promoting the Creative Class... Monday, January 27, 2003 Richard Florida has been relentlessly promoting his concept of the Creative Class. Last week, at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Florida announced that a national summit on the creative class will convene in Memphis on May 1-2. Why Memphis? Because, it seems, the city has embraced his ideas. In contrast, in Pittsburgh, his adopted home town, Florida is having difficulty getting support for a research institute he wants to establish. Read more. I admit I'm skeptical of Florida's merchandising. I find little in Florida's work that has not already been said by Jane Jacobs (who taught us about the economy of cities 30+ years ago) and Peter Drucker (who taught us about "knowledge workers" 15+ years ago). posted by Ed | Here's an entrepreneurship report helpful to EDPros A new report underlines the growing trend that entrepreneurship is spreading, but points out that EDPros need to do a better job promoting these initiatives to skeptical politicans looking for a "quick fix". The report explore entrepreneurial initiatives in Maine, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Read more. Or, download the report. posted by Ed | Download this... EDPros need to stress the economic importance of education to their communities. Here's a valuable poster that's free to download from www.postsecondary.org Grab it anytime you are speaking in front of educators or students. Go posted by Ed | Putnam provides a benchmark web site for smaller communities If you are an EDPro in a small community, your web site (if you have one) should be at least as good at Putnam, Connecticut. Learn some background. Go. Putnam is a town of 9,000 people in the northeast corner of the state. An intern with the town's Economic Development Commission, Kartik Patel, developed the site. The site is well designed and presented. While the graphics do not show the fingerprints of a professional designer, that does not matter much, as long as the information is clear and easily accessible. Here are some important features: +The home page integrates economic development marketing with town news for residents. +The site includes easy-to-read maps. The maps offer a good selection of regional, local, and town center views. +The economic and demographic information provides a clear and concise profile of Putnam. +The section on the industrial park starts with an aerial view, always helpful to orient visitors. It includes a lot map to let you know what is available. +The pull down menus are based on a freeware program, Coolmenus. You do not have to spend a lot to get good results. Putnam's EDPro, Norman MacNeill, director of Economic & Community Development, has shown the way. Use Putnam's site map to plan your own web site. Use a similar basic, simple design. Fill it with clear, important content. Find an intern or student who can design the site. (In Putnam's case, Kartik is obvously smart with a good eye and a clear head.) posted by Ed | Iowa governor proposes a new investment fund Sunday, January 26, 2003 Iowa's governor is proposing a $500 million fund to accelerate the development of life sciences and advanced manufacturing in his state. Patterned after the successful Vison Iowa (which targeted community development), the Iowa Values Fund will be geared to leveraging private sector investment. Iowa's community development program invested $225 million in public funds and triggered about $2 billion in private investment. Learn more. Go posted by Ed | EDA: And the winner is... Saturday, January 25, 2003 The spring awards season has begun, and the Economic Development Administration will not be left out. They want to recognize economic development innovation. Here's a suggestion: Why don't they hold also hold a contest to redesign the EDA web site? It's got the look and feel of Ms. Jones' 4th grade geography class. Even more interesting, they have no interactive way for EDPros to make nominations. Worse yet, the only way you can learn about the award program is to sit there and download a 4.5 MB brochure. Even with high speed Internet connections this takes a while. Who has the time? As a service to the EDPro community, I have reduced the size of the EDA brochure to a little over 1 MB. You can download it here. Go We can compress it even more by zipping the file, but this is good enough. posted by Ed | Benchmarks on the size of your small business economy for BR+E programs Research in economic development is is a generally sorry state. Most reports are written by academics, for academics. It's often hard to squeeze these reports for practical insights that EDPros can use. One surprising source, though, is the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration. They provide some useful state profiles of the small business economy. These enable you to get some benchmarks on the size of the small business economy in your state. You can use the state figures as rules of thumb for your region. While academics may wince at the practice, it's good enough to help you start defining the scope of your retention and expansion programs. Download your state report. Go posted by Ed | In education, focus on a few clear messages EDPros will confront the consequences of mediocre educational performance...complaints by employers about underskilled, unreliable workers. Wading into the morass of education reform is a daunting