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Economy Watch
Monday, May 30, 2005 Here are the best articles from last week. IMF calls for bolder action on US deficit U.S. cities weigh broadband access Silicon Valley's rebound limited to highest levels Vital Signs for the Week of May 30 Personal income up; consumer sentiment off Maestro's miscues American Cities in The Global Knowledge Economy: the Role of Broadband Stock rally may brake for jobs data Just Put It On His Tab posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Sunday, May 29, 2005 The Mississippi legislature is stioll grappling with its Momentum Mississippi package of economic development reforms. Read more. The Nebraska legislature has passed a new package of economic development incentives. Read more. The governor in Maryland has vetoed the "Wal-Mart bill". The legislations would have required employers of 10,000 or more to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health care or pay the difference directly to the state. Read more. The city of is offering an innovative incentive program that illustrates the shift of targeting invcentives from companies to people. Read more. Ohio's congressional delegation is trying to pass legislation to establish a state's right to pass incentives for job creation and economic development. Last week, a hearing took place on the legislation. The legislation effectively reverses a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last year that declared Ohio tax breaks for a DaimlerChrysler plant in Toledo violated the constitution's clause on interstate commerce. Read more. Read the testimony of Ohio's State Development Director here. A representative from Airbus came up with a remarkable statement last week. Airbus is conducting a highly public search for a tanker site because "you want to make sure that everybody thinks it's fair...[W]e did not want it to appear as if we cut some deal." (Nonsense...the Boeing Dreamliner project taught an important lesson. The more public you make the searchprocess, the bigger the deal is likely to be.) Read more. Michigan's top EDpro is worried that, with the uptick in business activity, the state may run out of incentive tax credits. Read more. posted by Ed | The bill would have forced employers with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care. If they fail to reach this target, they would have had to pay the difference directly to the state. (Wal Mart was the only employer that would have qualified.) Read more. posted by Ed | Handbook on alternative vehicles The Alliance to Save Energy has released a new report on how state and local governments can create incentives for energy-efficient transportation technologies. The new handbook, developed with the support of the Ford Motor Co., outlines how state and local governments can create financial and nonfinancial incentives to encourage consumers to purchase advanced technology vehicles and alternative fuels. Read more. Download the report. posted by Ed | Move over Dollywood Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina is planning to become another world tourist attraction entertainment, like Branson or Dollywood. Led by the Northeast Partnership for Economic Development the plan calls for $129 million entertainment complex that would employ about 2,600 workers. Read more. Check out the latest photos from Dollymania.net. posted by Ed | The future of Main Street The National Main Street program represents one of the most successful commercial redevelopment innovations over the past 25 years. Now, the central sponsors of the program are undertaking a major review. They are taking a look ahead and see what kind of changes need to be made to ensure the success of the initiative. Read more. Learn more about the Main Street program from their web site. Here's a good summary of the benefits of a Main Street program to different constitutencies. posted by Ed | Seattle: Go wireless A new task force report in Seattle calls for the city to become a leading city with affordable, high speed broadband services. The task force concludes that a high-speed broadband infrastructure will be as important to a city as good streaks. Read more. posted by Ed | Editorial on brain drain One of the biggest challenges facing older industrial areas is maintaining their brainpower. Young people often leave. Here's a good editorial that provides a perspective from Buffalo. Read more. The message: there's no one approach to stemming the brain drain of young people. Indeed, it's somewhat natural. Young people like to move around. Places like Louisville are recruiting natives who have moved away. Read more. In Michigan, the state has adopted a coordinated strategy of "place making" to create "cool cities". Read more. Philadelphia appears to be the the most aggressive city in paying attention to its graduates. Read more. posted by Ed | Connecting workforce and ED in San Diego Figuring out how to connect workers, training and jobs is no small task. Here's a profile of Larry Finch, president of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. He provides a good model and perhaps could be a good speaker to explain the connection between workforce development and business competitiveness. Read more. posted by Ed | Seattle partnership for tech businesses In Seattle, a partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Washington Technology Center has created a wider network of support services for technology-based small businesses. Read more. posted by Ed | Houston connects tech expertise to companies Here's an interesting initiative from the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. The Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program connects small entrepreneurial firms with technology experience expertise in the region. Read more. posted by Ed | More strategy for South Carolina The South Carolina Council on Competitiveness has released a long-term strategy for the state. The council is promoting the development of clusters as a mechanism for strategy for improving per capita incomes within the state. Read more. The key will be improving educatinal outcomes in the state. Read more. posted by Ed | Scripps deal moves ahead These Scripps deal in Florida slid to the edge of the cliff last week. But political leaders in Palm Beach County were able to pull the deal back from from the brink. In the aftermath, the state is gearing up and new marketing effort to rebuild momentum under the project. Read more. At the same time, the underlying research partnerships are slow to form. Read more. posted by Ed | Former NC Governor Hunt: Change direction Former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt has a reputation for being a thought leader in economic development. So, it is noteworthy that he recommends dramatic shifts in the way in which his state conducts economic development. In a speech last week, he called for splitting the North Carolina Department of Commerce in two. He recommends that 50% of the department's existing staff focus on developing entrepreneurial and small companies. Read more. posted by Ed | New regional tech group in Ann Arbor An interesting coalition of civic leaders has come together in And Arbor, Michigan to form a new economic development and marketing organization. The focus of this new organization is to double the number of technology companies and triple the number of technology jobs in the region by 2010. Read more. Visit the site. posted by Ed | Missouri funds internships The Missouri Department of Economic Development provides state tax credits to help fund internships. Read more. posted by Ed | New strategies for the Quad Cities Consultants working for the Illinois Quad Cities have recommended strengthening the region's economic development programs to attract younger workers. The recommendations are part of a broader strategy, called Blueprint 2010. Read more. posted by Ed | Building a downtown in Los Angeles Los Angeles has approved a plan to build a high-density downtown core surrounding the Disney Concert Hall. The initiative to create a dense urban core calls for an investment of $1.8 billion. Read more. posted by Ed | Kitchen incubator in Western North Carlina Wednesday, May 25, 2005 In Western North Carolina, Blue Ridge Food Ventures opened this week. The project represents another example of building businesses around a kitchen incubator. Read more. posted by Ed | Pharmacy school adds to a cluster Southwest Virginia has been developing a new cluster in higher education. They will add to the cluster with the opening of a new college of pharmacy. Read more. posted by Ed | "The project is ill-conceived" It is a sad day when telling the truth were approved sense result in a job resignation. That is what happened this week in Louisiana. An official with the state Department of Economic Development sent an e-mail critical of a proposal for large new airport. This project first surfaced when I was drafting a development code for Ascension Parish (the location of the proposed airport) some years ago. In my opinion, Mr. Kane is right. Read more. posted by Ed | Challenges facing microlending Lending to very small businesses represents one segment of economic development. Micro lending focuses on business loans that are less than $35,000. They also focus on businesses with fewer than six employees. Here's a good article that outlines the challenges facing micro lending. Read more. posted by Ed | Revised tech transfer at Penn Tuesday, May 24, 2005 The University of Pennsylvania is reforming its technology transfer operations to make the university more flexible in commercializing its technology. Learn more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, May 21, 2005 Here are the best articles I came across last week. Playing The China Card Wanted: Better Benchmarks 2005 Proving to be Great Year for Entrepreneurship with Zero Signs of Self-Employment Slowdown Wages Begin to Outpace Inflation as U.S. Labor Market Tightens Alan Greenspan Calls U.S. Housing Market `Speculation' Unsustainable Vital Signs for the Week of May 23 America's "Blanche DuBois Economy" posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Last year, a federal appellate court struck down Ohio's tax credits that state development officials used to persuade DaimlerChrysler AG to build a Jeep assembly plant in Toledo. Now, U.S. Senators Voinovich and Stabenow are promoting legislation to overturn the ruling. Read more. Here's the view from Kentucky. Arizona is giving business a property tax cut. In addition, new legislation signed by the governor provides a tax break (targeted at Intel) for companies that invest at least $1 billion in the state. Read more. Changing the development rules for Scripps in Florida could have some unintended consequences. Read more. Allen County, IN near Ft. Wayne has approved $2.2 million in incentives for General Motors' investment of $175 million in its assembly plant there. Read more. The state legislature in Mississippi is still working on the passage of Momentum Mississippi, a legislative package that reforms the state's incentives. Read more. The city and the county in Winston-Salem, NC are at odds over an incentive package for a Pennsylvania biotech company. Read more. Texas is close to landing 4,200 jobs for the regional headquarters of Washington Mutual Inc. The Texas Enterprise Fund will be contributing $15 million to the deal. Read more. posted by Ed | Stronger ties in North America The Independent Task Force on the Future of North America has produced a report with recommendations to promote North America prosperity and security. Among the recommendations, the Task Force advises leaders in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. to coordinate security and build competitiveness among the three countries. Read more. You can download the report here. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The Scripps saga in Florida continues... Basic lesson in economic development: Don't oversell a project. Manage expectations. Now Scripps, frustrated with the delays in its Florida project, is threatening to pull out. Read more. posted by Ed | Resource: Location quotient calculator A location quotient identifies clusters by finding industries that represent a larger proportion of the local economy than the national or state average. Now the Bureau of Labor Statistics a new Internet-based tool, the “Location Quotient Calculator.” You can learn more about the calculator from this page. You can start the calculator from this page. (If for some reason this page does not load properly, go to the Location Quotient Calculator link on the main BLS data page.) posted by Ed | Economic gardening in Greeley Economic gardening is a strategy developed by Chris Gibbons in Littleton, CO. It's catching on as an appropriate approach to building economies from within. Here's a report from Greeley, CO Read more. You can learn more about economic gardening from the Littleton, CO web site. Go. If you are interested in this approach, you should subscribe to the Econ-Dev listserv. Go posted by Ed | Building a West Texas energy cluster West Texas is continuing to take steps to develop its energy cluster. Two consultants were in the region last week to assess interest in forming one or more consortia "to look at research, development, producing