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Economy Watch
Sunday, August 28, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy from last week. Stocks to watch oil as storm nears US consumer optimism weaker in August Oil's Economic Impact May Be Seen This Week Debt load makes Americans vulnerable Vital Signs for the Week of Aug. 29 Greenspan's tenure: From bust to bust? Wall Street Shows Growing Anxiety Greenspan Voices Concern About Health Of U.S. Economy Greenspan is finally raising red flags U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell to 315,000 Last Week posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the articles on incentives I came across last week. Indiana is focusing on biofuels. Read more. Texas and New York are in a high stakes incventives game with a new semicondutor fab plant that Samsung is preparing to build. Read more. Local governments in Texas have a lot of money to invest in incentives. Here's an insight into how Longview, TX will invest its incentive budget. Read more. Ellsworth, Kansas came up with a bright ideqa to lure people to rural Kansas. Give away land. The idea has merit. Read more. Here is an interesting commentary on the limited value of incentives in building a prosperous economy. . Read more. North Carolina is providing rebates on aviation fuel to attract more airlines and motor sports companies. Read more. The governor in California wants to put more money into keeping the film industry in his state. Read more. Indiana is moving to boost incentives to the insurance industry. Read more. Akron provides incentives for jobs, but like most localities, it hs difficulty tracking results. Read more. posted by Ed | A privately financed business accelerator In Duluth, Minnesota a privately financed initiative launched at last summer to accelerate the development of new businesses in the region. The area partnership for economic expansion -- Apex -- operates much like a business accelerator. Read more about this interesting model of business development. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home The governor of Mississippi may have jumped the gun when he talked about to the plans of a Korean automaker to build a plant near Meridian, Mississippi. Read more. (You can read more about the governor's comments here.) posted by Ed | Muncie's Innovation Connector The entrepreneurship program at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana is nationally ranked. So, there is no surprise that the Muncie Innovation Connector is a leading proponent of building knowledge-based businesses. Here's a good overview of the types of businesses that have emerged from the incubator. Read more. posted by Ed | Seattle angel networks Angel networks are forming in Seattle. Read more about what is going on. posted by Ed | Biodiesel in Oregon Creating new prosperity in rural regions involves thinking about agricultural opportunities in new ways. This strategy often requires connecting with university-based researchers. Here's an example from Oregon. A small group of researhers and entrepreneurs are developing an ambitious plan to produce biofuels. They are planning to use canola to produce oil that can be refined into biodiesel. Read more. posted by Ed | University of Missouri upgrades economic development University of Missouri System has established a new position accelerate the development of the university's research base and to extend the connections of research into the state's economy. They have created a new position of Vice President for Research and Economic Development. Read more. posted by Ed | Another kitchen incubator? Here's another example of how a rural community wants to develop a kitchen incubator to launch a high-value agricultural products. The development of kitchen incubators as an economic development strategy started a number of years ago in Washington State. The idea moved quickly to other communities, including the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, where I first learned of the idea from June Holley, ACEnet's founder. This community in Michigan is beginning its evaluation of the kitchen incubator facility. Read more. posted by Ed | Arkansas to focus more on existing businesses In Arkansas, the director of the state's Department of Economic Development announced a new initiative to work with local communities across the state to retain existing businesses. According to the director: "You can never forget the most important companies are the ones that have already made a commitment to your community and to your state." Read more. posted by Ed | Albany region develops international reputation The region around Albany, New York -- the so-called Capital Region -- is developing an international reputation for its collaboration between university research and industrial development. Last week, a delegation from representing a variety of different countries visited the Albany NanoTech to explore how these parternships work. Read more. posted by Ed | University of Buffalo's new commercialization partnership The University of Buffalo is developing a new alliance designed to accelerate technology development from university research. The partnership is with First Wave Technologies Inc., a technology development company. The university's office of Science, Technology and Economic Outreach is partnering with First Ways to identify and organize joint development projects around selected university technologies. Read more about partnership. posted by Ed | Regional strategy around Lynchburgh, VA The region around Lynchburg Virginia has evolved into a new set of partnerships. The region 2000 partnership is designed to encourage more collaboration in a variety of different areas, including technology development, workforce development and physical infrastructure. Read more. Their web site is interesting in the way it is organized around different partnerships. Visit the web site. posted by Ed | Maryland's non-technology incubators Maryland has embraced incubators as a key part of its economic development strategy. Not all of these incubator facilities are designed for technology-based companies. In Montgomery County, economic development professionals are formulating plans to open to incubators for small service companies and nontechnology businesses. Read more. posted by Ed | Georgia Tech's new Technology Enterprise Park Georgia Tech is making plans for an 111 acre Technology Enterprise Park across from the university's research area. Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures will develop the project. The development is designed to provide space for companies that have grown too large for an incubator. Read more about development. posted by Ed | Rural entrepreneurship model in Kansas Across Nebraska an interesting model of rural development strategy is emerging. Called a HomeTown Competitiveness, the Nebraska initiative focuses on building entrepreneurial networks in rural communities. The initiative is currently operating in seven counties across the state. Recently the Kellogg Foundation awarded the initiative eight 2 million-dollar grant over three years. Read more about this interesting model. You can download download a fact sheet here. posted by Ed | Purdue markets its technology Purdue is moving ahead with a series of initiatives to build its position in economic development. The Purdue Research Foundation has launched an interesting idea. It developed a promotion program to explain six emerging technologies to an audiences of potential entrepreneurs. The foundation is conducting these technology roadshow events across the state. Purdue's roadshow may be unique, according to Mark Crowell, president of the Association of University Technology Managers and head of economic development and tech transfer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Read more. posted by Ed | Kentucky's life sciences plans Kentucky is one of many states trying to establish a position in the life sciences. The governor's Life Science Consortium released a report outlining recommendations to improve and life science investment in the state. You can read more about the report here. Download a copy. posted by Ed | Building Wi-Fi networks Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Haven are all moving ahead with their plans to create wireless networks in their cities. The move to wireless is not simple. For example, Orlando recently ended its 17 months in experiment in wireless. In Austin, Texas activists are setting up zones in key parts of the downtown. This approach focuses on building a wireless network around established demand. Here's a good article that provides you some additional background. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, August 21, 2005 Here are the articls on thee economy from last wek. Experts: Heavy Debt Threatens U.S. Economy Health insurance costs dog would-be entrepreneurs Some economic obstacles reside between the ears Can the economy withstand $3-a-gallon gasoline? A new world economy Vital Signs for the Week of Aug. 22 US consumer confidence gauge rises in Aug 14 week Trade Deficit Balloons posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Here's the latest news in incentives that I found: A public opinion poll in North carolina finds support for economic development incentives. Read more. Austin has put together a $59 million package for Samsung. Read more. But the package is about to swell with outher entities -- like the school district -- adding to the package. Meanwhile, New York State is moving ahead with its own effort to attract Samsung. Read more. Here's a good article focused on York International and the role of incentives. it argues for increased scrutiny for tax breaks. In the case of York, the promised job gains apparently never showed up. Read more. The problems of York are not as serious as the proiblem Wichita faces. Economic developers got left holding an empty bag; now they are looking to recover some money from a company that went belly up. Read more. West Virginia is about to review its incentives policy. Read more. Office Max has consolidated its headquarters outside Chicago. Illinois put together a $20 million package for the deal. Read more. New York State is increasing its "wired building" program. Read more. On September 1, Texas is launching its new program to provide incentives for retail development. Read more. posted by Ed | Building entrepreneurship networks in Michigan City, IN Here's a good example of building a network to support entrepreneurs. In Michigan City, IN, the chamber, the economic development organization and other community groups are joining together to create an entreprenurship center. Read more. Last week, I wrote about the new business accelerator at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. That's another good example of a smaller community taking steps to change its economic development dynamic. Read more. posted by Ed | Puget Sound regional partnership continues to develop A new regional partnership is continuing to develop in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. The alliance, known as the Partnership for Prosperity, is promoting a cluster-based strategy to accelerate economic development in the region. The Partnership has set a goal of creating 100,000 additional new jobs in the Puget Sound region by 2010. Read more about the Partnership for Prosperity here. Or, visit their web site. An interesting article from St. Louis raises the question of whether the regional group in Washington state is focusing on the right target. St. Louis is generating a relatively high per capita income growth. Between 1970 and 2003 the St. Louis region produced a higher per capita income growth in the national average. Read more. posted by Ed | Georgia puts resources overseas