challenge. Everyone blames everyone else. Employers blame teachers. Teachers blame parents. Parents blame administrators. And administrators blame politicians. So it goes in an endless cycle. EDPros should not throw up our hands. Instead, we need to focus on simple, clear messages: For example, early childhood education for all children. Every child needs to read and comprehend well by the fourth grade. High school is no longer a ticket to the middle class. And every child needs a K-14 career plan. Last week, Cailfornia's Senate Select Committee on Central Valley Economic Development held a hearing to explore why some high poverty schools perform so well. Research has shown that these schools can perform well when they follow a few basic guidelines. Read more. Go The hearing was based on a report by Pacific Research Institute. Download the report. posted by Ed | A message from Comdex: Grow your own Friday, January 24, 2003 A Tennessee EDPro came back from Comdex with three prospects and a message: "Let's grow our own." Read more. Go posted by Ed | Iowa builds rural entrepreneurship We've entered the Age of Network Capitalism, and that puts a premium on entrepreneurial skills. But how do you build and support these skills in rural areas? Iowa's rural accelerator program has a good approach. Developed by the University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center, It involves three components. The first is a simple 2 hour overview of business concepts and skills. The second is a more detailed training called Fast Trac™. (This component is supported by a grant from the Department of Agriculture.) Fast Trac™ Tech is a curriculum developed by the Kaufman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership of Kansas City, MO. that has been used to train over 40,000 entrepreneurs in 150 cities across the United States. Learn more. The last component is on-line support network. Based on a membership model, this on-line approach builds connections among entrepreneurs. It's free-standing and potentially self-supporting. You can view the network at www.myentre.net. A very strong feature of the site is the ability for members to have live chats with counsellors. As a small business owner, would I pay $4 a month for this service? You bet. The three components of the rural accelerator program makes sense for two reasons. First, they are integrated and comprehensive. Second, unlike standalone programs like SCORE and most SBDCs, they move entrepreneurs toward building their own networks. Learn more. Go posted by Ed | Missouri will train dislocated workers in entrepreneurship Thursday, January 23, 2003 The Missouri Department of Economic Development is promoting the idea of entrepreneurial training for dislocated workers. Using the Fast Trac™ training developed by The Kaufman Foundation, to provide dislocated workers with training to start their own businesses. Learn more. Go Learn about the Fast Trac™ curriculum here. Last fall, the Department of Trade and Economic Development in Minnesota released an encouraging report on this approach. You can download Minnesota's report here. Or read the summary by the National Governors Association here. posted by Ed | Monthly partnership meetings build communications The first rule of economic development is to stop doing stupid things. Rule Number Two: get people talking honestly to one another. (Both rules are harder to follow than we think.) So, some of the most effective economic development innovations are the most sensible. Here's an example. Lexington, MA business and politrical leaders have organized the Lexington Business Partnership. Meeting monthly, the Partnership enables business and town leaders to exchange ideas on taxes, town business regulations, and other policy issues. Learn some useful details on how the Partnership operates. Go posted by Ed | Iowa launches Community Vitality Center Here's another innovation out of Iowa, a Community Vitality Center. Funded by the Department of Agriculture and housed at Iowas State University, the Center will undertake a number of initiatives to stimulate business development. The Board of Regents approved the Center this week. Center staff and ISU students will work with leaders in small and medium-size towns to establish networks that improve Iowa's competitiveness for attracting business and residents. The Center, proposed by ISU Extension and Positively Iowa, a non-profit group, is already underway. The Center's governing Board has approved five projects. The first three projects are related to the theme of Community Vitality and Entrepreneurship. The first project involves a series public deliberation forums called Community Conversations that were held at 10 regional sites across the state last fall. Local citizens and leaders who participated in these meetings are examining 3 different approaches that communities may take in supporting and assisting entrepreneurs and startup businesses. Learn more from a recent article. Go posted by Ed | Building rural entrepreneur networks We've entered the Age of Network Capitalism, and that puts a premium on entrepreneurial skills. But how do you build and support these skills in rural areas? Iowa's rural accelerator program has a good approach. Developed by the University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center, It involves three components. The first is a simple 2 hour overview of business concepts and