products, creating jobs, stimulating research and growing the economy". Read more. posted by Ed | Resource: Assets and Opportunity Scorecard CFED has released a new report, 'Assets and Opportunity Scorecard', that measures the financial security of families in the U.S. The Scorecard ranks the states on their performance in 31 measures in the areas of financial security, business development, homeownership, health care, and education. It also looks at 38 state policies in these areas (as well as tax policy) that can help or hinder citizens' efforts to get ahead. Each state is graded on its performance from "A" to "F" and its policies are assessed as either "favorable," "standard," or "substandard," based on their relation to the policies of the other states. Start here to learn more. State grades are available on this page. posted by Ed | Another TVA megasite TVA has certified another megasite for auto-related development. This one is located in Chattanooga. Read more. TVA's so-called "megasites" have between 700 and 1,000 acres of available land, access to rail and interstate highways and other characteristics identified by a poll of more than 200 site-selection consultants. TVA has certified three other sites, in Hopkinsville, Ky., Tupelo, Miss., and Columbus, Miss. posted by Ed | The future of Indiana agriculture Indiana has released a 20 year plan for agriculture development in the state. A couple of features are noteworthy. First, the report outlines a series of pathways for expanded development: biofuels, expanded food processing. In other words, like manufacturing, agriculture is shifting in the global economy. And like manufacturing, agriculture is not dying. Second, the report sets some clear benchmarks: Agriculture-related industries should account for 7 percent of gross state product by the end of the decade, up from the current 5 percent. Read more. posted by Ed | Autos: the southward migration Friday, May 20, 2005 Here's an interesting article about how the auto industry has continued to migrate to the South. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: New site for the Carolinas Duke Power has launched a new web site to promote economic development in the Carolinas. Read more. Visit the site. posted by Ed | LSU's award-winning incubator Louisiana's economic development strategy received another boost at last week when the National Business Incubation Association awarded its highest honor to the Business and Technology Center at LSU. Read more. posted by Ed | Portland's green municipal buildings The city of Portland, Oregon is a leader in green building standards. Along with Scottsdale, Arizona, Portland now requires its municipal buildings to meet certain requirements of environmental performance. Read more. These type of standards may accelerate the development of local "green building" clusters of building material companies, contractors, architects, engineeers and designers. posted by Ed | Resource: Nanotech report If you are curious about nanotechnology, here is a place to start your learning. A new report from the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology indicates that the US is currently the world leader in nanotechnology. At the same time, the report warns that are international competitors are aggressively developing their own initiatives in nanotechnology. Read more. You can download the report here. posted by Ed | Wal-Mart health care bill in Maryland Here's an update on the Wal-Mart health care bill in Maryland. As you may recall, the Maryland legislature passed legislation to require all companies in Maryland with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8% of their payroll on workers health care. If they fail to meet this standard, companies would pay a tax to make up the difference. Wal-Mart is the only company in Maryland that would be affected. The governor says he will veto the measure. Read more. posted by Ed | Time to bury the hatchet Here's another case of long time rivals coming to a clearer understanding of their common interests. After years of competition between Fargo and Moorehead in North Dakota, community leaders have seen the wisdom of merging their economic development efforts. Read more. If you are stuck in a region caught in senseless rivalries, start sending stories like this one around. posted by Ed | Northern Minnesota and applied engineering A region in Northern Minnesota has identified applied engineering as one focal point of its future economic development. Last year, civic leaders launched Ingenuity Frontier to attract and educate engineers. Ingenuity Frontier wants to develop the region's reputation for applied engineering. This initiative is a good example of thinking more deeply about regional assets. Rather than be content with generalities of "a good work force" or a "good quality of life", the leaders in this region have held deeper conversations. They have uncovered some important strengths that characterize their economy. Read more. posted by Ed | Cleveland gets grid computing IBM has announced a new initiative at initiative to enable communities worldwide to stimulate economic growth through the use of grid computing and other open standard technologies, such as Linux. Cleveland is the first region to provide a test market for this new technology. Information technology in open collaboration can accelerate the development of new innovation among government agencies. This approach can reduce the cost of providing services to citizens. Grid computing applications can also provide an accelerated business development in healthcare, life sciences, software development, digital media, and manufacturing. Read more. In addition to Cleveland, grid computing technologies are being deployed as economic development strategies in West Virginia and North Carolina. You can read more about North Carolina here. You can learn more about what is going on in West Virginia here. posted by Ed | Municipal wireless systems Should municipalities operate wireless systems? Here's a good article that some of the different questions on municipal wireless systems. Read more. Civic leaders in the city of Boston are discussing how to bring free, public wireless to the city. Read more. Meanwhile in Seattle, the city has launched its wireless network. Read more. posted by Ed | Mississippi clean-up In Mississippi cities and towns now have new powers to order landowners to clean up their property. This new legislation is part of Mississippi's effort to create a new business climate for economic development. Read more. posted by Ed | Branding St. Louis? Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Branding is one of the most misunderstood strategies in economic development. The idea of developing a common brand is a good concept, but the approach is very difficult to pull off. (Anyone who has worked on branding in economic development has probably encountered a "logo war" among different organizations.) If you are having a tough time with branding, you are not alone. St. Louis is launching at least three new branding campaigns. Read more. posted by Ed | Miami does not wait for the Scripps deal As these Scripps saga continues to drag on in Florida, a new biotechnology development around the campus of the University of Miami is gaining momentum. Some firms may not want the legal hassles of the Scripps project. Read more. posted by Ed | Broadband in Kentucky In Kentucky, the governor sees broadband deployment as a critical component to to economic development. Kentucky recently released a series of broadband maps to document the development of broadband service statewide. These maps provide a good vehicle to focus the attention of political and business leadership. Read more. posted by Ed | Biotech, Yale and New Haven Yale University and New Haven provide a magnet for biotechnology. Here's a good background article on how this cluster is evolving in New Haven. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: A sophisticated site for a rural region A new web site for northern Minnesota provides some detail economic development information. It is a sophisticated site for a rural region. Read more. Visit the site. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, May 15, 2005 Here are some of the interesting articles on the economy from last week. Survey: Consumer confidence down for May Vital Signs for the Week of May 16 Floyd Norris: Will China be setting U.S. rates? U.S. trade gap narrows as fewer buy imported goods U.S. IT leadership in trouble? posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Governor Bredesen in Tennessee has been successful in getting a jobs bill through the legislature. The governor is focusing on training as a core issue. Read more. In Missouri, the legislature has enacted a new economic development incentives framework. Read more. Another NFL incentive war is heating up. The New Orleans Saints may head for New Mexico. Read more. Burger King is not moving its headquarters to Houston. Instead, it will stayin Florida with a $8.7 million incentive package. Read more. Editorial writers in Louisiana are having heart burn over the legislature's tendency to hand out tax breaks. Read more. In Nebraska, the legislature is considering legislation to target development to rural areas. Read more. posted by Ed | Taking the temperature in Roanoke The Roanoke region of Virginia has been having difficulty in bringing together civic leaders to act collaboratively. Here's some background on the challenges that the region faces. Learn more. To try to understand these issues, civic leaders commissioned a survey of perceptions. Last week, they heard the findings. Read more. You can download a PowerPoint file here. posted by Ed | Ohio's Third Frontier Ohio is moving toward a new bond election in November for its Third Frontier initiatives. In a speech last week, Governor Taft indicated that a large portion of the funds will be dedicated to fuel cell research. Read more. However, the bond issue must pass Ohio's voters. The initiative made work may run into trouble because Columbus and Cleveland have in the past gotten most of the grants. This opens the door to the possibility that voters in Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio will vote against the initiative. Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Networking in Racine Young professionals in Racine Wisconsin have launched a new web site to encourage stronger networking. Learn more. Visit the site. posted by Ed | Problems with the unemployment rate A detailed labor report in northeast Minnesota illustrates the limitations of official unemployment data. The more detailed report estimates that 22% of the region's adult population were jobless, compared to the 5% cited in state unemployment data. This report underscores the problem of relying on unemployment rates at all. A far better way to calculate the production of an economy is on the basis of jobs and incomes. Read more. posted by Ed | Toyota hybrids in Kentucky? Kentucky may be the site of a new production line for hybrid vehicles by Toyota. Read more. posted by Ed | Revitalizing urban neighborhoods The uptown region of Cincinnati represents an interesting example of how large institutions are collaborating to rebuild the an urban area. A consortium of large organizations, including several health institutions, the Cincinnati Zoo, and the University of Cincinnati, have come together in a coordinated way to develop and implement a strategic plan. They have set a target of investing $500 million in the neighborhoods by 2010. Read more. They are also exploring the possibility of wireless networks throughout the Uptown neighborhoods. Read more. posted by Ed | South Carolina continues to build partnerships South Carolina has embraced cluster development as a way to boost state per capita incomes. Leaders in the state understand that the key to building clusters comes in adopting new civic behaviors of collaboration. As one participant comments, "the link is building more trust among institutions and businesses and people who have really grown up competing with each other." Read more. posted by Ed | Evolving maquiladoras Mexico, for over 40 years, as depended on border plants, called maquiladoras, to accelerate economic development. Under this strategy Mexico allows raw materials to enter the country without duties. These raw materials are then used in subassemblies. When the products are shipped out of Mexico for final assembly, Mexico only imposes duties on the value added in Mexico. As global manufacturing networks evolve, these plants are now adjusting. Read more. posted by Ed | The emerging trends in sustainable development Philadelphia University has launched a new research center focusing on sustainable materials and design. The center will integrate across disciplines. Read more. We see a growing awareness of sustainable development in the US. For example, 132 mayors have embraced the Kyoto rules on global warming. Despite opposition from the Bush administration, the mayors, who stand the political spectrum, are embracing new efforts at sustainable development. Read more. posted by Ed | The value of open space Building quality, connected places represents one of the central challenges of economic development in the years ahead. A growing number of studies are showing