Georgia is expanding its international operations. Read more. posted by Ed | Delaware defines a new CEDS The State of Delaware is launching a process to develop a new Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. A CEDS is required to qualify for federal money from the US Economic Development Administration. Delaware is turning to its Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware to develop the strategy. Read more. posted by Ed | Working on tech transfer networks in Connecticut Here's another example of how technology and innovation are beginning to move center stage in the economic development to date. In Connecticut, the Legislature recently passed a new technology transfer bill. The governor signed into law in late July. The legislation is designed to create new innovation networks for economic development. Read more (This newspaper web site annoyingly uses frames. You need to search for the term "technology transfer". If you want the article and have difficulty locating it, e-mail me. I keep an archive of all the article appearing in EDPro Weblog.) (Getting large public universitie to be more entreprenurial is no small task. Outside observers note that the state's flagship university, the University of Connecticut, has largely dropped the ball on the effort to build a kind of campus based on the promotion of marine science. Read more. posted by Ed | Treating dropouts as an economic development issue Here is an interesting commentary from Louisiana that makes a connection between high school drop-out rates and economic development. It's more evidence, in my mind, that the attention in economic development is shifting toward developing brainpower. Read more. Since the late 1990's I've mapped education/workforce systems in a wide variety of places: Oklahoma City; the three county region of Charleston, SC; Youngstown and Cleveland Ohio; upstate New York around Corning; the states of Indiana, Maine and New Hampshire; the twenty-three parishes of northern Louisiana, to name some. The story is the same: We are producing too few students with post secondary ambitions and too many drop-outs. If you would like to learn more about this issue, visit the web site of the National Dropuout Prevention Center at Clemson University. I'm passionate about the topic, and I have a presentation ready for anyone interested to hear it. If you're interested, e-mail me. In Virginia, centers taht offer a GED are gearing up to make a marketing push. Over 800,000 adults in Virginia do not have a hgih school diploma. While it is true that a high school diploma no longer guarantees a ticket to the middle class, a GED is the place to start. Read more. posted by Ed | A focus on patent activity in economic development As more state policymakers understand that innovation drives prosperity, they're focusing increasingly on measures of innovation. These include patent discoveries. Here is an article from Illinois that outlines how the state has started to lag in its ability to generate new discoveries. The Chicago Tribune conducted an analysis of the position of Illinois in patent rankings. Read more. posted by Ed | Pittsburgh continues to innovate Pittsburgh continues to innovate with its technology-driven economic strategy. For example, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have a unique arrangement in which they share a director of economic development. Now, the director is promoting a new proposal to launch an umbrella organization for the region's technology economic development groups. The idea is to bring a more focused regional strategy to the region's technology development. Read more. posted by Ed | Mixed use town centers: It's all about quality Mixed use town centers are becoming a more popular antidote to sprawl. Read more. The quality of the development drives its success. Some critics see poorly designed mixed-use centers as simply another form of sprawl. Here's a good article that reviews a pending proposal in Manassas, Virginia. Read more. posted by Ed | Revitalizing Ness City , KS People in Ness City, KS are remaking their town with a new formula based on education and Internet access. The simple pragmatism of the people in a city is an inspiration. Read more. You can listen to the voices of from Ness City Mayor Gary Gantz and Economic Development Director Eric Deppeerschmidtthis page. posted by Ed | Muni WiFi heating up Municipal WiFi has become a significant concentration focus area. The moves are controversial, as this article from Iowa illustrates. Read more. Nevertheless, local governments are pressing on, as this article outlines. Here is another. The City of Cleveland will be accelerating its wireless local area networking to transform city based permitting. Read more. Cleveland is one of a small number of pilot cities that Intel has selected to pioneer wireless applications. Corpus Christi is another. Read more. San Francisco has announced ambitious plans for a city-side wireless. Read more here and here. Here's an update of what has been going on in Philadelphia, one of the first cities to announce ambitious WiFi plans. Read more. posted by Ed | Bridging university/market gaps in Oregon More states are looking at their universities to provide technology engines to generate new growth. Oregon is good case in point. In recent years, the state's universities and economic developers have launched a series of initiatives to accelerate commercialization out though research labs. These initiatives include the $21 million investment in the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute. In addition, at Portland State University they have invested in a series of initiatives to tie a engineering and science research closer to commercial markets. Read more about what it's been going on. posted by Ed | Reorganizing Missouri DED Thursday, August 18, 2005 Missouri's Department of Economic Development has announced a major