skills. The second is a more detailed training called Fast Trac™. (This component is supported by a grant from the Department of Agriculture.) Fast Trac™ Tech is a curriculum developed by the Kaufman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership of Kansas City, MO. that has been used to train over 40,000 entrepreneurs in 150 cities across the United States. Learn more. The last component is on-line support network. Based on a membership model, this on-line approch builds connections among entrepreneurs. You can view the network at www.myentre.net. This approach makes sense for two reasons. First, it's integrated and comprehensive. Second, unlike standalone programs like SCORE and most SBDCs, it moves entrepreneurs toward building their own networks. Learn more. Go posted by Ed | It's time to rethink technical education Wednesday, January 22, 2003 If you're like me, most EDPros are guilty of carrying around outdated notions of technical education in their heads. The truth is that technical education is now the ticket to the middle class. A high school diploma no longer makes the cut. Here's a good article to start update your thinking. Go posted by Ed | Northeast Ohio will try regional marketing Chambers of commerce in Northeast Ohio have joined to form Team NEO, a regional marketing organization. Sponsors have secured $3.4 million in commitments over three years, and they hope to secure another $3.5 million. Team Neo includes the chambers in Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown, as well as other development groups. Don't hold your breath on this one. Regional marketing efforts are the toughest type of cooperation to pull off. First, you have to promote a strong brand. There's no clear understanding of what Northeast Ohio really mens. (Team NEO sounds meaningless.) And will the participant organizations -- the Akron Chamber, for example -- do away with their own marketing efforts? I don't think so. How will existing brands integrate? Next, you have to have procedures in place to handle prospects. This is very tricky. Cooperation is all fine and dandy in the abstract. But when there's a live prospect in the room.... Who decides which sites? Is there a hand off to existing organizations? And these siting procedures only work if there is a strong sense of trust among the participants. Finally, I'm not clear on why regional business leaders chose to focus on marketing to start. Building university collaboration makes more sense initially. Or, alternatively, focus on regional coordination of infrastructure issues. Present a single voice to legislators in Columbus. In short, this effort is unlikely to build the region's innovation economy. Read more posted by Ed | Build innovation networks with business plan competitions Tuesday, January 21, 2003 Regions and states are starting to figure out that business plan competitions are good ways to build entrepreneurial networks. Here's an example from Michigan. The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest (GLEQ), a statewide business plan competition, is hosting the 3rd Annual Great Lakes Entrepreneurship Meeting. Its partners include the New Enterprise Forum, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Great Lakes, the Eastern Michigan University Center for Entrepreneurship, the Ann Arbor IT Zone and the Michigan Small Business Development Center. Entrepreneurs participating in this year's GLEC will also appear on radio. Read more. Here's another example from Pittsburgh. This is a direct, relatively low cost way to build the entrepreneurial networks you need to keep smart people in your community. There's steps you need to take in setting one up, and your best bet is to talk to people who are already doing it. posted by Ed | Good starting point for rural telecomm Most EDPros don't know what a telecommunications infrastructure report looks like. Here's an example from rural Illinois. Download (Be patient: it's large at 3+ MB) The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs put this report out, and their site includes some very useful resources for rural communities. This is a good place to start to get yourself up to speed on rural telecommunications. Go For example, they have a good report on starting a telecommunications plan for your community. Go. posted by Ed | New Mexico pushes an aggressive ED agenda Governor Richardson in New Mexico promises to spend 25% of his time on economic development, and he is proposing an aggressive agenda in his State of the State address. First off, he is pushing education to the front of his economic development agenda. To improve performance, he's recommending higher pay for teachers, stronger truancy enforcement, and budget reallocations to push money out of administration and into the classroom. These are practical, focused ideas that can work. He's also got some good language on the connection between education and economic development: "...we will find ways to make certain that every child learns to read, learns math, learns the indispensable basic skills to further learning and to life itself. Improving education is a basic quality of life issue, it is part of economic development, it is part of crime prevention, is, in fact, the first priority of my administration..." In addition, he is proposing across the board income tax and capital gains tax cuts. He is also recommending: + strengthening the teaching of business and