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Vermont's creative economy
Saturday, April 30, 2005 Vermont has been building momentum on a strategy to accelerate the development of creative businesses in the state. Last October, the Vermont Arts Council produced a report on Vermont's creative economy. Read more. You can download the report here. Last week, the arts community in Rutland met to brainstorm ideas for accelerating the development of creative businesses. Read more. posted by Ed | Important messages about education EDPros need to deliver an important message to young people and their parents. Dropping out of high school amounts to a lifetime economic disability. Equally important, a high school diploma is no longer a ticket to the middle class. Young people dropping out of high school can expect to earn an average $19,000 yearly salary during their lives. People who graduate from high school but do not go to college can expect to earn an average of $26,200 yearly. Business and education leaders in the Rio Grande Valley recently confronted these realities. Read more. As the head of the McAllen Chamber noted, ""Without a real strong public education system and without people finishing school and moving on to technical training and college or whatever they want to do, we will be at a disadvantage when competing." posted by Ed | Louisville chamber targets former residents Chamber leaders in Louisville are on a tour to lure back Louisville natives. Read more. posted by Ed | The convention center space race Despite overwhelming evidence that the market for convention centers is saturated, city leaders continue to think that building convention centers will generate worthwhile economic activity. (Read more about the national convention market here.) Here's the view from two Ohio cities, Toledo and Youngstown. Read more. Meanwhile, a third Ohio city, Cleveland, continues to push forward on its plans for a convention center. Read more. posted by Ed | A boot camp for entrepreneurs Here's another good idea out of Michigan. A two day boot camp for entrepreneurs. EDPros can develop a local network to provide the same type of accelerated learning. At the end, local angel investors and successful entrepreneurs can evaluate business plans. Read more. posted by Ed | Building creative businesses Creative industries represent and important economic development opportunity. Places like Savannah, Vermont and Louisiana are seeing creative industries as an important wealth generator. Add Cleveland and Sarasota to the list. In Cleveland in September, CoolCleveland is launching the Ingenuity festival: a fusion of art and technology. Read more. In Sarasota, Ringling School of Art and Design and the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County are combining to present a business summit in October. Read more. We can learn a lot from the Europeans on the connection of creative industries to economic development. They made the connection about five years ago. In many cities, creative industries are now part of the main stream. Explore, for example, the web site for Creative London. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home Wednesday, April 27, 2005 Govenor Taft has launched his second effort to convince the voters of Ohio to pass an important investment component of his Third Frontier initiative. He failed the first time around, and many observers attributed the loss to the inept political strategy coming out of the governor's office. Earlier this week, the governor launched a $2 million bi-partisan campaign to pass the Third Frontier bond issue this fall. There's only one problem. Someone forgot to sell the Democrats. Read more. posted by Ed | Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network Wisconsin's got an interesting experiment underway. They are forming a statewide entrepreneur support network. Part of the plan includes establishing four regional centers. The state's economic development department is funding the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network with $1 million. Read more. You can visit the Network web site to learn more. Details on the initiative are listed on the Wisconsin Department of Commerce web site. Go. posted by Ed | Moving Momentum Mississippi Momentum Mississippi is an initiative to back an new set of economic development incentives for Mississippi. There's only one problem. Momentum. Thusfar, the state legislature has turned its back on what Momentum Mississippi's supporters call "One of the most comprehensive and ambitious implementation plans that any state has attempted," The Momentum Mississippi legislation includes changes to the incentives the state offers new and existing businesses. In March, the proposal died when the legislature failed to act. Now Momentum Mississippi backers are trying to get their legislation on the agenda of a special session. Read more. You can read more about the contents of Moemntum Mississippi from this page. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, April 24, 2005 Here are the most interesting articles on the economy from last week. Fed Beige Book reports mixed outlook on US economy U.S. March Leading Index Declines 0.4%, Most in 2 Yrs China Looms as the World's Next Leading Auto Exporter U.S. Economy: Consumer Prices Jump, Fanning Inflation Worries Prophet of American technodoom U.S. Economy: Higher Fuel Costs Boost Producer Prices in March Business Leaders, Analysts, Warn of Mounting US Debt, Consumer Spending Vital Signs for the Week of Apr. 25 Fed Officials: U.S. Core Inflation Sound Skilled Workforce: If you build it, businesses will come posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Saturday, April 23, 2005 The Texas super fund may sound like a good idea, but there's a downside. Political control of that much money creates temptations for abuse, as well as deep skepticism among some in the press. Read more. Governor Perdue in Georgia has signed new legislation, the Strategic Industries Tax Credit. The legislation authorizes a $500 per job tax credit bonus for each new full-time position created by existing businesses that have been headquartered in the state for three or more years. Read more. Cincinnati's mayor is promoting his new approach to economic incentives in the city. Read more. EDPros in Minnesota have used a money-for-jobs approach to keep jobs with Northwest Airlines. Read more. Michigan's Economic Development Corporation has provided tax credits worth $17.4 million to Johnson Controls to keep 1,745 jobs in the state. Local governments are throwing in another $10.2 million in tax abatements. Read more. Here's a good article from Rocky Mount, NC on the dynamics of incentives. Read more. Express Scripts, a Fortune 500 company, has been offered millions of dollars to move to Illinois. Should Missouri respond? Read more. EDPros in Illinois have put together a proposal for a warehouse facility, probably for Sysco. Read the details. Louisiana governor Blanco is proposing new incentives to help her state. Read more. An editorial in St. Petersburg makes an interesting point. Governor Bush has no problem holding schools accountable. But the same scrutiny does not apply to the state's investments in economic development. It's not chump change. An investigation by the newspaper estimates that Florida could be investing as much as $900 million this year. Read more. posted by Ed | Entrepreneurs and regional development A new report for the SBA's Office of Advocacy argues that entrepreneurship is an important component of regional economic growth. The report goes on to rank metro areas. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | The beauty of Beloit I've never visited, but it looks like Beloit, WI has its act together. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | Merging stuck in Toledo There's a couple of paths to better regional collaboration. The first path stresses consolidation and mergers. The second focuses on collaboration and alignment. The first path is logical and appealing, especially to business managers who dislike the ambiguity of politics. There's only one problem: Mergers are politically tough to pull off. The way our system is set up, a committed minority can often frustrate the will of the majority. Here's a good example from Toledo. Read more posted by Ed | Entrepreneur support net in Wichita A task force in Wichita is heading in the right direction by mapping the region's support for entrepreneurs and figuring out if there are any gaps. Read more. posted by Ed | Face the flat earth Tom Friedman, columnist for the New York Times, has written a popular book on globalization, The World Is Flat. His thesis is simple: The explosion of Internet communications means talented people across the globe can compete on a level field. Here's a good interview that explores his argument further. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Shovel ready sites in the Hudson Valley Hudson Valley EDPros have a new section of their web site that promotes "shovel ready" sites. Read more. The presentation makes a good use of a simple interactive map. Visit the site. Go. posted by Ed | Georgia's Aerospace Innovation Center A couple of weeks ago, Indiana announced a new initiative in aerospace, based at Purdue. Now, Georgia is pushing to expand industry support for its Aerospace Innovation Center. Read more. U.S. states are not alone. Canada is moving toward a more aggressive national aerospace strategy. Read more posted by Ed | Florida's Innovation Park continues to struggle For 27 years, Florida's Innovation Park has been part of a strategy to remake the state's economy. But the park hasn't worked, Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College are getting frustrated. They either want more control, or they want out. Read more. posted by Ed | Early child care and economic development Here's another in a string of reports on the emergence of early childhood education as an economic development issue. The article highlights a report completed by an advocacy group, Legal Momentum, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Workplace Center. Read more. The report estimates that $1 invested in quality early child care will return $13 in lower costs and increased taxes. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | Revitalizing a small downtown Here's an interesting story about how a small town, Fennville, MI (population: 1,471), is revitalizing its downtown. Read more. In another of Michigan's small towns, Linden (population, 3,200), a consultant has outlined a plan for revitalization. Read more posted by Ed | Economic development and meth A few years ago, in rural Kentucky, I encountered meth labs for the first time. During an economic development assessment, county leaders expressed deep concern about the economic consequences of these labs on the future of the county. They did not want to address this issue openly, for fear of hurting their reputation as a potential business location. Now, the meth issue is coming out into the open. Here's an article from Greene County, IN. Read more. Meanwhile, in Bentonville, AR, Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas released a study of the impact of meth use in Benton County workplaces. According to one observer, "The numbers were devastating." Read more. posted by Ed | Maintaining regional equity One of the biggest challenges facing regional economic development is maintaining transparency and fairness among partners to the regional initiative. Here's a case in point. The Baton Rouge Chamber has not built a strong reputation of trust among it s regional partners. As a result, the partners are breaking off to establish their own organization. Read more. posted by Ed | Cost pressures on appliances Global cost pressures are relentless, and they will continue to reshape our industrial landscape. Here's an interesting article on how Maytag is trying to cope with the challenges of low cost competition. Read more. Our appliance businesses in the U.S. are vulnerable, since these products include a relatively high proportion of assembly labor. So, for example, Maytag's refrigerator production in Galesburg, IL recently migrated to Reynosa, Mexico. Read more. posted by Ed | Selecting an auto assembly site? Southern Business and Development magazine reports that an automaker is considering four sites, one of which is in South Carolina, near Aiken. The other sites are in Chattanooga, Savannah, and Athens, GA. According to the magazine, the automaker could be Toyota, Kia or Audi. Read more. The auto industry's shift South is a clear and long-standing trend in investment. A recent article in the Detroit newspaper outlines how this shift impacts Michigan. Read more. The changes are only beginning. DaimlerChrysler is considering building subcompacts in China for export to the U.S. Company executives hope to avoid any political fall-out by marketing the car under a new name plate. Read more here, here and here. Here are the numbers that, in part, are driving the shift. According to the New York Times, wages and benefits cost DaimlerChrysler 38 euros an hour in Germany ($49.75), 28 euros an hour in the United States, 4.5 euros an hour in Brazil and 1.5 euros an hour in China. posted by Ed | Emerging worker shortages The University of Baltimore periodically produces a report on the business climate in Maryland. That's not news. The latest report carries some disturbing information on the growing problem of worker shortages: 39% of the companies responding to the latest survey reported worker shortages. Read more. Download a copy of the report. posted by Ed | Pittsburgh's nanotech plans Here's a good review of the efforts by the Pittsburgh region to develop a strong technology hub in nanotechnology. Read more. posted by Ed | Maine's advanced manufacturing center The University of Maine has opened a new facility to assist the state's manufacturers. The state financed the new 30,000 square foot facility with the proceeds of a economic development bond sale approved by the voters in 2002. Read more. posted by Ed | The competitive consequences of broadband Here's an interesting and controversial article on broadband deployment. The article has triggered a debate about the competitive position of the U.S. in Internet deployment. Read more. posted by Ed | Branding metros Several cities are in the middle of branding initiatives. Indianapolis is bringing together fourteen groups to focus on a new brand for the Central Indiana region. Read more. In Atlanta, the Brand Atlanta Campaign has selected an agency to help them with their effort. Read more. Meanwhile, in Hartford, branding efforts are farther along. The Hartford Image Project, formed in 2000, represents the combined efforts of twelve regional groups. You can read more about one of their latest projects here. In Savannah, there is a move afoot to brand the region The Creative Coast. Read more. posted by Ed | Finding a headquarters for stem cells in California Thursday, April 21, 2005 The stem cell headquarters issue in California has bent a few people out of shape. In particular, the folks in San Diego are not happy with what they perceive to be a bias toward San Francisco. Read more. Here's a good review article that explains the selection process. Go. posted by Ed | EDA's summit on regional innovation Here's a press release on EDA's summit on regional innovation. Read more. There's not much more than what's in the release, unfortunately. The conference is not on the EDA web site, and the information on the Council of Competitiveness web site is minimal. Read more (or less). posted by Ed | Backing up on the no tax position Some GOP governors are reconsidering their positions on "no taxes", according to this article from the Christian Science Monitor. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, April 16, 2005 Here are the latest articles on the economy I found that are worth reading. U.S. economy hits a soft patch Stocks Plunge to Lowest Point Since Election G7 officials say world can adapt to higher oil Globalization is Great -- Sort Of Cutting greenhouse gases wouldn't hurt economy Vital Signs for the Week of Apr. 18 Stocks sink on worries about earnings The Fed Quells Inflation Fears posted by Ed | Indiana focuses on aerospace Legislation has passed the Indiana legislature that will establish a new aerospace office within the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Purdue will be an anchor for the state's activities. Read more. posted by Ed | Tourism in Appalachia The Appalachian Regional Commission is expanding its portfolio of strategies to include tourism development. This move can help other rural regions learn about how tourism strategies can connect with broader economic development strategies. Read more posted by Ed | Michigan's NextEnergy With rising oil prices, Michigan's NextEnergy feels that the tide is moving in their direction. NextEnergy is an economic development initiative to accelerate business opportunities from alternative energies such as hydrogen, wind and solar power. Read more. posted by Ed | World's largest thermometer Baker, California has put itself on the map with the world's largest thermometer. Read more. This effort reminder me of the inventive folks in Soap Lake, WA. They are working to have the world's largest lava lamp. Last November, they celebrated a step in their journey when they secured a a 50 foot laval lamp. Read more. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch The alternative press in Texas is taking the governor to task for his operation of the Opportunity Fund. Read more. Legislators in Wisconsin are upping the ante in the competition for jobs with Minnesota. Read more. Danville, KY won a competition with Akron, OH for an aircraft braking plant. Utility rates probably had a big role to play. Read more. The article printed in Akron does not mention utility rates. Instead, it talks about Ohio's tax structure. Read more. Kansas is in the middle of the cellophane competition. Innovia Films' plans to close one of its three cellophane plant, and Kansas wants to have a seat at the table when the music stops. Read more. Editorial writers in North Carolina are still pushing for more disclosure on incentive deals. Read more. Indiana and Kentucky are caught in a senseless bidding war over a biotech company. Read more. Iowa legislators are continuing their efforts to revive the Iowa Values Fund. Read more. A new report from the conservative think tank at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy presents another case against incentives. Read more. posted by Ed | Building Canadian ties Friday, April 15, 2005 Technology executives from Canada's Atlantic provinces were in Chicago last week to explore stronger connections. Read more. Meanwhile, Denver sent a delegation to Alberta to explore possible new alliances. Read more. Tucson's long standing relationship with Ottawa is starting to pay off, as an optics firm announced plans to open a manufacturing and testing facility in Tucson. Read more. Technology companies in Canada need access to larger markets. The same logic drives Ohio's expanding relationship with Israel, another small, but technologically advanced economy. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Milwaukee's anonymity Milwaukee appears to be late to the web development game. This reporter is frustrated with the pace of Milwaukee's web development efforts, compared to cities like Cincinnati and Chicago. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home Be sure of your facts. A basic idea, but the politicians in Kenner, LA are having a little bit of trouble with it. A local councilwoman told the newspaper that Bass Pro Sops was looking for a site "near The Esplanade mall in Kenner". One problem: It's news to Bass Pro. Read more. posted by Ed | Regional strategy in Eastern Indiana Eastern Indiana EDPros have promoted legislation that, in part, equalizes the locational advantages among five counties in their region. Read more. posted by Ed | Design center in Jackson, MI EDPros in Jackson, MI have come up with a good idea: a creative industries innovation center that will help businesses develop new products. Read more. posted by Ed | Three states make hydrogen moves Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Republican governors in New York, California and Florida have all launched initiatives to promote electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. This is a tough technology to master. There's no affordable, efficient way to store and move hydrogen around the country. Read more. posted by Ed | Manufacturing initiatives Earlier this week, North Carolina completed its first manufacturing summit. Read more here and here. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the governor has announced a new public/private partnership to strengthen the state's manufacturing industry. Read more. posted by Ed | The convention center space race This Bloomberg columnist is down on the convention biz. He concludes: "What we really need now is a study of the psychology of municipal officials who have fallen under the spell of this convention center dementia. It's probably a form of big-league syndrome. When it breaks out, taxpayers beware." Read more posted by Ed | Savannah's move to knowledge businesses Savannah is trying to move its economic targets up to include more knowledge-based businesses. While the region is a great place to live, employers are worried about the pool of skilled people. The challenge for EDPros is to link the region's students with area employers. Read more. posted by Ed | Wireless Philadelphia Last year, Philadelphia Mayor John Street announced an intiative to deploy a wireless network throughout the city. Here are more details on Philadelphia's wireless plans. Read more. posted by Ed | Toyota invests in Michigan R&D center Sales for Toyota in North America are growing, and the company is expanding its Michigan research center to suppport the growth. Toyota has announced that it will invest $150 million and expand employment by 400 employees. Read more. posted by Ed | Advanced materials in Western North Carolina In Western North Carolina, EDPros are building an advanced materials cluster. The cluster is a good example of how rural regions can build innovation networks. You can visit the web site to explore the cluster's . You can also learn more about the cluster's recent activities. posted by Ed | Microenterprise in Nebraska The Association for Enterprise Opportunity recently held a national summit on microenterprise in Athens, Ohio. Here's an article from Nebraska that outlines how microenterprise development is becoming a bigger part of economic strategy in rural areas. Read more. posted by Ed | NH's School of Community Economic Development Here's a good article on the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University. Based in Manchester, N.H., the school established an academic program 1982 that now awards master's and doctoral degrees in community economic development.Read more. posted by Ed | RI Science and Technology Council The governor of Rhode Island has established a Science and Technology Advisory Council to promote the growth of an "innovation economy" in the state. Read more. posted by Ed | California's Stem cell center California has narrowed the field to four sites for the headquarters of its new $3 billion, 10-year stem cell research program. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will locate in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, or Emeryville. Read more posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, April 10, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy from last week: Economics often a bundle of contradictions Greenspan says easier credit a boon to US economy Imports to U.S. keep rising, despite weaker dollar Consumers feel pretty good about the economy Cost of gasoline to continue rising Vital Signs for the Week of Apr. 11 Economic growth at peak, warns World Bank Trade deficit Chinese wall US consumer confidence falls in April 3 week U.S. CEOs less bullish about job picture-survey Urban League Recommends Programs to Improve Black Status posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Florida's incentives are reviewed in a newspaper investigation by the St. Petersburg Times: Risky business An up-and-down history Audits find oversight flaws Governor disputes Times' findings See the posting below for a brief overview. Missouri's Quality Jobs Act passed the Misouri Senate last week. Read more. Freescale, the semiconductor spin-off from Motorola will receive an incentive package worth $30 million from Austin. $11 million comes from the City. Fresscale employs about 6,500 in Austin. Read more. Tulsa will be the site of a major expansion of IBM's service business. IBM could add up to 1,000 jobs by 2009. These jobs will be paying between $40,000 and $95,000. Incentives will be provided through the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program. The program provides quarterly cash payments of up to 5 percent of new taxable payroll directly to a qualifying company for up to 10 years. IBM potentially could receive $35.2 million if it grows as projected over a 10-year period. (That's $35,200 per job.) Read more. Indiana's