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Writers cluster forms in Appalachia
Thursday, March 31, 2005 A writers cluster is coming together in Roanoke, VA. The Appalachian Authors Guild will sell its books through an on-line bookstore. Read more. The Internet makes all this possible. In addition to an e-commerce capability, the Guild's web site will have a book club, online chats with the authors, a featured author of the month, author profiles and a gift registry. posted by Ed | Workforce partnership in Texas Here's a sensible collaboration. North East Texas Workforce Development Board is partnering with Northeast Texas Community College and local economic development councils to present a summit on manufacturing. Read more. Too few economic development organizations partner with their workforce boards. At the federal level, economic development funds are getting cut. Meanwhile, workforce boards have flexible funding sources to support these types of initiatives. Bringing in postsecondary schools as partners creates other opportunities to begin knitting together stronger workforce development networks. posted by Ed | Buy local food In the years ahead, we're likely going to be seeing more of these types of initiatives: Southeast Iowa Buy Fresh. These initiatives promote rural development, value added agriculture, and stronger community connections. Read more. If you are heading in this direction, visit the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks here. posted by Ed | Texas entrepreneurship summit Texas held its first Entrepreneurship Summit. The day long session focused on rural entrepreneurship. Read more. posted by Ed | Memphis and the life sciences A site selection consultant has given Memphis a thumbs up as a location for life science companies. Read more. posted by Ed | City-county merger in Murfreesboro Like tax reform, city/county mergers are popular to talk about, but difficult to pull off. The talk is especially popular in the Midwest. Read more. In places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo interest is driven by a public cost structure that is out of line with the underlying economy: too many governmental units sucking up too much overhead. Think of it this way. We need a certain amount of "social overhead" to run our communities. That's what our tax dollars provide. But when the social overhead gets out of line with the economy's underlying ability to generate wealth, relative tax rates rise. Business leadership tends to focus narrowly on tax rates, rather than thinking more comprehensively about the cost structures that drive these rates. Here's what's happening with the effort to combine Rutherford County and the city of Murfreesboro in Tennessee. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: New database site for CT, MA The Connecticut Economic Resource Center has launched a new web site for industrial real estate in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Read more. Visit the site. posted by Ed | Automation Alley launches international initiative Automation Alley in Michigan is a good example of collaborative economic development. They are launching a new initiative targeted at foreign companies. Learn more. This initiative complements another important international program, AA's Export Center. Too few economic development organizations provide export support for firms. In contrast to Europe, Canada, and Australia, U.S. economic development organizations spend relatively little time on export development. Yet, in many markets, that's where the growth is. See, for example, this seminar on exporting to China. Read more. posted by Ed | Corzine proposes research agenda for NJ On the eve of the launch of his gubernatorial campaign, Sen. Jon Corzine announced his plan to bolster research and development in New Jersey. He proposes to expand financing and partnerships with the state's research universities. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Illinois Entrepreneurship Network Illinois has launched a new web site to support entrepreneurs. You can read about it here. Or, visit the site. The idea of an entrepreneur network makes excellent sense, but the home page is rather poor. A message from the governor may be important to the political types, but it wastes precious space. I would have started with this page. You need to state your value proposition clearly and quickly: How can the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network save entrepreneurs time and money? posted by Ed | North Carolina moves ahead with defense incubator Building off a successful idea in maryland, North Carolina is moving ahead with plans for an incubator for defense technologies. The Defense Technology Innovation Center follows the model of the Chesapeake Innovation Center in Annapolis, MD. This facility is a business accelerator for homeland security technologies. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | 7i in Western North Carolina Western Carolina University is hosting an interesting forum, called i7. The seven "i's": imagination, ideas, insight, ingenuity, innovation, invention and inspiration. Read more. WCU has launched a Millennial Initiative that includes a regional economic development strategy. The forum makes some interesting, and important word choices. Panels will be called "strands". These reflect important conversational threads that will be important to the future of the region. Equally important, the university is crossing old jurisdictional boundaries. Philosophy, arts, health care, and tourism will be part of the event. Why is this important? In the future, economic development will not be so much about "things" (convention centers, industrial parks). Economic development is increasingly a matter of managing complex learning through a civic process of public participation and leadership direction. In a knowledge economy, the communities and regions that can engage in complex learning will thrive. They will learn faster. They will spot opportunities faster. And they will act faster. We need to think and act in new ways, as we move from industrial forms of capitalism (with its emphasis on managerial command and control systems) to economic systems based on networks. WCU's 7i Future Forum embraces this dynamic. posted by Ed | Momentum Mississippi needs help Mississippi's ambitious economic development plan, Momentum Mississippi, doesn't have enough momentum to get out of the state legislature. The initiative updates the state's incentives and makes changes to the state tax code. But it is now stalled. Read more. You can learn more about Momentum Mississippi here. posted by Ed | Using PR to build a brand Staunton, VA has the right idea. Publicity, not advertising, represents the most efective way to build a brand when you have a restricted budget. In Staunton's case, they have successfully placed articles in publications like Southern Living Magazine, The Washington Post, and The London Times. Read more. Many great brands are built with PR, not advertising. Google does almost no advertising, but is frequently featured in business magazines and the general press. These articles carry valuable credibility. Other companies like Google include Apple, Starbucks and Ikea. These companies are relatively light purchasers of advertising but heavy proponents of PR. Other examples of brands built on PR: The Body Shop, Linux, Palm, Quicken, JetBlue. You can learn more from The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The head EDPro in Bristol, CT wants his money back. In 2003, the Bristol invested $15,000 in a telemarketing company, iworx. The company is based in Scarborough, ME. It supposedly walked out on its deal, and now the city wants its incentive money back. Read more. Don't hold your breath. It looks like Bristol can kiss its fifteen grand good-bye. A little checking reveals that this company sells (or at the time sold) weight loss cream, called gel-a-thin. iworx advertised gel-a-thin in magazines (like Cosmopolitan) and the Internet. The advertisements directed consumers