entrepreneurial skills in New Mexico schools. + strengthening incubator programs. + $3 million in tax incentives for investment and job creation -- including a tax credit of $1,000 and up for rural businesses that create jobs paying at least 110 percent of local prevailing wages. + incentives for startup technology companies, renewable energy companies and film production. + investing up to $200 million - about 2 percent of the total in the state's permanent funds - in New Mexico businesses. + $15 million to the in-plant training fund, bringing it to $20 million when combined with existing funds. + $3 million to fund a nonprofit corporation to recruit new businesses. + $9 million as a one-time expenditure to complete the funding of endowed chairs in business and technology research at the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech and New Mexico State University. + $100,000 to create an economic development commission to follow up on trade expansion with Chihuahua. + $250,000 a year for three years for a new commission charged with protecting New Mexico's four military bases. Read more. Go posted by Ed | Kansas governor connects communities and security Monday, January 20, 2003 Not surprisingly, Kansas' new governor, Kathleen Sebelius, delivered a State of the State speech short on specifics. But she made an important connection between building communities and Homeland Security. "...in today's uncertain world, one of the most effective strategies for Homeland Security is to reconnect people to each other. How much more difficult would it be for those who wish us harm to plot and act if people lived in tightly-knit, interconnected hometowns, where people knew their neighbors and took an interest in each other?" Read more. posted by Ed | New Jersey's governor pushes different ED buttons Governor McGreevey of New Jersey has proposed five important ideas to build a competitive economy: upgrade teacher skills, reduce incentives for sprawl development, unify the state's university system, better alternatives for high school students who "test out" of required courses, and a technical proficiency test for high school graduation. Here's why each idea makes sense. Upgrading teacher skills: This approach is the fastest way to improve educational performance. Reducing srawl: Sprawl costs more in infrastructure and services to support. Unified university system: Postesecondary education is critical to economic development, but too many state systems are inflexible "silos". More K-14 alternatives: We face a similar problem with secondary schools. Not enough choices are available to encourage K-14 thinking among students and parents. Technical proficiency in computer skills: Computer literacy is no longer an option for a middle class job. These ideas are controversial, so don't expect them to survive. The Governor didn't help his case by doing a poor job of framing his proposals. But at least the governor has put them on the table. Read the speech. Go posted by Ed | Some sensible ideas to build innovation.... January is the season for annual "state of the state" addresses. I'm still going through a few, and I'm finding some interesting ideas that have not been widely reported. For example, the governor of Missouri is appointing a Commission on the Future of Higher Education. This commission will make recommendations to strengthen the link between higher education and economic growth. The Commission will also identify any new funding sources for colleges and universities. In addition, the governor has called for a new alliance between businesses and our universities. He has asked leaders in higher education and in the private sector to create the Research Alliance of Missouri to coordinate research and provide more access to technology for Missouri businesses. These are sensible ideas that do not cost money. They promote, instead, better collaboration and stronger networks. Download the address. posted by Ed | Texas moving to reform statewide ED Texas is set to revamp its economic development apparatus. Under the new scheme, the governor will have new authority over economic development and new tools, including a deal-closing fund. More details should come in about two weeks. Read more.Go The critical issue: How will the new approach strike a balance between short term recruitment pressures and longer term investments in education, training and research? This reform effort follows an extensive report issued in November by The Perryman Group. Download a copy. posted by Ed | Cleveland County, NC pulls itself together... Cleveland County, North Carolina is located in the western part of the state on the South Carolina border. It's a drive to the technology "hot spots". About 100,000 people live in the county, though, so it's not small. (Shelby is the largest city.) Employment has been shrinking at about 2% a year, largely because of the erosion of the textile industry. Unemployment is about 10%. Look closer at Cleveland County and you see an economic development strategy that makes sense. They have figured out that their core economic asset is brainpower, not land and certainly not "life style" (whatever that means). Two years ago, county leaders formed the Job Development Task Force to bring together the different economic development and workforce development efforts in the county. Now the task force includes the chamber, the workforce board, the community