Wayne County is debating the value of incentives. Here's an editorial. Kansas has touched off an international controversy by providing incentives to a British-owned cellophane plant. Read more. The mayor New Orleans wants expanded incentives for manufacturing and the video gaming industry. Read more. Oregon is moving to reform its Strategic Investment Program, which provides tax breaks to large manufacturers. This legislation, originally adopted in 1993, was targeted at chip manufacturing. Read more. Phoenix, Tempe and Chandler have signed an agreement to establish a "no incentive" zone. Read more. Wake County and Raleigh, NC are considering large incentive packages for undisclosed projects. Read more. This article from Cincinnati explores the local political dynamics of offering incentives. Read more. Airbus may accept the same type of incentives that it recently criticized for Boeing. Read more. posted by Ed | An investigation into Florida incentives This morning's St. Petersburg TImes carries an important series of articles investigating Florida's use of incentives for economic development. The series is unusual for the depth of the reporting on individual deals. Among the key findings: Incentives are big business inFlorida: in 2004-05 Florida's economic development efforts could cost state government more than $900-million. The total cost of federal, state and local incentives is hard to track because Florida does not keep a combined list of costs. The Legislature rarely checks to see if incentives are paying off. More than half the companies that responded to a recent survbey said they probably would have located or expanded in Florida without the incentives. Governor Bush disputes the finding's of the newspaper's investigation. The articles in the series include: Risky business An up-and-down history Audits find oversight flaws Governor disputes Times' findings posted by Ed | Don't try this at home Businesswoman Alice Bradley of Moss Point, Mississippi had a great idea to renovate an old, city-owned building on the main street. She told the mayor and the city's economic development consultant about her project and asked them to keep her plans confidential. The next thing she knew, the city was tearing down the building. Read more. posted by Ed | Planning for a wind center in New Mexico A comunity college in New Mexico is moving ahead with plans to develop a wind center. The purpose of the center is to train students from around the country on how to operate a wind farm. Read more. posted by Ed | Indiana works to build the aerospace cluster A new agreement between Purdue and Rolls-Royce is a keystone of the state's strategy to strengthen its aerospace cluster. Read more. posted by Ed | City wi-fi plans Saturday, April 09, 2005 Philadelphia has an ambitious wi-fi deployment plan announced last week. Read more. Meanwhile, Intel has proposed a wireless deployment in Cleveland. Read more. Municipal networks raise controversy about whether these networks compete unfairly with private companies. As one commentator notes, "Municipalities are looking at the telecommunications infrastructure as a public utility, which puts them at odds with an industry that sees this as unfair competition." posted by Ed | It's all about the workforce This EDPro from Colorado has her focus on the right issue: Building an educated workforce will be the key to prosperity in the future. She cites one important dimension of our challenge ahead: "According to Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine, China is graduating 600,000 engineers annually - compared with only 150,000 in the United States, of which 75,000 are immigrants." Read more. posted by Ed | Teaching the teachers Here's a smart idea. The Florida High Tech Corridor Council sponsors techCAMPS, free programs to provide high school teachers with insights into coming technologies. The purpose: Guide the development of a high tech workforce. Most recently, the Council held a free, two day techCAMP in the rapidly growing simulation industry. Read more. posted by Ed | Albuquerque's sustainable development initiative Thursday, April 07, 2005 Sustainable development is a growing trend in economic development. Cities that move toward sustainable practices will have an inside track on these expanding markets. Here's an example: Albuquerque's mayor is moving his city toward sustainable development: all new city buildings larger than 5,000 square feet must adhere to environmentally responsible building practices known as "green building." Read more. To learn more about sustainable development, spend a few minutes moving through the web site of the Rocky Mountain Institute. RMI is working in Northeast Ohio on the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative, a model of urban regeneration. Here's a good summary of this initiative. You can learn more with this publication from RMI. posted by Ed | Wal-mart in the cross hairs again Maryland has passed new legislation targeted at Wal-Mart. The legislation would effectively push Wal Mart to increasing health