to dial an "800" number to order the product. According to the advertisements, gel-a-thin is a "breakthrough topical gel" that "emulsifies, shrinks fat on contact." The cream "penetrates the skin and emulsifies fat". A one month supply costs $59.95. I know so much about this, because its all in a complaint issued against the company by the Federal Trade Commission. Learn more. For some entertaining reading, you can download the complaint here. It turns out that the defendant in the FTC action was also the target of a Warning Letter by the Food and Drug Administration for another product. With this product, the defendant allegedly claimed that '“Skin Zinc Spray' is useful in treating psoriasis, eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, and dandruff". Learn more. There's another tip-off that this company is shaky: It's web site has no products. Visit the site. The major lesson: If you want to invest public money in companies, do your homework. The process is called "due diligence". posted by Ed | The relentless offshore challenge Here's a good article on the next wave of "offshoring". In a global economy, there is no place to hide. Read more. My own view is that this article falls into the trap of over-estimating the short-term impact, while not exploring the profound long term implications. I started out in economic development after serving as a corporate consultant in the early 1980's...during the first wave of outsourcing. Companies have a tendency of focusing only on cost factors when they outsource. Comparing labor costs is easy. They do not have the accounting systems established that enable them to capture the full systems costs. So for example, on paper you can see how software engineers in India beat software engineers in New York every time. But outsourcing also carries hidden costs and increased risks that accounting systems rarely reveal. posted by Ed | Regional thinking in Hampton Roads Tuesday, March 29, 2005 Hampton Roads has worked hard to develop a regional approach to economic development. Here's the view from the new head of the Hampton Roads Partnership. Read more. posted by Ed | Expert on base closures: Watch out The Defense Department estimates that 24% of U.S. military bases and installations are no longer needed. According to an expert on base closures, no facility is safe. Here's a good review of this situation six weeks before the Pentagon releases its list. Read more. posted by Ed | MA task force calls for more higher ed resources In an impressive reversal of prevailing public policy trends, a Task Force of the Massachusetts Senate calls for major increases in state investment in higher education. Read more. Most states are shrinking their commitment to public higher education, and tuitions are increasing. Generally, the increases in financial aid have not kept pace with tuition increases. Overall, the chances that ninth graders will continue on to college is declining. ("Chance for college" refers to the likelihood of 9th graders graduating from high school within four years and directly entering an institution of higher education.) You can read the report on-line from this page. posted by Ed | Michigan's government IT strategy In an economy driven by knowledge, innovation is no longer the sole province of the private sector. Government can innovate, and the results are lower costs, improved service, and higher productivity. Michigan's Governor Granholm is deeply involved in moving the state government toward higher levels of performance by deploying information technology. Read more. One tangible outcome: streamlined permitting for business. According to Governor Granholm: "We did this whole value stream mapping with the private sector to make our permitting process more rapid and streamlined. We are proclaiming ourselves fastest in the nation as a result of our IT efforts. When businesses in a legislator's district say it used to take 18 months to get a permit and now it takes just 22 days, that's the best kind of promotion we can offer them." posted by Ed | The changing face of manufacturing In New Jersy, most of the the large manufacturing plants are idle. In their place, smaller facilities make everything from medical instruments to pizza sauce. Today's New Jersey manufacturers tend to be niche players that employ anywhere from 25 to 100 workers. Learn more. posted by Ed | Anatomy of a Deal (gone bad) In 1995, Virginia shelled out $1 million to get a Gateway plant. But then the company ran into trouble. Despite efforts to be flexible, Hampton, VA ended up getting the short end of the stick. The company continued to cash in on incentives even as it was laying off workers. Here's a good story of what can go wrong with incentive deals. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, March 26, 2005 Here are the best artciles from the past week: Focus should be on fiscal responsibility, Rubin says Consumer prices rise; inflation picking up Where the jobs are Orders for durable goods climb 0.3 in February Consumer Prices Rise Most in 4 Months Federal Deficit Is Greatest Threat to U.S. Economy, NABE Says Greenspan-Fix Social Security to protect economy Vital Signs for the Week of Mar. 28 Dollar Has Biggest Weekly Gain in 11 Against Both Euro and Yen Global View: Alan's perilous poker game Significant jump in government's most closely watched gauge of inflation Biotech's Fountain Of Youth The Busuiness Week 50 posted by Ed | Wisconsin considers small business training Two Wisconsin legislators have drafted a proposal to expand training assistance to small firms. The bill would shift the responsibilities for training from the state Department of Commerce to the state's technical college system. Read more. It's a smart move. At the same time, As I pointed out in the M-TEC article below, we need to be coming up with new finding models for this type of training. posted by Ed | Connecting young professionals in Duluth Duluth, MN is working to make its region sticky for young professionals. The chamber is sponsoring the Young Professionals Association. As the article notes, these young professional groups are springing up all over the country. Read more. This type of initiative should be standard programming for Chambers. Young professionals are often unlikely to get involved in the traditional positions and programming that chambers offer. The challenge is to adjust membership initiatives to respond to this shifting market. posted by Ed | Entrepreneurship networks in Kalamazoo Kalamazoo is a good region to watch. They have been building their networks for innovation and entrepreneurship. Here's a short listing of what they are doing. Read more. posted by Ed | Building a West Texas energy cluster Texas is moving forward with its cluster-based strategy, and folks in West Texas want to build a stronger energy cluster. And it's not just petroleum. Learn more. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Kansas is tightening oversight of projects that use Sales Tax and Revenue bonds, known as STAR bonds. Legislators are upset by what they see as abuses of the current system. Read more. In an effort to save a cellophane plant, the Kansas legislature has also passed legislation top provide $1 million in incentives over three or four years. The bill sets a dangerous precedent of earmarking the income tax paid by the plant's employees. Read more. In North Carolina, the governor's economic development adviser is defending the One North Carolina Fund. Read more. In South Dakota, the state is adding two more business loan programs. Read more. Here are some details on Iowa's recent deals. Read more. Illinois is offering $6.6 million in incentives to auto suppliers. Read more. In Michigan, the governor wants to use incentives to keep engineering graduates in the state. Read more. posted by Ed | Research Alliance of Missouri The Georgia Research Alliance has been a successful model for building a state-wide research and innovation infrastructure. Universities in Missouri have established Research Alliance of Missouri (RAM), a statewide network of universities and research institutions. RAM the now working to bridge the gap between industry and universities by implementing a standard agreement that define appropriate relationships in a research project. Read morehere and here. posted by Ed | Managing growth Residents around Dover, NH are focusing on practical approaches to managing sprawl. They want to build high quality village and urban centers. Read more. The trick is that the solution will only work if local officials cooperate. In the web site of the Stafford Regional Planning Commission, I found an useful citizen's guide to managing growth. You can download it here. posted by Ed | Building Arizona's bioscience cluster Arizona has a new report that proposes a pathway to building a stronger bioscience cluster in the state. Read more. You can download the report here. The report, although interesting, misses the big opportunity: moving to entirely new models of health care. Places like Arizona have advantages over more well-established medical regions. Newer regions do not have the same entrenched interests, and their institutions are not burdened by the same cost structures. In a word, they can be more nimble. Yet, to take full advantage of this opportunity, leaders in the newer medical regions must develop "leap-frog" business models of patient care. Trying simply to replicate what's in San Diego, Boston or the Bay Area is a fool's game. (In this sense, I agree with the 2002 Brookings report, Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S.. The report cautions against expecting too much from biotech investments.) The real opportunity in health care for emerging regions is not developing biotech, but innovating with new approaches to patient care. posted by Ed | Constructing a spec building In Indiana, local governments can finance economic development investments with an Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT). Vigo County, IN is using EDIT funds to construct a spec building. Here are the details of the project. posted by Ed | Michigan's M-TEC program Michigan's M-TEC program earns high marks with manufacturers. As one manufacturers notes: "It offers custom-designed training for our business. There's no other place to get that." Yet, despite its success, M-TEC struggles for continued financial support. Read more. The program may need a new financial model that focuses on a broader sharing of the costs and benefits. So, for example, M-TEC could operate on a executive recruitment model where companies pay M-TEC for successful placements. posted by Ed | Evaluating life sciences for North Mississippi North Mississippi is trying to build life sciences. To help out, the TVA has commissioned a study from site consultants to evaluate the region. Read more about what they are doing. posted by Ed | Kentucky examines local taxes Friday, March 25, 2005 As part of the recently passed state tax reform, Kentucky has established a commission to examine local tax structures. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home When politics gets too close to economic development, bad things happen. Take the case of the mayor of Toledo. Facing a re-election bid, he has launched a new ad campaign -- funded in part with public money -- proclaiming that "Toledo Works". The logo for the campaign includes the words, "Jack Ford, Mayor". There's even a web site: www.toledoworks.org. Visit the site and the first thing you see is a picture of the mayor and a long letter. From a high point in 2000, the Toledo metro area has lost 18,000 jobs, but you wouldn't think it to look at the mayor's web site: all the graphs are going up. You can even download your own Toledo Works sign, for whatever that's worth. And you have to chuckle at the limp effort at interactivity to this site, a request for testimonials. (Send in your stories, boys and girls.) Politicizing economic development in this way does no one any good. posted by Ed | Another report on U.S. innovation In the past few months, we have seen a series of reports on U.S. innovation. Here's the latest one. TechNet and the Semiconductor Industry Association released a report on the deteriorating position of U.S. innovation. TechNet is a lobbying group made up of CEOs of high tech companies. The Semiconductor Industry Association represents chip-makers. According to John Doerr, a TechNet founder and noted venture capitalist: "The countries that create the best environment for innovation will be the economic powers of tomorrow." Read more. You can also download the report. posted by Ed | Georgia's Agriculture Center of Innovation Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Georgia continues its strategy of building innovation centers around the state. This week, the Georgia Department of Economic Development appointed a new director for the Agriculture Center of Innovation. Read more. You can learn more about the center here and here. You can also review a concept paper on the centers of innovation initiative. The focus of the policy is to promote innovation in Georgia's mid-sized cities. posted by Ed | More on early child care and economic development More state political leaders are connecting early child care with economic development. A week ago, Iowa's governor came out with a plan. Read more. More recently, Arizona's governor rejected a budget passed by the legislature in part because there was not enough money to expand all day kindergarten. Now, Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton makes the connection. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | Louisiana update If you are curious about what is happening in Louisiana, the state's top EDPro, Mike Olivier, has been giving some interviews. You can read them here, here, and here. posted by Ed | Rural broadband in Kentucky ConnectKentucky works to expand broadband deployment throughout Kentucky. Governor Fletcher has set the goal of providing complete broadband coverage in the state by 2007. Read more. Broadband opens possibilities for rural counties. Take the case of Pendleton County, KY in northern Kentucky. In a recent community assessment on which I worked, we came across a young entrepreneur who had moved with his company from New York City to Pendleton County. Why? He likes the lifestyle of working in a rural area. posted by Ed | University research and economic development A new report out of Connecticut outlines how university research accelerates economic development. The report, based on an analysis of successful university-based technology transfer and commercialization initiatives, focuses on the role of university research. Learn more. Download a copy of the report. posted by Ed | Plugging the leaks If you are in a rural area, one of the traditional economic development strategies to follow involves "plugging the leaks". That involves building up the retail sectors in your region, so that money circulates more extensively before "leaking out" into the surrounding regions. Here's an example of a community in southern Ohio following this approach. They contracted with Ohio University to complete their study. Read more. And here's a report on what smaller cities -- like Pulaski, TN -- are doing to attract retailers. Learn more. posted by Ed | Workshop in agritourism Monday, March 21, 2005 Here's an interesting workshop in agritourism that the Kansas Department of Commerce is conducting. Learn more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, March 19, 2005 Here are the best articles on the economy from last week: The Final Four: Economic Air Ball? Vital Signs for the Week of Mar. 21 IMF Chief: Oil Prices High for 2 Years Surging oil prices could blunt economic growth U.S. retail sales rise, capital inflows surge Goldman Econs: FOMC Probably Won't Scrap `Measured Pace' Energizing Energy Starkers posted by Ed | Base closures are coming The business of base closures is heating up. Last week, the President appointed eight people to serve on the commission to review the Pentagon's recommendations for base closures. (The commission is know as Base Realignment