colleges, and others. Not only have they done a good job bringing people together, they have also worked hard to manage expectations, a key tactic in and economic development strategy. Learn more. Go posted by Ed | Reversing the brain drain... How do you keep the best and brightest in your community, especially if you have a college or university? Make the campus "sticky" by adding a business incubator. Learn how Knoxville and the University of Tennesee are doing it. Go posted by Ed | Indiana's plan stumbles at the starting gate Governor Frank O'Bannon's efforts to refocus Inidiana's economic strategy is off to a shaky start. With Energize Indiana, the governor proposes to invest in a 10-year, $1.25 billion initiative to jump-start Indiana's ailing economy through investments in economic development, education and work-force development. The most controversial component of his plan is to issue bonds, secured by tobacco settlement funds. O'Bannon has proposed leveraging future tobacco money to pay for much of Energize Indiana. The public debate is already muddled, but it shouldn't be. The issue of "pay me now, or pay me later" turns on two questions: What is the present value of future cash streams from tobacco? Second, what is the return on investment from investing the money now? My conclusion after looking at these two questions: O'Bannon's proposal makes sense. But don't count on see it any time soon. The House Speaker has already divided the package up into 15 different bills that will be heard in seven committees. The Ways and Means Committee is supposed to reassemble the pieces. And O'Bannon has failed to market his ideas effectively...starting with his "brand": "Energize Indiana". posted by Ed | Albany and Austin are forging closer ties Friday, January 17, 2003 Albany, N.Y. business leaders are heading to Austin. Their purpose: To learn about the opportunities that will be brought by the arrival of Sematech, a consortium of microchip manufacturers. Sematech plans to build a research and development facility at the State University at Albany. Albany business leaders expect to see an economic development boom, much as Austin did when Sematech located a research and development facility there in 1988. We'll see more of this is the type of regional cooperation in the future. Business leaders in innovation-led economies do not see economic development as a "zero-sum" game. Instead, they understand that prosperity comes from balancing collaboration and competition. Read more. posted by Ed | Global pressures will continue to intensify...Singapore closes free trade deal with U.S. Thought the North American Free Trade agreement changed things? Just wait. The U.S. has concluded our first free trade deal with an Asian country, Singapore. It's scheduled to go into effect in January, 2004. Here's what will happen: As Singapore costs go down as a result of the FTA, US demand for Singapore produced products will increase. This means more US investment will flow into Singapore, and and a new cycle of higher Singapore exports to the US. will begin. Competition will intensify. Singapore, which traditionally has been strong in attracting multinational corporations to its shores, has also stepped up its efforts in recent years to coax start-ups and VC firms to set up shop. So it's not just cheaper labor. Higher end technology jobs in the US will also be threatened. posted by Ed | Iowa is building a new marketing partnership The Iowa Association of Business and Industry is proposing a public-private partnership that would have the authority to market the state and attract new businesses while retaining existing companies. Governor Tom Vilsack said earlier this week he supported promoting statewide economic development with a $500 million fund over the next five years that would be managed by a public-private partnership. The governor's economic economic development effort, which he called the Iowa Values Fund, is different. He wants to make more productinve investments. He has set a goal of creating 100 new high-tech companies in the next five years using his new fund. He feels tha initial investment from the Iowa Values Fund should be dedicated to making Iowa the life sciences leader in protein development and production. Learn more. posted by Ed | Broadband access surged in 2002 Thursday, January 16, 2003 EDPros have another reason to move aggressively to broadband and the Internet. According to a new report by Nielsen/NetRatings, broadband access in the United States surged in 2002. The company Wednesday reported that the total number of U.S. users who accessed the Web via high-speed connections to more than 33.6 million in Dec. 2002. While broadband saw its fortunes rising, narrowband connections began to lose ground in 2002, declining 10 percent during the course of the year to about 74.4 million users by the end of December. Another industry report (the Shop.org and BizRate.com 2002 Online Holiday Mood Study) says that more than 80 percent of online retailers saw revenue increases of at least 10 percent this holiday season and 31 percent saw increases of at least 50 percent. The e-business growth comes despite the relatively dismal reports about holiday sales in real-world stores. posted by Ed | It's time for EDPros to focus on educational performance Wednesday, January 15, 2003 We live in a world in wjhich brainpower drives economic development. So, as EDPros, we're