reorganization, designed to deliver services more effectively. Learn more. posted by Ed | El Paso's economic summit Wednesday, August 17, 2005 Civic leaders in El Paso are getting together to develop a new economic development strategy. Inthe article, the following comment by one participant caught my eye: "I'm hoping the summit will help to create a more open and transparent environment for economic development. I am encouraged by the approach the mayor is taking to create an atmosphere for people to think, present new ideas, and have the confidence that our region can grow in a global economy." Here is why this quote is interesting. Economic development takes place in a civic space, outside the four walls of any one organization. In the past five years, I have noted that as more people see a stake in economic development strategy, the demand for transparency goes up. Corporations are facing the same challenge. (See, for example, Tapscott's book, The Naked Corporation.) We are seeing more economic development consultants using project web sites, not just to keep stuff organized, but also to make the process of strategic thinking more open and available. Read more about what is going on in El Paso. posted by Ed | The future of manufacturing in San Diego Tuesday, August 16, 2005 Here's a good article on how a manufacturing firm grows in San Diego. Proximity to markets helps the company innovate. At the same time, the nature of manufacturing operations are moving up the value scale. Businesses focus on the integration of high value activities. As one analyst notes: "Manufacturing in San Diego is in the middle of a change. It's moving away from the production line process being done in the past to the science of producing goods." Read more. posted by Ed | Huntsville's biotech institute Huntsville is a late entrant to the biotechnology development game, but civic leaders are heading in the right direction. They have a reasonable set of expectations, an early focus on innovation, and a model in San Diego that is guiding their thinking. One strength: the region's base of scientists and engineers in information technology can provide momentum in key areas like bioinformatics. Read more. Some observers criticize the rush to biotechnology investments. They point out that the large majority of investments will end up in only a handful of places. Few can aspire to be Cambridge or San Francisco. True enough. But that's not the only yardstick by which to measure the strategy. Here's another way to look at it. Economic development investing is all about S-curves, portfolios, opportunity costs, and managing risks. Civic leaders in Huntsville are right to focus a portion of their economic development resources on businesses that are at an early stage in their technology life cycle. Life science businesses generally fit this characteristic. The next question to ask is whether Huntsville has or can develop leading edge research and technology. That's an open question, but it's clear that Huntsville's leaders are thinking about their investment in these terms. Indeed, they are speculating --reasonably -- that they may be able to develop a position by combining biotechnology with their current strengths in computational science. The next issue to explore focuses on innovation networks. Does Huntsville have in place the company structure (including, for example, experienced managers) and the networks (investors and advisors comfortable with the technologies) needed to commercialize these ideas? The answer is probably not, but they are focused on a good model to build these networks: UCSD Connect. The final question comes down to an evaluation of opportunity costs. Given the range of futures in whch Huntsville can invest, do life sciences present a reasonable set of bets? Quite possibily, especially if Huntsville can leverage the state's major biotech hub in Birmingham. These are not all the questions to ask, but they frame the investment strategy in a different light than simple comparisons to Cambridge or San Francisco. posted by Ed | Finding more money for Ohio's Third Frontier Ohio's governor Taft holds a dubious distinction: he is the most unpopular governor. This fact matters, because in the fall Ohio voters will be asked to pass a $2 billion bond issue. The proposal includes money for high tech investment, Taft's Third Frontier initiative. The state has already invested $325 million in Taft's Third Frontier initiative, with most of the money going to Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. (No surprise there: that's where the research institutions are located.) Investments went to a range of different technologies, from biotech to fuel cells. Decisions on where the money went were nonpolitical, as outside experts reviewed proposals for funding. But this geographic distribution creates political problems. Rural parts of the state do not support Third Frontier spending. Two years ago, Taft's effort to increase Third Frontier funding by $500 million went down to defeat. (An weak campaign by the governor and his staff is frequently blamed for the defeat.) Now, Taft has another strategy: Drop the Third Frontier brand and tie technology investments to a bigger proposal to invest in traditional infrastructure. It's too early to tell whether this strategy will work. Backers are adjusting the process by which grants are awarded. A geographically balanced nine-member board will review projects. Still, passage of the bond issue is a long shot. I look at it this way: As a general rule of thumb, 20% of the voters on any bond issue are entrenched "No" votes. That means backers must get 51% out of the remaining 80% of the vote (a 64% majority of the remaining votes). That's why passing a bond referendum, even in good times, is tough. Read more about what is going on in Ohio. See how the Third Frontier money has been invested so far. View the graphic. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, August 13, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy that I came across: Down to the Wire By the numbers America's New Competition Fuming over gas costs: Economy threatened Administration to seek textile deal with China Bush says highway law will help the economy, save lives Bush, advisers paint rosy picture of U.S. economy U.S. small business optimism rises in July--survey Greenspan Pushes All the Right Buttons Productivity Growth Slows but Still Solid posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Here are the articles on economic incentives from last week. The Scripps deal might have even more help from Florida Atlantic University. Read more here and here. The Texas Enterprise Fund might be getting into a little political hot water. Read more. Pittsburgh is focused on building out its technology infrastructure. Read more. Here's an overview of what's been happening since the Sixth Circuit struck down Ohio's tax incentives for Daimler Chrysler. There are other cases in which incentives are under legal challenge. Read more. North Carolina's incentive package for Dole Foods plant is facing new scrutiny. Read more. New Mexico faces the same challenge as many other states: it's not easy to track the cost of tax incentives. Read more. A new report in Ohio argues that the states pays too much in corporate welfare. Read more. Download the report. posted by Ed | Buchanan County's growing educational cluster Buchanan County, Virginia has developed an interesting economic development strategy that departs from the traditional path. Civic leaders in Buchanan County decided to build their economic future around a new cluster of educational institutions. By developing a cluster in educational services, the county has begun the to diversify its economy. Interestingly, the county is developing small niche markets. So, for example, the latest ever focuses on a pharmacy school. In the pipeline, the county has plans to open a private forensic laboratory to partner with the pharmacy school. The private forensic lab would be able to conduct outsourcing work for state forensic labs and private organizations. Read more. posted by Ed | Strengthening ties within the Greater Richmond Partnership The Greater Richmond Partnership is developing a new strategy to address its political weaknesses. The lead economic development group in Richmond, Virginia, the partnership is designed to provide the services throughout its region. Earlier this spring, two of its public-sector partners raiseD serious questions about whether they were getting enough return for their investment in the partnership. Read more about how the Partnership is responding. posted by Ed | Building rural entrepreneurship networks The highly successful Council for Entrepreneurial Development in North Carolina is joining a statewide project with the Rural Economic Development Center. The project, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, is designed to create a comprehensive entrepreneurship development system to serve rural and minority entrepreneurs in North Carolina. Read more. posted by Ed | Expanding training options for manufacturing Manufacturing is facing a critical skills shortage, as baby boomers retire. To address this issue, the governor of Maryland has announced a new initiative with a state's community colleges. The state's Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing Education Center is also joining in the effort. The partners will develop curriculum and provide training for employees of Maryland to manufacturers. Read more. Addressing the pending worker shortage, the National Association of Manufacturers has launched the Dream It, Do It campaign. The site is focused on attracting young people to manufacturing careers. VIsit the web site. (The Society of Manufacturing Engieers also has a site directed toward young people. Visit the site.) Kansas City was selected as the first pilot location for Dream It, Do It. Now, manufacturing leaders in Nebraska want to follow with their own local campaign. The initiative in Columbus, Nebraska is designed to inform young people of employment opportunities in manufacturing. Read more. posted by Ed | Building Korean autos in the U.S. A lot of attention has been focused on where Toyota will build its next assembly plant in the US. Meanwhile, the South Korean manufacturer Kia, has apparently narrowed its search for a site to Mississippi or Kentucky. Read more. posted by Ed | Huntsville's biotech research institute Huntsville, Alabama built its economic development reputation on the presence of NASA. Now, in an effort to diversify its economy, leaders are moving toward biotechnology. Last week, they launched a new biotechnology research institute. The new project is designed to bring together top scientists and biotech companies to accelerate commercial development in genomic-based research. Read more about the nonprofit launch. posted by Ed | Economic gardening The city of Littleton, Colorado, under the economic development leadership of Chris Gibbons, has developed an economic strategy that Chris calls "economic gardening". The idea is to provide a new type of information-based entrepreneurial infrastructure to firms within a regional economy. By assisting firms in this way, economic developers can promote growth efficiently. The city government's job is to provide the right tools and environment for these businesses to succeed. Here is a good article on the Littleton economic gardening strategy. To learn more about this approach, visit the Littleton web site. It's also a good idea to subscribe to mailing list. posted by Ed | Iowa governor presses for more regional collaboration The governor of Iowa is prompting regional leaders in southeast Iowa to move ahead with an economic development summit. The governor is frustrated at the slow pace with which regional