and Closure Commission or the BRAC.) Read more. The BRAC will review recommendations from the Defense Department. The Department will release its list on May 16. Read more. New England is already bracing for bad news. Read more. Here's news from other states, including Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, and Georgia, Here is a summary of the past rounds of base closures. Read more. posted by Ed | Resource: Institute for Women's Policy Research Here's a good site on policy issues on women in the economy. The site includes a county-level research tool for assessing the role of women in your economy. Visit the site. posted by Ed | Debating the minimum wage in New Hampshire Does raising the minimum wage hurt the ability of firms to create jobs? This debate is underway in New Hampshire, where emotions have run high in the past. Learn more. The minimum wage debate is often hijacked by ideologues on either side. Liberals argue that increasing the minimum wage is a direct way to increase real incomes for the working poor (which it can). Conservatives argue that raising the minimum wage destroys jobs (and the economic evidence is far less clear). The argument misses the point, in my view. Our real challenge is this: We are not producing enough skilled people to grow our economy. High income jobs require post secondary education. A high school diploma is no longer enough for a middle class job. Yet, we are producing far too few young people with strong skills and post-secondary career plans. We have far too many people who either drop out of high school or who graduate from high school with weak skills and no career focus. posted by Ed | Connecting to the neighborhoods The University of Pennsylvania has been a leader in figuring out how a college campus can accelerate development in the surrounding depressed neighborhoods. UniversityCity provides a good example of how a university can connect to its neighborhoods. Read more. Or, visit the UniversityCity web site. You can also download a report card, which is a good example of graphic clarity. posted by Ed | Anatomy of a Deal: California's Stem cell center Last year, California voters agreed to invest $3 billion in stem cell research. Now the competition is on to figure out where the center of this research will be located in the state. Here are some inside looks at how the proposals came together this week. Here's a report from National Public Radio. Listen. Here's an interesting account of how San Diego put together its proposal. Read more. Read two reports from Los Angeles here and here. Here's a report from the Bay Area. posted by Ed | An open space plan for a fast growing county Cumberland County, PA has developed a voluntary open space plan to protect agricultural land and to provide for municipal parks, regional parks, greenways and trails. Cumberland County is part of the harrisburg metro area, and it it s the 11th fastest growing county in the state. Like many industrial states, Pennsylvania is plagued by the challenges of sprawl. Protecting open space is one way to respond. You can learn more here. posted by Ed | Pittsburgh's regional videos "You have got to sell Pittsburgh and the Southwestern Pennsylvania region to visitors, companies and people like any product." With those words, Governor Rendell provided an additional $250,000 in funding to develop videos targeted at visitors, medical professionals, and students. Learn more. posted by Ed | Editorial: Why regionalism matters Here's another editorial on what regional approaches to economic development make sense. The editorial concludes that economic development has become more complicated, but that "education and investment — using the talents available in a broad region — represent the first steps toward economic development." Read more. You can read the other editorial, "Why region matters" here. posted by Ed | Puerto Rico manufacturing summit Manufacturers in Puerto Rico will have the benefit of a two day forum to explore their role in the shifting global manufacturing landscape. Manufacturing groups on the the mainland can learn something from the program. Two features stand out. First, the program does not isolate manufacturing. The summit will explore manufacturing from a range of different perspectives: supply chain logistics, telecommunications, education, infrastructure, and so on. Second, the keynote speaker, Paul Saffo, represents an effective speaker who is a leading thinker on future economic developments. Read more. posted by Ed | Ft. Wayne moves toward regional marketing Last week, civic leaders in Ft. Wayne agreed to support a regional approach to marketing. The focal point is a five year $6 million marketing plan. Read more. It's unfortunate that Ft. Wayne's first regional initiative will be marketing. That's the hardest area of economic development in which to build regional focus. First, marketing often focuses on logos and graphics. These efforts often do not deal with the underlying sense of identity and ownership that organizations and communities build up over the years. These mental models need to shift. Before you act like a region, you need to think like a region. (In some regions economic development strategy is hobbled by high school football rivalries.) Second, at the ground level, recruitment is a zero sum game. A prospect can either go to county A or county B. From a regional perspective, it makes no difference. But from a local political perspective, it makes a lot of difference. Managing these tensions requires high levels of trust at the operational level. At the end of the day, EDPros have to work together. Third, even if all goes well with the branding and the operations, the results of marketing will be uneven in the region. Companies will tend to cluster. Managing the tensions of "Who pays what?" and "Who gets what?" is tough. Inter-jurisdictional revenue sharing agreements can help mitigate these problems, but these agreements are relatively rare. posted by Ed | Videotape your community Friday, March 18, 2005 Here's a good idea for rural communities. Videotape your communities’ entry points and then review the tape to understand how visitors see your community. Read more. posted by Ed | Kennesaw State connects to China Colleges and universities can provide important pathways for communities and regions to expand their global networks. Here's a case in point. Kennesaw State University has expanded Georgia's connections to China. For example, KSU houses the China Research Center. Learn more. posted by Ed | Wisconsin's Institute for Discovery Governor Doyle in Wisconsin is continuing his push for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, an initiative that would combine computer science, nanotechnology and biochemistry. He's now requesting $187 million in funding for a research building. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The Kentucky legislature is moving down a dangerous path: Following Congress in the practice of earmarking funds for special economic development projects. In the latest budget, $2.8 million has been earmarked for a shrimp production facility, even though no one seems quite to know what the money will be used for. The three universities involved in the project have not seen any plans. Indeed, the president of the University of Kentucky was surprised when she found out about the project. Read more. This type of earmarking gives economic development a bad name (as well as some really bad projects). Another example, Senator Grassley's $50 million for a rain forest in Iowa. Read more. If a state government begins handing out money to early stage technology development, the awards should follow a rigorous peer review process. Ohio's Third Frontier initiative follows this approach. Learn more. (Here's another example of the practice of earmarking. In Georgia, pork is moving to the suburbs. Read more.) posted by Ed | The global innovation game The president of the University of Massachusetts has got it right: increasingly the competition fro innovation will be coming from places