going to have to get comfortable with improving educational performance. A recent report by UNICEF paints one part of the big picture. The percentage of 15-year- olds who couldn't handle basic reading tasks varied from about 6 percent in South Korea to more than 26 percent in Portugal. For the United States, the proportion of 15-year-olds not achieving basic reading literacy was 18 percent, according to the report. In math, the United States fared even worse. Almost 40 percent of American 8th graders were unable to use basic math knowledge in "straightforward situations," the report says, compared with fewer than 12 percent in South Korea and Japan, and 23 percent in Canada. Download a copy of the report. Go posted by Ed | Reforming workforce systems...Arizona gives it a try Tuesday, January 14, 2003 Arizona is revamping its workforce development system. These reforms include the common sense steps that too many other states are ignoring. For example, Arizona is: + Providing memberships for all 16 work-force boards in the Arizona Association for Economic Development. + Upgrading the skills of those working on the front lines of work-force centers. + Following a master plan that's clear and concise (not like most workforce "mumbo jumbo" plans). + Consolidating workforce centers and repositioning them to provide skills beyond the entry level. + Developing a common brand: Arizona Workforce Connection. The fact is that most state and local workforce systems have been remarkably resistent to change. They are still largely captive to the provider organizations and include very little employer guidance. They provide a confusing array of weak programs. They use measurements that are complex and confusing. And they still look at the world from the wrong end of the binoculars. That is, they think of target populations instead of competencies and skill sets. Read more about Arizona. Go posted by Ed | News flash...There's no easy economic development formula for rural counties Monday, January 13, 2003 Nebraska researchers looked at the economic performance of similar rural counties. Their conclusion: there is no shortcut, no standard formula for prosperity in these rural counties. Location matters. Producing the right commodities at the right time matters. Manufacturing matters. Broadband appears to matter. But above all, the researchers suggest, leadership matters a lot. Download the report. Go posted by Ed | New report on Illinois economic development A Better Deal for Illinois", a report critical of Illinois' traditional approaches to economic development will be released Tuesday. Download the report. (Here's a bone head move..."A better deal for Illinois" is also the name of a campaign by the gaming industry to protest higher taxes. The lesson: before you decide on a final name for your report or campaign, run an Internet search.) posted by Ed | Richmond, Indiana builds its innovation economy Sometimes I find the most innovative economic development thinking in the smallest places. Take the case of Richmond, Indiana. They are taking steps to build an innovation economy that few other larger regional economies have taken. First of all, they have figured out the connection between education and economic development. They are taking local tax funds that are dedicated to economic development (called EDIT funds in Indiana) and providing scholarships to high school students who agree to continue their studies at local colleges and universities. Next, they are combining their Main Street program with a plan to implement incubators. They are partnering with Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The five school boards in the county have met together (for the first time) and agreed to focus their efforts on reading and literacy. Most impressive, though, Richmond is taking steps to build an integrated K-16 guided by a county-wide learning corporation. This is a commmunity that clearly understands that the dynamics of economic development have shifted. Read more. Go posted by Ed | Think you can escape globalization? Think again... Sunday, January 12, 2003 Globalization is hitting South Caroliuna hard. See how one Upstate county is responding with more focused marketing efforts. Go posted by Ed | Oregon's new governor listens...and learns the importance of education Friday, January 10, 2003 Oregon's Governor-elect Ted Kulongoski recently made a whirlwind tour to Silicon Valley, a combination business recruitment and business retention trip. One important lesson: High-tech executives are primarily concerned about Oregon's cash-strapped public education system. No company wants to bring facilities and employees to a location with poor schools, the governor-elect concluded. Read more. Go posted by Ed | Iowa universities frame themselves as catalysts for economic development Over the past two years, the Iowa Legislature has cut the post secondary education budget by $125 million. Now the Iowa Board of Regents is trying to "connect the dots" for state legislators who just don't get it. In a report issued yesterday, the Board of Regents is trying to explain the impact the state's three public universities have on Iowa's economy. This report provides the type of education that state legislators need. It not only outlines the direct employment impact, but also highlights the impact of research and new business development. As economic developers, we need to form alliances