coverage for workers. The legislation requires organizations with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits. Read more. Our health care system in this country is broken, but this is not the way to fix it. The pressure on Wal-Mart shows no signs of abating,though. Here's a summary of some of the recent reports on the impact of Wal-Mart on local economies. This web site is designed, in part to promote the development of local economies through local ownership. Read more. posted by Ed | Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community is one of the oldest economic development organizatios offering micro-enterprise services. Hewlett Packard recently awarded the Centers a Micro Enterprise Acceleration Grant. Learn more. Learn more about the HP program to accelerate micro enterprisse. Go. posted by Ed | Helping small business with health insurance Illinois is launching a new plan to help small businesses with their health insurance. Read more. Higher health care costs depress employment. According to researchers at Dartmouth College, when health insurance premiums increase by 10 percent, the fraction of the population that is employed goes down by 1.4 percent, while the fraction the employed who work full-time goes down by 2.4 percent. Using this relationship, Illinois researchers estimate that Illinois loses 80,000 jobs every time premiums increase 10 percent. The Dartmouth paper is titled, The Consequences of the Growth of Health Insurance Premiums, Download the paper. posted by Ed | Finding to the global view in eastern North Carolina Here's an interesting review of a recent forum in eastern North Carolina. The region has been hard hit by plant closings, but, as one participant noted, "We have to get over the idea that we're victims". The first step is to take a global view. Forums like this one start to shift people's thinking. Read more posted by Ed | Global logistics and supply chains Wednesday, April 06, 2005 Here's a good overview article on location decisions by multinationals as they build their global logistics and supply chain networks. Learn more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The Scripps Saga in Florida continues, and it is an good lesson of how not to move ahead with a big project. The governor has insisted that any site must be big...100 acres for Scripps plus the ability to draw 8 million square feet of development. That's enough space to fill eight regional shopping malls. Scripps has selected a site, but that choice has triggered environmental law suits. According to one commentator: "An institution renowned for its research apparently did next to nothing to check out the problems at the site." (They discovered that Florida has wetlands.) Now the county wants to find an insurance company that will cover its construction costs in the event that a court orders them to tear down the Scripps headquarters building. Read more. The chaos surrounding Scripps comes in a large part from the way the governor rushed the process. Palm Beach responded to the pressure to build on a pre-determined site (Mecca Farms). The land grab has turned into a mess. posted by Ed | Creating the right spaces for young, innovative companies Getting the right spaces built for innovative companies is part of the challenge in building an entrepreneurial economy. Here's a good example: a developer in Buffalo has created small, cool spaces for young entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Read more. posted by Ed | Toyota Watch Monday, April 04, 2005 Arkansas continues to gear up to capitalize on Toyota's expansion plans. Read more. posted by Ed | What will be the Dell impact? The impact of Dell's supplier base on the Triad region of North Carolina may not be as deep or as wide as many had hoped. That's a tough conclusion for a state that needs a lot of spin-off to recoup its heavy recruitment investments. (The state put more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the deal.) Read more. Commentators have begun to question the impacts. See these articles: Dell's impact on economy years away Ex-justice: Incentives too costly posted by Ed | Expanding angel networks in 8 states Northwest Area Foundation invests in economic development initiatives in eight states: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The Foundation is making an innovative investment in the Minnesota Investment Network Corporation to expand angel networks in those states. Read more. posted by Ed | Proposal to establish innovation centers in SC A state senator from Charleston has introduced legislation to establish innovation centers at South Carolina's research universities. Read more. This proposal represents another step in South Carolina's efforts to build an innovation economy. posted by Ed | WVA considers expanding gaming A report for West Virginia points to a growing national trend...an increasing dependence of state governments on gaming revenues. Read more. The report points to the economic development value of gaming...so called tourist gamblers. There's only one problem. For gambling to generate an economic development impact, more than 60% of the gamblers need to come from outside the region. (I base my conclusion on detailed financial models I built to analyze casinos in Louisiana.) Few casinos can meet the test. Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the local paper discovers that gambling did not solve the problems in Detroit. Read more. The scope of Detroit's market is a major part of the reason that casinos don't work to build economic development. According to a 2002 report by Michigan State, nearly 80 percent of gamblers come from the three counties surrounding Detroit. Casinos do more to suck money out of the regional economy than they do to inject new money into the economy. Relying on casinos as an economic development tool is a little like heating your house with a blow torch. You might be able to do it, but it's not a smart move. posted by Ed | Pennsylvania's new innovation zone Pennsylvania announced another innovation zone last week. The Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone represents one of 13 zones in the state. The new zone is designed to stimulate business development through alliances among Geisinger Health System and Bloomsburg, Bucknell and Susquehanna universities. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, April 03, 2005 Here are the best articles from last week. Venture-Capital Backed IPO Market Slowed in Q1 2005 Is Silicon Valley like Detroit? Claims May Confirm Slowing Employment: U.S. Economy Vital Signs for the Week of Apr. 4 Service-sector report spurs worries Dismay as fewer new jobs created Energy costs may be sapping job market US job growth slows in March Longevity is Killing Us Jobs: Solid, Not Spectacular posted by Ed | Incentive Watch The Daily Press in Virginia has run a series on the state of incentives in Virginia (and the picture is not pretty): Broken Promises Switching Sides to the Private Sector Battery Maker Took City, State Money Incentives vs. Entitlements Shifting Rules Affect Fund's Security An editorial from Roanoke summarizes teh situation in Virginia: Troubling returns on Va. business incentives After criticizing Boeing, Airbus plays the incentives game: Airbus parent eyes U.S. incentives In Dayton, OH, the state is adding to the incentive pot for a California-based technology company. Read more. Learn about the company. Here's a good article that gives you a brief historical perspective on incentives. Read more. Kentucky is providing $2 million in tax credits for a $6 million expansion of a medical equipment company. The incentive package is designed to keep a company from moving 12 miles away into southern Indiana. Read more. posted by Ed | Sharing the benefits of development Friday, April 01, 2005 One of the main challenges facing regional collaboration comes in sharing the costs and benefits of development. Take the case of the three counties of Charleston, SC region: Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. Charleston pays the most money into the regional development alliance. Berkeley gets more than its share of development projects (and tax revenues), and Dorchester county sees more than its share of residential development (and associated costs). Multi-jursiductional development districts represents one way to share costs and benefits equally. Toledo and Oregon, OH are choosing this approach to manage a planned $350 million coke plant . The agreement arose out of a boundary dispute. Both cities claimed the land on which the coke plant is to be built. The agreement establishes a joint economic development zone, so that the cities can split tax revenues from the plant equally. Read more posted by Ed | New Jersey: Changing the perceptions of manufacturing New Jersey was a manufacturing powerhouse. The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is launching a campaign to demonstrate that New Jersey's manufacturers still matter. The trick is to change people's perceptions about manufacturing. It's no longer a big factory belching smoke. Today's manufacturing involves smaller, higher technology operations. As the NJBIA spokesman observes: "Today's manufacturer is a tight little niche operation that may employ 25 to 100 people. That's why a lot of people think manufacturing is extinct in New Jersey." posted by Ed | 21st century agriculture Here's an interesting column in the Des Moines Register about the future of agriculture. Read more. posted by Ed | Pennsylvania prosperity report A little over a year ago, the Brookings Institution produced a report on Pennsylvania. The basic findings focused on the competitive disabilities created by no-growth sprawl. Learn more about the Brookings report and download the report here. A coalition of business groups was not satisfied with the focus of the Brookings report. Fearing that the report would become too much of a guide for state and local policy, they commissioned their own report. They released the report this week. Read more. Download a copy. posted by Ed | |
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