like Singapore and China. State leaders who fail to see their universities as economic development engines will miss a major transformation in the global economy: The U.S. no longer dominates innovation. Read more. posted by Ed | Two biotech conferences in Atlanta Boston, San Diego and San Francisco are often cited as the leading biotech regions. Important, although smaller, development is happening outside these anchor regions. Two upcoming biotech conferences in Atlanta illustrate the point. Read more. posted by Ed | Indiana's new ED corporation The board of Indiana's new Economic Development Corporation met for the first time this week. It's not yet clear, though, how the strategy of the corporation will move the state forward. Thusfar, the strategy involves the standard set of recruitment, retention and start-up generalities. Read more. Disappointingly, though, the corporation appears to be focused mostly on recruitment. Learn more. The corporation should be focused on supporting the efforts of the state's colleges and universities to accelerate economic development. See, for example, how Purdue is promoting economic development in the northwest part of the state. The university has opened the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana. Read more. posted by Ed | More Indiana regional forums In partnership with the Indiana Humanities Council and Purdue University, our center at Case is continuing to support regional forums throughout Indiana. Here's a report of the forum we held last week in Southern Indiana. Read more. These forums will lead to a statewide Leadership Summit in June. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Small firms in Pennsylvania are not taking advantage of the R&D credit that the state has made available to them. Read more. The governor of Missouri has announced a new incentive proposal, the Missouri Quality Jobs Act. It's modeled after legislation in Oklahoma. Read more. Cities in California are competing for the new stem cell center. Read more. The Arizona legislature is working on tax incentives proposed by Intel. At the same time, local governments in Oregon are working on providing property tax incentives to Intel. Read more U.S. Senators Hagel and Dorgan have reintroduced the New Homestead Act to provide incentives for people to relocate or stay in rural communities. Read more. The Nebraska legislature is considering tax reform legislation. Learn more. Meanwhile, Kentucky has enacted new tax reforms. Learn more. Pennsylvania is providing financial assistance to agriculture and tourism through its First Industries Fund, a $150 million grant and loan program. Read more. posted by Ed | Reaching the Unbanked Thursday, March 17, 2005 Between 20 million to 56 million Americans operate without a bank account. Not surprisingly, most of these people are located in the inner cities. Here's a good article that explores the plight of the "unbanked". Read more. posted by Ed | Leading states in small technologies Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Small Times has published its latest list of the top ten states in micro and nanotechnologies. Read more. posted by Ed | Early childhood investments Federal Reserve economist Rob Grunewald is promoting an alternative to subsidies for company relocation: investment in 4-year-olds. He recently spoke in Arkansas. Read more. Grunewald and his colleague, Art Rolnick, recently published an important paper and conducted a conference on the economics of early child care. You can learn more from this site. posted by Ed | Rural sourcing in Arkansas Rural Sourcing, Inc. represents a new frontier in rural development. Based in Jonesboro, AR, the company focuses on transforming communities with information technology (IT) training and job skills. Learn more. posted by Ed | CoreNet announces award nominees CoreNet has announced the finalists for the 2005 Economic Development Leadership & Accomplishment Awards. Read more. posted by Ed | Knowledge enterprise zone at Western Carolina Western Carolina University has announced a new regional economic development strategy. Called the Millennial Initiative, the project involves creating a "knowledge enterprise zone". This strategy is similar to the Smart Zones being established in Michigan and the Keystone Innovation Zones in Pennsylvania. Read more. Or, visit the site. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, March 13, 2005 Here are the best articles from last week. Outsourcing Innovation The Business of Nanotech Vital Signs for the Week of Mar. 14 Growing global economy translates to big business Intermodal Terminals Crucial To Transportation Inflation raises fears, but new week brings earnings Bush puts last things first US consumer confidence rises in March 6 week posted by Ed | SBA's entrepreneurship and economic development awards Saturday, March 12, 2005 Last week, the Small Business Administration held a conference in Washington and recognized leading initiatives in entrepreneurship and economic development. Read more. Among the award winners were: Idaho's "TechConnect" program, Maryland's Technology Enterprise Institute, and Michigan's "SmartZone" initiative. posted by Ed | The state of manufacturing The National Association of Mnaufacturers released a survey indicating that a manufacturing recovery is gaining momentum and that exports are becoming more important to manufacturers. More worrisome, though, is that 36 percent of NAM members said they have employment positions unfilled right now because they cannot find qualified workers. here and here. Here are two views of our manufacturing economy. One from Callifornia. The other from Minnesota. Meanwhile, a leading Japanese manufacturer emphasizes the importance of focusing on innovation to be globally competitive. Read more. posted by Ed | Background on the Airbus tanker deal There's another mega deal in the works, and that's the Airbus plant to manufacture aerial refueling planes for the U.S. Air Force. A few weeks ago, representatives from 35 statestraveled to Washington to get briefed on the project. Read more. It's interesting to see how Airbus is morphing itself into a U.S. company. The company fact sheet on the project highlights "an American solution, developed with a highly capable U.S. industrial team." Boeing and Airbus are currently vying for a U.S. Air Force contract to build the new air refueling tankers, but there's a chance neither company will land the contract. Officials say the Department of Defense hasn't settled on a decision to replace its aging KC-135 tanker fleet. In the past week, a flurry of newspaper articles have appeared on the deal. Nevertheless, EDPros in Hampton Roads are going after the deal. Read more. In Louisiana, the state is focusing on three sites. Read more. Savannah hopes to compete. Read more. Pittsburgh is moving ahead with plans for a bid. Learn more. Jacksonville hopes that is can accelerate the development of Cecil Commerce Center as a major hub for the aviation industry. Read more. Here's a report from the Rio Grande Valley. Oscada, MI (in the upper part of the lower penninsula, north of Saginaw) is involved in preparing a bid as one of Michigan's three sites. Ohio will also propose three sites. Rickenbacker in Columbus willbe one, but Dayton will not be involved. posted by Ed | Renewable energy can mean jobs Green energy offers the prospect for new job development in New York. That's the conclusion of a new report from the State Comptroller. Read more. You can download the report here. As I posted last week, the folks in Pennsylvania have made the same conclusion. Read more. posted by Ed | Regional economic development in Evansville For the next several months, I'll be making presentations around Indiana on regional economic development. Sponsored by Leadership Indiana and the Indiana Humanities Council, these forums are designed to promote pragmatic, flexible approaches to regional economic development. Last week, we started in Evansville. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home Rule 1 of Web Sites: Never announce a web site address before you own it. On Thursday, the Governor Lynch announced a new web site for New Hampshire manufacturers. According to the report published by the Associated Press, the site is designed to help manufacturing companies "learn about funding sources, employee training programs and business-development information".Read more. Good idea. There was only one problem: the State did not own the address: http://www.nhmanufacturing.com. Now the owner of the site is having a little fun at the governor's expense. (He's willing to lease it to the State, under certain conditions.) The governor's web site has not yet corrected the error. (Hopefully, they have figured it out.) Read more. posted by Ed | Iowa's early childhood initiative The Governor of Iowa has proposed an early childhood initiaitve, and business leaders support the idea. The governor has set the goal of providing access to quality preschool for nearly every Iowa child. One tech executive told the legislature that early childhood education is an economic development tool: ""You invest early for the payoff down the road. You have to invest now if you want to have and continue to have a good educational system in the state of Iowa." Read more. posted by Ed | Quad Cities launches new branding campaign EDPros in the Quad Cities are launching a new branding campaign, "Engineered for Success". The campaign focuses on selling skills and brainpower. Read more. They need to sharpen the mewssage on their web site, though. It's not enough to come up with a slogan. The proof points of a value proposition need to be clear and focused. The current site features a plain vanilla sales proposition: good location, low cost labor, low cost of living. Visit the web site of the Quad Cities Development Group. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Perrysville, OH has put together a $6 million incentive package in an effort to lure the headquarters of Owens Illinois out of downtown Toledo, a distance of about 12 miles. From a regional perspective, this is goofy. Read more. Michigan has been investing in heavy incentives to build on its strengths in auto manufacturing and innovation. Read more. During the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, a panel of auto experts made predictions about Michigan's future in the industry. Learn more. The mayor of Cleveland is proposing a new incentive for employers who move to downotown. Modeled after a similar program in Columbus, the incentive is a payment equal to 50% of the yearly income tax payment paid by employees. The incentive requires verification based on payroll records. In this feature, the incentive program follows the Oklahoma Quality Jobs incentive. Learn more. Here's background on the Columbus program. Albuquerque thought they had the deal in the bag, but the Aviation Technology Group of Englewood, CO has reopened the bidding for the factory to produce its new Javelin aircraft. Read more. Georgia's legislation to shield economic development negotiations from public scrutiny has apparently died. Read more. Appropriately, the governor successfully dodged, when the press sought to understand his position. Learn more. posted by Ed | BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota Building biotech in Minnesota is not politically easy, so the govenror's Biosciences Council has morphed into the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota. The leaders of the new Alliance vow to keep the focus on the fundamentals of business development. Learn more. But first. they want an independent assessment of their position. (Sounds like another Batelle bioscience study coming down the tracks.) posted by Ed | Now that's a cluster Livingston County is midway between Detroit and Lansing, and Ann Arbor and Flint. It's the home of 240 auto suppliers. Learn more. posted by Ed | Community benefit districts In San Francisco, the idea of a business improvement district is spreading to the neighborhoods. Under a "community benefit district", the property owners in a district vote to tax themselves. Revenues from the taxes go to fund improvements in the district. Read more. posted by Ed | Clusters in the Triad Friday, March 11, 2005 Market Street Services has completed a cluster analysis of The Triad region of North Carolina. You can read about it here. Or, you can download the reports from the project web site here. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street, also made a speech last week to the Moore County (NC) Economic Development Summit. In his remarks, he pointed to the growing importance of entrepreneurship and small businesses to economic development. Read more. With the completion of this latest cluster analysis, the Triad is now officially the most studied region on the planet. In November 2003, Angelou Economics completed a Northwest North Carolina Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that included the Triad. You can read about the project here. Or, you can download the reports from this page. posted by Ed | University towns as job generators Tuesday, March 08, 2005 In an economy that runs on brainpower, it makes sense to invest in colleges and universities. That's where the brains are. In addition, it appears that increasingly that's where the jobs are, too. According to his report from the Christian Science Monitor, university towns are turning into job generators. Learn more. This development is happening because colleges and universities are redefining their roles in economic development. Take the case of the University of Missouri. The university system is approaching business development more aggressively. Learn more. In another example, as we saw last week, Indiana University has announced a far more focused economic development effort. Learn more. In Albany, the city is proposing targeted incentives -- tax breaks and equity guarantees -- to encourage residential investment around its campuses. Read more. posted by Ed | Lowering the average age on the Iowa Values Fund The Iowa legislature is trying to revive the Iowa Values Fund. In restructuring the legislation, one Senate committee is considering a requirement to appoint two adults under thirty years old to the governing board of the Fund. Learn more. posted by Ed | Louisiana business delegation heads to Cuba A business delegation from Louisiana is in Cuba trying to drum up trade business. Read more. The trip has generated some controversy, though, from people more concerned with politics than economics. Read more. posted by Ed | The shortage of skilled manufacturing workers U.S. manufacturers cannot find skilled workers, and the gap is continuing to grow. As the Baby Boom generation retires, the skills gap widens. Not enough young people are coming into manufacturing. By 2020, the shortage could be more than 10 million workers. Learn more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The Dell incentive deal has not been executed, but construction on Dell's building is going to start anyway. Read more. While the Dell deal sounds like a good bet, it wasn't too long ago that Georgia went ahead with site preparation for a Chrysler plant that never came. The company went ahead with $60 milllion in investment for the production facility for Sprinter cargo vans. Chrysler later cancelled the plans. The company had never confirmed that it would build the plant anyway. Read more. posted by Ed | Louisville builds its company base in life sciences Monday, March 07, 2005 Louisville Life Science Research Park is home to about 20 startup companies. The Louisville Medical Center Development Corp., which manges the park, holds to a target of 33 life sciences companies by 2010. That includes recruiting 12 small companies from outside Kentucky. Here is the story of one company recruited to Louisville. It's a good example of how to build a company base in the life sciences. Read more. (Smaller life science centers have some important advantages. For one, lower relative costs means that the burn rate for an early stage company is lower than Boston, San Diego, or