with postsecondary educators to expand state investments in higher education. Read more. Go posted by Ed | The challenge of globalization in the Carolinas Thursday, January 09, 2003 The Charlotte Observer has completed a year-long look at the impact of globalization on the economy in the Carolinas. The main point: Global competition tends to strengthen urban economies and weaken rural economies. State legislators need to retool their incentive packages that are geared to luring manufacturers to rural locations. The article notes that the challenge for elected officials is making sure people in rural communities don't fall further behind. But trends in manufacturing will make that difficult. The union-free labor, low cost power, railroads and extensive rural road networks that once lured manufacturing to the region are less valuable to modern manufacturers. Here's a good quote: "The nature of contemporary manufacturing is small, more flexible companies that have to work within fairly dense networks of suppliers and vendors, as opposed to the kind of thing you see out in rural North Carolina -- a big box that uses repetitive skills," said Alfred Stuart, a retired professor of geography at UNC Charlotte and co-author of the N.C. Atlas. "Those are dinosaurs." Read more. Go posted by Ed | ED strategy web sites need interactivity Wednesday, January 08, 2003 Some EDPros get involved in managing a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). (Supported by the Economic Development Administration, the CEDS process focuses on trying to figure out a strategy for smaller, mostly rural economies.) Now, we are starting to see CEDS with web sites. Here's an example from Cleveland and Gaston counties in North Carolina. Visit the home page. Go Unfortunately, there is not enough interactivity built into the site. This site will only work if it actively engages citizens in discussions on critical issues. The core interactive feature is a bulletin board. But building on online community involves more than putting up a bulletin board. There needs to be an active moderator to build the community. (In addition, the web site needs some better navigation. While the sign up is fairly easy, the transition from the New Member page to the bulletin board is not intuitive.) Here are some suggestions for improvement. 1. Redesign the home page to focus on critical issues. Right now, there is very little on the home page to "hook" a reader. 2. Shorten the home page and move some of the more detailed explaination of CEDS into the inside pages. 3. Add an e-mail newsletter sign-up on the home page. 4. Create a schedule of on-line events. posted by Ed | Durham Tech provides a model for customized training Friday, January 03, 2003 Increasingly, economic development decisions will be driven by who can provide customized, "just-in-time" training to employers. That's why Durham Tech is a good model for EDPros to know about. North Carolina has a strong technical education system, and Durham Tech has developed a niche in high tech training. They've developed a strong reputation for working with company officials to design a customized training program that meets the company~{!/~}s needs and the needs of employees. Take the case of AW, a Japanese automatic transmission manufacturer and Toyota supplier. When AW committed to coming to Durham County in 1998, Durham Tech and N.C. Community College system officials traveled to Japan to learn the company~{!/~}s training requirements. The company now leases space at Durham Tech's campus. Instead of paying rent, the company makes a $15,000 annual contribution to the college foundation. Read more. Go posted by Ed | South Dakota takes an innovative approach to science education Thursday, January 02, 2003 In an innovative workforce development initiative, South Dakota has put two science labs on the road. The labs provide access to new equipment for the state's K-12 schools. Each 53-foot trailer holds advanced science equipment for student experiments related to the environment, human body, biotechnology, scientific measurements, light, and energy. The initial project cost: the project's cost amounted to less than $600,000 for the scientific equipment, two trailers and two semi-trucks. The South Dakota Future Fund will provide $400,000 in funding to operate the two labs until June 2005, allowing schools to use the equipment for free. South Dakota employers contribute to the Future Fund to promote workforce development in the state. Read more. Go The South Dakota Future Fund also recently help finance plans for a technology incubator in Sioux Falls. Learn more. posted by Ed | Maryland's manufacturers push for strategic plan Maryland's manufacturers want the state's new governor to develop a strategic plan for manufacturing. Some of the issues cited by the manufacturers -- workforce development, better transportation access -- are familiar. However, high speed internet access is now a critical factor for competitive manufacturing in rural areas. Equally important, the state's manufacturers believe they need to update their image. As Robert Barnes, a manager at Northrup Grumman, commented, "Manufacturing today is not necessarily smokestacks and dirty hands. Manufacturing is technology. Manufacturers really need to step up and help themselves" by improving their image. Read more. Go posted by Ed | |
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