leaders have come to embrace collaboration. Economic development professionals within the region formed the Southeast Iowa Regional Economic Development Consortium last year. But the governor wants to leadership to accelerate these efforts. Read more. posted by Ed | Proposal to invest more into Wisconsin start-ups The Wisconsin Investment Board has launched a study to determine whether they should be making more investments in young firms within the state. The Fund includes $70 billion of pension assets for state workers, teachers and other employees. Last year, the fund allocated $135 million to venture investments. Technology leaders in the state are pressing the Fund to invest an additional resources into the venture capital. To support their argument, they cite the strong university research base and a leadership position in technology transfer. Read more about these developments in Wisconsin. posted by Ed | Rural cooperative for broadband? A report covering several southern Maryland counties addresses concerns about broadband deployment that are common in rural areas. The study advises the formation of a cooperative in order to bring wireless Internet services to the region. Read more. posted by Ed | Michigan University Commercialization Initiative Here is an interesting effort to accelerate to the commercialization of university research. The Michigan University Commercialization Initiative is a consortium of state universities, as well as for-profit and venture capital companies. The business firms will act as advisers to the initiative. The initiative is designed to fill the gap between government-sponsored research and the business opportunities that can be financed by established venture capital resources. Read more. posted by Ed | Minority business development is growing Minority business development is one of the significant growth areas in our economy. According to the US Census Bureau, the number of black -- owned businesses grew 45% between 1997 and 2002. Overall, the number of U.S. businesses increased by 10% over the same period. Read more. posted by Ed | Coordinating entrepreneurial resources In central Virginia, near Charlottesville, VA there is a new effort underway to strengthen the coordination and alignment of different business support organizations. The effort initially began with the vision of co-locating these different groups in one place. However, the working group quickly scrapped this idea in favor of developing a web site with coordination among the different groups. They are modeling their efforts after a strong program in Kansas City. Read more about what is happening in central Virginia. posted by Ed | A business accelerator in northern Iowa In Mason City, Iowa, a community college has launched a new business accelerator, targeted toward businesses that embrace creativity, innovation and growth. Representatives from the accelerator will visit to up to a hundred companies in northern Iowa. They will be looking for opportunities to help these companies create new products and increase productivity. The key to success will be connecting these young companies with experienced mentors. Read more. posted by Ed | Pittsburgh's new businesses Even in old-line industrial economies, new companies are emerging. Indeed, lower costs and a contrarian atmosphere may provide a strange stimulus for new business formation. Here is a good look at what is happening in Pittsburgh. A large percentage of these newer companies are being formed by professionals hundred 35 years old. Read more. posted by Ed | San Antonio gets in line for the Emerging Technology Fund Texas recently enacted a $200 million Emerging Technology Fund. The details of the fund and its financing are still being worked out. Meanwhile, civic leaders technology leaders in San Antonio are organizing the themselves to capture a portion of these funds. Read more about what San Antonio is doing. (With all that is happening in San Antonio, business leaders are optimistic about the city's future. Read more.) Texas' strategy for accelerating economic development with large commitments of public funds carries risk. The Texas superfund -- the Texas Enterprise Fund -- has run into trouble for funding a business which includes some campaign donors to the governor. Read more. posted by Ed | West Virginia University measures its impact Increasingly, state universities are promoting their economic impact as a way to emphasize their role in economic development. Here's a good example from West Virginia. The report's author directly translates state appropriations into economic impact. "With an appropriation of about $200 million from the state legislature, West Virginia University has managed to increase the state's coffee as investment tenfold." Read more. If you would like more background on the economic impact of public universities, here is an overview report from the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Download a copy. posted by Ed | Helena, AR: Translating a vision into action Strategic planning is a process, not a product. The quality of the plan depends on the quality of the process that led to its development. We see this theme in last week's announcement of a new plan for Philips County, Arkansas. As the chancellor of the local community college noted, "the most important product was a sense of renewed optimism the plan creates for the county." The effectiveness of a planning process depends on being able to translate a vision into specific action plans and next steps. This community appears to have succeeded in developing a clear, concise vision and a set of practical action plans.Read more. You can download a draft of the plan here. posted by Ed | Georgia governor: ED ain't easy In a candid presentation to a Canadian audience, Georgia's governor admitted that economic development was harder than it used to be. Georgia's relatively inexpensive labor