the Bay Area.) posted by Ed | New realism emerging in manufacturing There's a new realism emerging in U.S. manufacturing. The focus is shifting from complaining about largely uncontrollable forces -- the Chinese currency, for example -- to figuring out how to innovate. You can see evidence of the trend in this article from the Bay Area in California. As one manufacturer notes: "You have two choices. You can complain about it, or try to be three times as good as the next guy." In the Great Lakes region, a new forum will be focusing on sharing best practices and promoting innovation. Read more. At REI, we have been working with smaller component manufacturers. In the past, collaboration among these firms has been difficult. In Wisconsin, our colleagues at the University of Wisconsin have been working to improve OEM-supplier relationships by organizing OEMs. Learn more. Now we are seeing that component manufacturers realize they are competing in a global marketplace. They are now willing to consider collaborations that would have been far more difficult in the past. posted by Ed | Three approaches to citizen engagement Here are three regions that are following different approaches to promote "citizen engagement". In Orangeburg, SC, the chairman of the county council has issued a broad call for the "best minds" in the county to come together in a summit. Read more. In Northern Kentucky, civic leaders are holding public forums to focus on five areas: economic competitiveness, educational excellence, effective governance, livable communities and urban renaissance. Read more. In Northeast Ohio, a group of foundations has embarked on the largest, most expensive and most risky approach: conduct "deliberative discussions" with as many as 50,000 citizens and leaders in a series of town hall meetings. Read more. posted by Ed | Rhode Island group studies statewide wireless network An innovation group in Rhode Island is studying the feasibility of creating the first statewide wireless network. Read more. You can learn more about the project from this page. posted by Ed | Research Triangle Park forms legislative coalition For the first time in its history, the region around Research Triangle Park is coming together to set legislative priorities. (Chambers in the Triad region have been doing this for the last two years. In the Triad in 2004, 22 chambers, representing 12 counties, submitted a unified agenda to its legislative delegation. That agenda focused on life science and transprotation intiatives.) Now, the RTP region will bring together 25 chambers to form a unified list of legislative priorities. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, March 06, 2005 Here are the best articles on the economy from last week. Greenspan: Economy OK But Watch Deficits More money, more risk in the new economic order Vital Signs for the Week of Mar. 14 U.S. Feb. job gains strong but jobless rate rises Greenspan's 'Conundrum' Chavez: OPEC Could Set Oil at $40-$50 U.S. manufacturing sector activity grew at slower pace in February Making Globalization Work posted by Ed | Toyota Watch Saturday, March 05, 2005 Toyota may need two more assembly plants by the end of the decade, and Nissan has also hinted that new capacity is on the way. Here's an update on the scene as viewed from Tennessee. Read more. posted by Ed | Why think regionally Here's a good editorial from Ft. Wayne on why regions matter in economic development. Read more. posted by Ed | Bangor's efforts to build a creative economy Bangor, ME is another city that is building it economic development strategy around attracting and retaining bright, creative people. Learn more. posted by Ed | Arizona considers reforming higher ed Arizona is considering a major restructuring of its higher education systems. Learn more. The reform will have significant impacts on the economic prosperity of the state. In the knowledge economy, income levels are tied to education levels. Increasing the flexibility and accessibility of higher education represents a key economic development strategy for any region. As economist Ray Perryman recently noted in a talk in West Texas, the role of universities can be pivotal in future development. Read more. posted by Ed | Packaging rural tourism Here's an interesting idea from Traverse City, MI. As part of an economic development plan, three area legislators want to establish a Great Lakes Recreational Pass. By purchasing one ticket, visitors would be able to gain entrance to a range of parks and recreation areas throughout Michigan and neighboring states. Smart packaging. Read more. posted by Ed | Arts industry in Montana Here's a new report on the economic importance of the arts. It's from Montana. The report concludes that the arts are about the same size as more traditional industries like mining or wood products manufacturing. Read more. You can read the report from these pages. Go. posted by Ed | Using a comprehensive plan Davenport, IA has a new comprehensive plan, and here's a good article to explain how civic leaders hope to use it. It explains what a comprehensive plan is and isn't. Learn more. Although comprehensive plans are required to enact and administer zoning ordinances, the importance of a plan lies deeper. The process of developing a solid land use plan determines in large part how effective the document will be in guiding subsequent public actions. In other words, the process is the product. posted by Ed | Learning about TIFs in Independence Here's a good example of citizen engagement. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts are not the easiest economic development tool to understand. Also, you can find good examples of TIF districts, but there are other situations where TIFs don't work so well. In Milwaukee, for example, a recent report outlined how the city has failed to use the TIF district tool properly. Read more. Meanwhile in Huntsville, AL, city leaders are pushing for an expansion of TIFs. Learn more. In Independence, MO, citizens have come together to learn more in a community forum. Read more. posted by Ed | Building Ft. Wayne's brains Here's another example of an emerging trend: economic development incentives shifting from companies to people. In Fort Wayne, a local initiative provides $2,500 a year to young people to help them pay off their student loans. There are restrictions: "The money must be used to pay off student loans, and, to qualify, a person must find work in an advanced manufacturing, computer information technology or biomedical/biotechnology field." The funds for the program come from a variety of sources. Read more. posted by Ed | New concepts in real estate deevelopment Civic leaders in Plymouth, Indiana have unveiled some new concepts in real estate development: a techVillage and a techFarm. Read more. posted by Ed | Maine's Applied Technology Development Center network Some years ago, Maine invested in a network of incubators, the Applied Technology Development Center system. Now, the system is being squeezed by budget cuts. Will Maine continue supporting this strategy? Read more. posted by Ed | Florida connects to Brazil Florida is benefitting from booming trade connections to Brazil. These ties range beyond simply trade deals. Read more posted by Ed | New wood cluster in New Mexico In Las Vegas, New Mexico, small wood producers are getting together to figure out how to use the region's small diameter trees in new value added products. Read more. If you are interested in wood products clusters, you might read this report from Montana. Download. posted by Ed | Consolidation v. Alignment Faced with duplication and confusion in their economic development efforts, civic leaders have two strategies they can follow: consolidation and alignment. Consolidation is often difficult and time-consuming. Political roadblocks are everywhere. When they are "successful", consolidations often leave in their wake a wave of bag feelings. Like mergers in the private sector (remember HP?), they may look good on paper, but they are very tough to pull off. Recently, Hampton