that quality open spaces in urban areas will increase property values. Here's an example from Chicago. Based on sales data, prospective home buyers are willing to pay on average $100 a square foot more for a house in an area with easy access to a park compared to other, nearby areas. Read more. posted by Ed | Biodiesel in Pittsburgh Near Pittsburgh, a new start up company from Carnegie Mellon University is exploring the production of biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel produced from domestic renewable resources. The product contains no petroleum and is biodegradable. Learn more. posted by Ed | Creative industries in New England Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont are all embracing the creative industries as a potential engine for growth. Here's what's happening in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Read more. In Portland, Maine, the emphasis on creativity is remaking the city. Read more. And in Vermont, citizens held a forum on their creative economy. Read more. posted by Ed | Agricultural biotechnology Here's a good article on agricultural biotechnology in Arkansas. Producing pharmaceuticals and plants represents an opportunity in rural areas. However, the emergence of this new industry also raises significant regulatory issues. Read more. There some similar developments going on in Western North Carolina. The region continues to build its technology and innovation networks. They are exploring the development of businesses in the niche market of natural biotechnology. As one participant commented, "we envision the Western North Carolina is a worldwide center of natural product research and manufacturing." Read more. posted by Ed | Resource: Development guide Smaller communities in fast-growing counties often face the problem of creating a planning infrastructure from scratch. Many of these communities have weak subdivision ordinances and no zoning ordinances. In addition, the entire process of issuing permits is often haphazard and confusing. One way to deal with all of these problems is to a assemble a developer's guide. Here's an example of a good guide I came across from Arizona. Download a copy. posted by Ed | BRAC Reports Saturday, May 14, 2005 You can download the complete BRAC report. The details report gives background on each major decision. The report comes in two parts. Download Part 1 and Part 2. You can also download the BRAC's impact by state posted by Ed | Jacksonville focuses on raising incomes Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Jacksonville is tacking the tough issue in economic development: improving per capita incomes. This move is another indication that old models of economic development -- based on promoting low costs -- is giving way to new thinking. Under the old regime, EDPros focused almost exclusively on one measure: jobs. The dominant marketing theme stressed relatively low costs of doing business and a "good business climate". Now, we see more sophisticated approaches emerging. Read more. posted by Ed | Partnerships in the Triad The Triad region of North Carolina has gotten its act together. The building networks of trust and collaboration are opening still more opportunities for collaboration. Read more. The old models of economic development focused on lowering the costs of doing business and recruiting manufacturing plants. Globalization -- the integration of international markets -- has weakened this approach. Free land is widely available. Technology moves easily across national borders, and capital flies around the globe at the click of a mouse. Now wealth comes from brainpower, innovation and entrepreneurial networks. Networked organizations have weakened organizational hierarchies. Open systems of innovation are replacing closed "command and control" approaches to business development. Regions that manage this shift can build dynamic clusters of new businesses. Regions caught in closed sytem thinking will continue their downward drift. posted by Ed | Maryland's defense technology incubator The Chesapeake Innovation Center --- an incubator designed to promote homeland security companies -- continues to expand. Read more. The success of this defense technology incubator has led North Carolina to promote the development of Defense Technology Innovation Center near Fort Bragg, N.C. Read more. posted by Ed | Background on the St. Louis BioBelt Here's a good article on the BioBelt in St. Louis. Read more. One of the major challenges facing EDpros is managing expectations. Too often, economic development is driven by the transaction. As a consequence, a lot of dumb incentive investments -- driven by the pressure to get something done -- waste money. The bigger challenge is to refocus economic development activities on more appropriate target investments: Building the foundation's for tomorrow's economy. That requires setting the right expectations. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Monday, May 09, 2005 Here are articles I came across on the economy last week. Dollar gains after robust U.S. jobs data Wall Street uncertainty outweighs good news G-10's Trichet May Say Global Growth Is Slowing on Oil Burden Professor: Boomers hold key to stocks Vital Signs for the Week of May 9 Tougher stance on China currency adopted Spike in Jobs Numbers Brightens Weekend posted by Ed | Incentive Watch With all the tax incentives pending before the Florida legislature the state could lose $245-million a year in potential revenue. That's on top of an estimated $800-million a year that Florida provides in tax incentives to attract new business and help current businesses grow. Read more Montana has established Big Sky Economic Development Fund, an initiative that will use interest earnings from the Coal Severance Tax Trust Fund to invest in economic development projects. Read more. Incentives encouraged Allegiant Air to choose McAllen airport. Read more. Here's an article on incentives for life sciences in Indiana. Read more. Minnesota's governor is proposing a new tax credit program. Read more. Here's more background on the battle for California's stem cell headquarters. Read more. Toledo is trying to keep the headquarters of Owens Illinois in one of the most foolish incentive battles of the year so far. Read more. posted by Ed | New Hampshire's high tech economy New Hampshire has released a new report on high technology. Read more. Download the report. posted by Ed | New angel web site for Wisconsin The Wisconsin Angel Network will launch a new web site designed to match angel investor networks with entrepreneurs. The web site will launch in June. Read more. posted by Ed | Boston helps its creative industry Boston has launched a new initiative to assist entrepreneurs and in music, drama, arts and crafts, media and movie businesses. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | Toledo looks to St. Louis Toledo is looking at St. Louis as a model for economic development. By focusing on industry clusters -- specifically, by building BioBelt -- St. Louis has attracted venture funding. Read more. posted by Ed | Developing regional indicators University of Wisconsin Green Bay is moving ahead to develop a set of regional economic indicators. The indicators are designed to inform civic leaders on the underlying economic development processes within the region. Read more. posted by Ed | Helping rural entrepreneurs State officials and Mississippi are planning to launch a entrepreneurial alliance in late fall. The alliance is targeted toward helping entrepreneurs in rural areas. Read more. posted by Ed | Competing with the Big Boxes Local retailers have difficulty adjusting to the competition of the big box. There's a good overview from Missouri. Read more. posted by Ed | Finding a home for Airbus Airbus has narrowed its search for a new US factory to four locations in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Read more posted by Ed | Finding qualified workers Maine is finding confronting a challenge other states will soon follow. Slow population growth and an aging workforce translate into difficulties in finding qualified workers. In the years ahead, more and more states will face the same challenge. Read more. In Washington State, local officials in Snohomish County are responding to these challenges with an initiative to provide stronger alignment between high school and the skills needed for work. Read more. posted by Ed | Responding to manufacturing challenges Bearing manufacturers have issued a white paper on the challenges facing U.S. manufacturing and what we can do about them. Read more. posted by Ed | State wireless plans Connect Kentucky has released a map of current broadband coverage in the state. Read more. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, a partnership is moving ahead with plans to make Rhode Island the first border-to-border wireless state. Read more. You can laso download the report. Meanwhile, a number of US cities are moving to establish their own wireless networks. Read more. posted by Ed | Product development loans Cuyahoga County, OH is beginning a new economic development initiative to encourage product development among manufacturers. The loans, which range from $15000-$45000, are designed to help develop new products. Read more. This idea is not new. Connecticut's Product Development Corporation, founded in 1972, provides financial assistance to firms working on the development of new products when private financing isn't forthcoming. The significant issue for the Ohio program: are the loans big enough to make a difference? posted by Ed | The role of downtowns Downtowns play a critical role in the knowledge economy. But EDPros need to develop investment strategies to continuously rebuild these centers. Providence, for example, is launching a new initiative to develop a twenty year plan. Read more. On a smaller scale in Missouri, the Main Street program plays a critical role in developing a sense of place. Read more. In Western Illinois, EDPros are working on historic designations for Monmouth. Read more. And in Florida, tourism officials are promoting small, historic downtowns across the state. Read more. If you do not pay attention, you can start seeing signs of decay. Birmingham, AL is in the beginning stages of this cycle. The warning signs: falling tax revenues. Read more. Detroit is in the latter stages of this cycle. Some years ago, civic leaders in Detroit made a wrongheaded decision to divide the region between the African American central core and the white suburbs. Now, Detroit has lost much of the central core economic activity that it needs to survive. Read more. posted by Ed | New technology center for Rutgers Rutgers is dedicating a new technology Center on its campus. The new center will focus on wireless data networking, high-density electric storage, and pharmaceutical discovery and development. Read more. posted by Ed | California's stem cell race The competition for California's stem cell headquarters is over. San Francisco won the competition over San Diego and Sacramento. Read more. posted by Ed | Tech transfer in Arizona Tuesday, May 03, 2005 Technology transfer is becoming an increasingly important component of economic development in Arizona. Here's a good overview of how the University of Arizona stands in the national rankings. Read more. You can learn more about technology transfer at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) web site. To see how Arizona State University values the returns from university research, you can download this report. posted by Ed | Planning a kitchen incubator Developing businesses with a kitchen incubator is becoming a more popular economic development strategy, especially in rural counties. Some folks in Maine are planning to launch one. Read more. Here's another story from Oregon about an incubator that is well underway. Read more...and another example from West Virginia. For more information, check out the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) in Southern Ohio. ACEnet runs a very successful food business network. Learn more. (Contact June Holley, and tell her that her friends at REI in Cleveland sent you.) posted by Ed | Ohio's marketing from a P&G perspective Ohio's new executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition is from Proctor & Gamble, and he is moving aggressively to develop a more focused approach to marketing Ohio. You can learn more from this article. P&G markets over 300 brands to five billion people around the world. It is an extraordinarily creative and innovative company that thrives with a cautious, methodical business culture. Strategic thinking is a way of life in the company. So, the Ohio plan is particularly interesting for the discipline it brings to the process of economic development marketing. You can download a summary of the new plan here. posted by Ed | Getting out to see the world Business leaders can easily get mired in the challenges of their own regions. Their thinking gets stale. Their perspectives narrow. Regular trips outside your region can open new opportunities. In this spirit, business and civic leaders from the Triad region of North Carolina are visiting Indianapolis this week. Read more. The trip has had the important impact of helping civic leaders in the Triad form personal relationships among themselves. Read more. The leadership also learned a good deal about how Indianapolis is building its life sciences cluster. Read more. posted by Ed | Inc's best places for 2005 Inc. magazine has published its annual list of the best places to do business. The overview article provides the major themes. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, May 01, 2005 Here's the latest on the economy. Vital Signs for the Week of May 2 Damn The Deficit, And Pile On The Pork Dow Average Has Worst Monthly Drop Since Jan. 2003; IBM Slides American economic growth at slowest for two years Hard Evidence of a Soft Patch? Consumer Confidence Dips; Home Sales Up Nervous About The Economy? You're Not Alone 21ST Century American Challenges Imports increasingly burden US economy Economy Surprises Experts With Sudden Slowdown The global locomotive loses steam posted by Ed | Incentive Watch A new stadium for the Florida Marlins has at least one newspaper columnist yelling "pork". Read more. The Saints and Louisiana are still miles apart on their negotiations. Read more. Meanwhile, the Colts got some support from Indiana. Read more. The draft of the contract between Dell Inc. and the city of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, Winston-Salem Business Inc., the Winston-Salem Alliance and the Millennium Fund is available. Read more. Download the agreement. With high gas prices, more states are looking at incentives for renewable fuels. Read more. For example, last week, Florida's House passed legislation to promote hydrogen. Read more. In Colorado, a renewable energy tour is designed to promote development in rural areas. Learn more. Sedgwick County commissioners agreed unanimously to invest $1 million in public money to keep AirTran Airways flying to Wichita. Read more. Macon is putting money into a Bass Pro Shops. The deal supposedly lines up with what other cities have provided. Read more. Here's a good overview article on incentives. Read more. posted by Ed | Coming to an economy near you: Worker shortages One of the major constraints that we are going to face in the future is a worker shortage. As Baby Boomers retire, we will be experiencing increasing shortages of professions that require training beyond high school. Here's an example from North Carolina. Regional trucking companies say they can't find enough long-haul drivers to fill available slots. These positions paid between $40,000 and $50,000 per year. But the shortages don't stop with drivers. Skilled warehouse managers and diesel mechanics are also in short supply.Read more. This article deals with logistics. But the projected shortages are everywhere: teachers, nurses, pharmacists, air traffic controllers, skilled machinists, auto techs...the list goes on. It's time to connect the dots: We are producing too few young people with post-secondary ambitions. Here's another article that provides an overview. posted by Ed | Keeping and attracting young talent Philadelphia has been a leader in initiatives to retain college age students in the area after they graduate. Last week, civic leaders announced that two major initiatives are working along three critical dimensions: attracting more students to the area, improving students' perception of the region, and increasing internship opportunities for students at area schools. Northeast Ohio, we have been modeling the Philadelphia experience. We've launched College 360 through the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education. Learn more. posted by Ed | Supporting online entrepreneurs There's growing evidence that the development of online entrepreneurship is growing dramatically. These reports suggest that EDPros can provide a valuable service by assisting existing and new businesses develop their online web presence. Read more. One approach worth considering: a weekly cable show. Read more posted by Ed | Georgia's new information technology innovation center Georgia has opened the Information Technology Innovation Center in Columbus, GA. The Center opens with four member companies. BellSouth is the most familliar name. In addition to conducting joint research projects in information technology, the Center is also serving to incubate start-up companies. Read more. posted by Ed | New innovation collaboration in North Carolina A new collaboration in North Carolina aims to make the state the nation's leading home for innovation-based entrepreneurs. Read more. posted by Ed | Reviving the Iowa Values Fund The Iowa Values Fund is the state's's centerpiece economic development project. In June, 2004 the state's highest court nullified the economic development fund. Since that time the governor and legislature had been trying to find a formula to revive the initiative. Now there is some movement. Last week, the House approved a 10 year funding plan for the Iowa Values Fund. The legislation commits the fund the state to spend the $50 million per year for 10 years on business incentives, university research, and community colleges. Read more. posted by Ed | Physical planning across political lines Civic leaders across the country are coming to understand the importance of broader regional physical planning. We confine our comprehensive plans to narrow political jurisdictions. These boundaries are artificial. Commuters, economic flows, watersheds, air quality...all transcend political boundaries. Dodge County, Nebraska is confronting the challenge of developing a new perspective to planning on a regional level. Read more. Earlier this week in Northeast Ohio, we held a regional leadership session with leadership groups across 17 counties. Frank Beal of Chicago Metropolis 2020 provided a keynote speech. He underlined the importance of taking a long-term regional view on physical development. You can learn more about Chicago Metropolis 2020 here. posted by Ed | Wind energy cluster in West Texas West Texas has become an emerging center for wind energy. In July, the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium will hold an a Wind Energy Trade Fair. Read more. The West Texas Wind Energy Consortium formed in January, 2005. The organizational meeting drew elected officials, landowners, school superintendents, economic development officials, bankers, attorneys, utility executives, and major wind energy developers. Read more background. posted by Ed | Resource: Report on rural opportunities A new report, commissioned by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, outlines the new opportunities in rural America. The report offers new perspectives on rural development strategies. Read more. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | Supporting higher ed in Kansas In a smart economic development move, civic, business and education leaders are rallying to support investments in higher education in Kansas. Read more. posted by Ed | Citizen journalism and economic development In many communities, economic developers are hurt by a negative or antagonistic newspaper. These days are about to change. Across the country, citizen journalists are launching new online publications that provide an alternative voice. Last week, the Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland announced 10 initiatives that will be funded by the Knight Foundation. Read more. In Northeast Ohio, for example, a group of citizen journalists has launched Real NEO. This site is designed to engage citizens in the ordinary business of economic development. Visit the Real NEO site. Another good example in Northeast Ohio is CoolCleveland. With over 30,000 subscribers, it is the largest on-line community in the region. Visit CoolCleveland. In addition, we have active bloggers who regularly comment on economic development activities. See Brewed Fresh Daily, Callahan's Cleveland Diary, Small Business Trends, Economic Development Futures. and Manufacturing Journal. This list is only a handful of the blogs in Northeast Ohio. George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily is our Chief Blog Coach and he lists over 210 blogs in our region. posted by Ed | More incubators for Montgomery County Montgomery County, Maryland has two incubators which provide support for technology-based startups. In a new report released last last week, the County sees the need for additional incubator space. Read more. posted by Ed | Leadership summit in Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Partnership held its annual leadership retreat last week. Civic leaders focused on three themes: education, diversity, and regional collaboration. A good quote from one of the participants (corrected for mangled grammar and editing): `Knowledge doesn't go where there is less knowledge. [It goes] where there [is] more knowledge.'' Read more. posted by Ed | Good quote on regional cooperation Over the past number weeks, I have make postings on editorials that support the concept of regional collaboration. Here is another one. The editorial offers a good quote: "Regions that figure out how to work together to promote...growth are the ones that will prosper in the years ahead." Read more. posted by Ed | The evolving role of libraries In a global economy driven by knowledge, the role of our public libraries is also going to shift. Here's an example. In Arizona, the public library system has launched the Economic Development Information Centers Project. This is a statewide effort to that includes both public and community college libraries. These libraries provide a network of information and resources that can support business development. Read more. That's only part of the story. Public libraries provide at least five roles in our emerging knowledge economy. 1. Family reading The ability to read represents a critical threshold skill in the knowledge economy. Yet, as a country, we have not done all that well in teaching people to read. In Ohio, for example, 45% of our population reads at the lowest two levels of literacy. 2. Safe Internet exploration Because it is so easily accessible, the Internet is a natural medium for continuous learning. Users can access information at any time or any place. They can continue their learning whenever they have free time and are in the mood to learn something new. They do not have to conform to a classroom schedule, and they can explore an unlimited number of topics 3. Career orientation Young people need to be prepared for multiple careers in their lifetime. Finding and using information is one skill that will cross career boundaries. As young people explore potential careers, our libraries will become increasingly important to orient us to the latest careers. In the past, we relied on high school counsellors to provide most career guidance. But this system does not work well enough. Many high school counsellors are responsible for as many as 200 or 300 students. 4. Entrepreneur support Our economic growth will increasingly depend on innovation and networks of entrepreneurs. The Arizona initiative fits in here. 5. Civic learning Community leaders can no depend on the federal government to provide leadership in economic development. Increasingly, this leadership will come from within our communities and regions. In the past, leadership in our communities came from a selected few individuals. Now, however, vibrant communities and regions engage scores of community leaders to support economic development initiatives. Everyone from pre-school teachers to top business executives has a stake in the future of our communities. posted by Ed | Reviving small towns and rural areas Entrepreneurial strategies make sense for small towns. Here's a good article that illustrates the approach. Read more. The old way of thinking about economic development focused on recruitment. The new thinking, led by people like Mark Drabenstott at the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, focuses on improving entrepreneurial opportunities in small towns and rural areas. Learn more about the Center for the Study of Rural America. posted by Ed | Tool and die training center Richland County, Ohio sits between Columbus and Cleveland. The civic leadership there has developed a new tool and die training center. The purpose of the center is to address the shortage of manufacturing workers. One of the ironies of our current situation is that manufacturing, a declining industry in terms of employment, has not been able to attract enough skilled workers to maintain current production levels. The center in Richland County is designed to address this issue. Read more. posted by Ed | Entrepreneur networks in Western Kentucky Western Kentucky University is using business plan competitions as a way to accerate entrepreneur networks among its students. Read more. Well designed business plan competitions should have four goals: 1) to motivate students to come forward with ideas, 2) to build the the students' business skills by bringing them together with experienced entrepreneurs , 3) to attract enough investment capital to start at least one business, and 4) to identify lawyers and accountants willing to support entrepreneurs will low cost services. posted by Ed | Florida's Innovation Park As I noted in an earlier post, Florida's Innovation Park is stuck in a rut. Here's another article that provides some good background. Read more. posted by Ed | |
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