pool is no longer the strong selling point it once was. In response, the Governor's strategy has been to promote his state's strengths, particularly for location, ports and infrastructure. According to the state's labor commissioner, "The old strong -- back, low -- wage workers won't be able to compete in the 21st century. You can't compete with low wages of other countries. It's a major sea change in how we build economic opportunity." Read more. posted by Ed | Young professionals meeting in Milwaukee Last week, the Milwaukee hosted the National Young Professionals Summit. Leaders from young professional organizations around the country of assembled in the city to develop their networks and exchange best practices. Organizations of young professionals are starting to appear around the country. They are part of a strategy to make a community "sticky" for young professionals. Read more about what happened in Milwaukee last week. You can learn more about young professional groups by visiting their web site. Here's a list of young professional groups from around the country. Here's an article from Pittsburgh that demonstrates why young professionals can lead to a new trajectory for a local economy. Read more. posted by Ed | Arizona looks to Ireland for inspiration Earlier this summer, the Indiana Leadership Summit focused on Ireland as a model for economic development strategy. As some of you may know, Ireland has moved from an economic bottom feeder a generation ago to one of the leading European economies. Ireland's leadership achieved this remarkable turnaround through a coordinated alignment of business, government, labor, and education. Arizona is another state that is looking to Ireland as an example of how collaboration can lead to economic results. The state's leadership, including the governor and the president of Arizona State University, travel to Ireland recently to learn a howl economic strategy is formed and executed. Here's a good article that reviews some of the lessons they learned. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, August 07, 2005 Here are the interesting articles on the economy from last week. US workers struggle to cope in new economic reality U.S. Goes High Speed, Slowly Auto Sales Boost Retail Purchases in July: U.S. Economy Preview Productivity is the issue of the hour for the Fed Dark clouds surround cheery jobs report Fed to raise US rates again as economy shows vigour Economy Showing Gains in Key Areas Vital Signs for the Week of Aug. 8 The Jobs Explosion Obscure economic indicator... cool... Jobs: Skills pay the bills posted by Ed | Incentive Watch Here are the interesting articles on incentives that I came across last week: Johns Manville is trying to reduce its taxes on a closed plant in Natchez. Read more. North Carolina landed its Dole plant. Read more. The governor had acted to expedite this project. Read more. The incentive package included a tax credit of $7,000 for every employee. Read more. West Virginia extended a $300,00 loan to an ammunition manufacturer with a shaky past. Read more. Missouri is relying on tax credits to help revitalize downtown St. Louis. Read more. Dekalb, Georgia is evaluating shifting its incentives to attract more knowledge-based businesses. Read more. Delta and Southwest, airlines operating out of Salt Lake City, are seeking help from the state in tax reform. Read more. A company in Georgia is moving across the Chattanooga River to chase incentives. Read more. Waco, TX is promising Caterpillar $800,000 in incentives if it meets some employment targets. Read more. posted by Ed | Building interdisciplinary research The University of Texas Dallas is investing in a new research center that combines the hard sciences -- chemistry, physics, biology -- with engineering. It's a smart move to create the research infrastructure needed to develop new technologies. Read more. The Universiuty of Massachusetts Lowell has a similar idea. In an effort to expand nanotechnology and biotechnology research on their campus, officials are pressing for a $60 million research center. The Chancellor of the University is an example of the new type of education leader that sees a tighter connection between university research and economic development. The new center will encourage interdisciplinary research at the boundaries of nanotechnology and biotechnology. To reach into the marketplace, the building will include a processing lab for companies to test materials and train workers. According to the Chancellor, "The world has gotten smaller and much more competitive. The need to innovate has become stronger." Read more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Lakes region in New Hampshire Rural regional often have a tough challenge integrating the different messages they want to deliver in one web site. (Larger regions have the resources to support multiple web sites: One for tourism, one for economic development, and so on.) Here's a good example of how a rural region has addressed the challenge. Read more. Visit the web site. posted by Ed | Opinions and viewpoints Ronnie Bryant gives a sense of what he how he sees his new job in Charlotte. Read more. The new top EDPro in Michigan offers his thoughts on the challenges ahead. Read more. West Virginia's new Secretary of Commerce offers his thoughts about new directions for the Mountain State. Read more. Meanwhile, Wisconsin's former top EDPro returns home to Milwaukee and wonders whether his city's leaders have the vision and the ambition to move in new directions. Read more. In South Carolina, a congressman doesn't much like the direction that Governor Sanford has been heading the state. Read more. posted by Ed | Angel capital group forms in Florida More and more regions are moving to fomalize angel capital networks. Here's an article that explains what is taking place on the Treasure Coast in Florida. Read more. Bill Wetzel, an