Roads pulled off a merger, but it was tough in coming. Talks have been taking place for over a decade. Read more. Alignment, on the other hand, focuses on building flatter, more networked organizations. Here's a good example from Rochester. Notice the language: "the economic development space in this region" (suggesting multiple actors); "figure out if there are any ways that we can work together on specific things that make sense"; "these sets of questions weren't really asked before"; "you're seeing more collaboration"; "I don't have all the answers"; "the most important thing for us to do is to ensure that we are communicating to each other what our direction is so that we avoid the potential for duplication". Read more posted by Ed | UPS' innovative Metropolitan College in Louisville UPS recently announced an expansion in Louisville. Read more. The state moved quickly to authorize incentives. Read more.But one of the biggest attractions to the Louisville location is the innovative education partnerships that UPS has structured with local colleges. Starting in 1998, UPS began the Metropolitan College initiative at its facility. Metropolitan College allows college students to receive a tuition-free education from the University of Louisville, Jefferson Technical College or Jefferson Community College as they work the nightshift. Learn more. posted by Ed | Indiana University focuses on economic development Indiana University officials have launched a new series of economic development initiatives. The major thrust of these moves is to focus the economic development activities of the statewide system. IU is responding in part to the aggressive economic development moves by Purdue and its president, Martin Jischke. Read more. posted by Ed | New Mexico finally tells Bombardier to take a hike New Mexico's governor finally approved the withdrawal of New Mexico's bid for a new Bombardier facility to assemble a new line of jets. Read more. The company had been using New Mexico's bid to leverage other proposals and to put pressure on its unions in Montreal, its home base. Read more. Assuming that Bombardier was acting in good faith, New Mexico figured it would have to come up with $700 million price tag in incentives. Meanwhile, back in Canada, a radio report indicated last week that the company had decided to move ahead with a facility in Montreal. But the company quickly denied the report. It seems, they are still trying to pressure the unions for concessions. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Here's an example of a company gaming the system. Avery Dennison is seeking tax incentives to move from one location to another in the same county in Ohio.Read more. In Georgia, the state legislature has passed legislation to provide Georgia businesses with $1 billion in tax relief over the next ten years. In a leap of faith, proponents call the bill "revenue neutral". Read more. Site Selection magazine has awarded its latest Governor's award to Texas. Read more. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area hails the latest ratings. Read more. Meanwhile, a few folks in Dallas are raising questions along another dimension of economic development: Is Dallas good for smart people? No. Back to the Site Selection sweepstakes: Michigan's governor focuses on the fact that Michigan is rated number 2 in new corporate facilities and expansions. Read more. Iowa legislators are trying to revive the Iowa Values Fund, the state's premier economic development initiative. Read more. The same story is taking place in Mississippi, where legislators are trying to revive the recommendations of Momentum Mississippi. Read more. New Hampshire's governor has announced a $100 million loan pool to provide low cost financing to companies creating jobs in New England. Read more. In Cincinnati, Convergys has missed its job creation targets and faces a loss of tax incentives. Read more. Convergys was the subject of a controversial incentive deal when the company threatened to pull up stakes and move ac ross the river to Northern Kentucky. New legislation introduced in North Carolina would require state officials to disclose details of incentive deals after the negotiations are concluded. The NC Press Association prefers releasing information during negotiations, but this position is a non-starter for the business community. So, this compromise might pass. Read more. posted by Ed | The deteriorating position of African-American men Friday, March 04, 2005 Here's a good article out of the UK that summarizes recent reports on the economic position and health of African-American men in the U.S. Read more. posted by Ed | Rochester universities engage Universities in Rochester, NY have been launching a series of initiatives to get more engaged in economic development. A leading EDPro praises the effort, but he adds, "[W]hen compared to communities with best-in-class universities, we have a long way to go. Economic development has been part of the culture of universities like (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Stanford for 30 years. It has to become part of our culture." Learn more. posted by Ed | Risky convention hotels Both New Haven and Shreveport are struggling with the issues of a convention hotel. In Shreveport, the proposal call for public financing. In New Haven, private financing is supposed to do the job. In both cities, serious questions are coming to the surface. In Shreveport, the mayor's proposal for a hotel must confront market realities outlined in a Louisiana Tech report. As one of the authors concludes: "In and of itself, the hotel appears to be a very risky venture." Read more. The controversy in Shreveport has gotten so out of hand that a new web site has popped up to try to pry the facts out on the deal. Visit the site. In New Haven, serious questions are being raised about the soft hotel market in the city and whether a conference center would be a sufficient draw to support another hotel. One participant in the debate, a Yale political science professor, puts the issue in perspective: "On the conference center there's quite a large literature out there in the policy community … that these centers invariably lose money, and for that reason they have to be done with substantial public money. It's almost always the case that those who estimate the demand for conference and convention centers greatly exaggerate the actual demand. In one city after another, actual demand has been considerably less than the initial estimates." Read more posted by Ed | Missouri Senator pushes early learning Tuesday, March 01, 2005 Missouri's U.S. Senator Kit Bond is promoting early childhood education. As I have noted in other postings, there's a growing consensus that early childhood education represents sound economic development strategy. Senator Bond wants to accelerate the Parents as Teachers initiative across the U.S. Read more. You can learn more about Parents as Teachers from their web site. posted by Ed | Resource: New report on science and technology According to a new report by the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association), the U.S. is losing its competitive edge in science and technology. Now that other countries are adopting more market based policies, the U.S. lead in innovation is shrinking. Read more. You can download the report from this page. posted by Ed | KY considers loan pool for small businesses Kentucky's legislature is considering legislation to create a high risk loan pool for small businesses. If passed, the legislation would enable Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to loan up to $100,000 for fixed assets or working capital. Loans would be limited to businesses in agribusiness, manufacturing or technology. Read more. posted by Ed | Renewable energy manufacturing in Pennsylvania In an interesting twist, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection is targeting energy manufacturers to rebuild the state's manufacturing base. Learn more. posted by Ed | |
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