economics professor at the University of New Hampshire, coined the term after conducting research on new venture creation in New England. He learned that a lot of start-up companies formed with investment from informal networks of sophisticated investors. In 1981, he published a pathbreaking paper on informal risk capital in New England. In 1983, Wetzel formed the Center for Venture Research to carry on his work. (I know all this because in 1983, I tried to apply Wetzel's ideas to a project in Louisiana...without much success. But that's another Louisiana story.) You can learn more about the Center here. You can learn more about angel investing from the Angel Capital Association. posted by Ed | American Jobs: A National Conversation Baton Rouge is participating as one of six cities in a research project to define the public's view of the main drivers of economic development. (Other cities include Cleveland, Baltimore, San Antonio, Kansas City, and Claremont, CA). Frank Sesno of CNN is hosting a town-hall forum about globalization and American jobs in these cities. A main goal in this project is to encourage open dialogue between citizens and their government, business, and community leaders. The Council for Excellence in Government in partnership with the Global Markets Institute at Goldman Sachs is sponsoring the project. As part of the program, the cities are participating in a public poll of attitudes toward economic development. In Baton Rouge, the importance of education came through as a top priority. Read more. You can learn more about the American Jobs initiative (including viewing webcasts and downloading poll results) from this page. posted by Ed | Building entrepreneurship in New York Here is an example of how entrepreneurship is coming to move to the center of the economic development agenda. A Democratic state legislator from New York has issued his own report on how his state can build an entrepreneurial economy. Read more. Interestingly, the report focuses on lowering business costs, but it does not endorse traditional economic development incentives. As such, the report strikes a nice political balance between the left and right. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | Shifting the gears at a chamber of ccommerce Chambers of commerce are facing a challenge to shift their focus from product-oriented organizations to solution-based organizations. Chamber value creation has traditionally been focused on a relatively set array of standard products: networking events, seminars, a membership directory, some data. These offerings have been marketed with "inside out" strategies that focus on making businesses aware of these offerings. As we recognize the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic development, chambers confront an exciting opportunity to change their orientation to "solution-based" marketing. These strategies call for a new approach to marketing and communications. (The strategy becomes more "outside in".) The chamber becomes a designer and enabler of open innovation networks. Database marketing and social network mapping become critical to this approach, as the chamber learns more about how networks form in their local economy and the steps they can take to facilitate these networks. Personalized marketing becomes a critical component to the chamber's new value proposition. One-to-one marketing becomes the norm. Few chambers have made this shift, but this is the direction in which competitive chambers will be heading. The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Georgia appears to be starting to make this shift. Read more. posted by Ed | Building the biotech cluster in New Mexico Here's a good idea. To promote the development of the state's biotech industry, civic leaders in New Mexico have formed the Biotechnology Partnership (BioTeP) initiative. Professional service firms will provide low cost services to new companies in this emerging cluster. Read more. You can download the report to the governor here. Visit the BioTeP web site posted by Ed | Focusing development efforts in Detroit Figuring out what to do in downtown Detroit is tough. Now there's a new partnership set to tackle the challenge. The new Downtown Detroit Partnership is really the merger of two other groups, the Greater Downtown Partnership and Detroit Downtown Inc. As such, the move by civic leaders in Detroit follows a pattern from other cities. Civic leaders are recognizing that the proliferation of civic groups engaged in economic development undercuts the ability to focus resources. At the same time, consolidation alone is not enough. The real challenge comes in changing the way in which economic development takes place. We need to move away from project-based, top-down strategies and toward initiatives that promote open innovation networks. This transition calls for a new model of civic leadership. Read more about what is happening in Detroit. posted by Ed | The emerging trend of town centers In rapidly growing counties outside our metro areas, lqand use planning is tough. Left alone, development will spread along the highway system, creating more congestion and chaotic travel patterns. To address this challenge, planners are now focusing on the development of mixed use town centers. Here's a good article that explains the trend. Read more. posted by Ed | Modernizing workforce systems in Indiana Here's another example of how innovation is slowly penetrating our workforce development systems. Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Ronald Stiver has an aggressive plan to bring new ideas to the state's workforce bureaucracy. Some of these ideas will fall flat, but some may stick. Read more. posted by Ed | The challenge of innovating in Cleveland Cleveland's civic leadership often trips over an old industrial mindset that emphasizes command and control behavior over innovation. Here's a case in point. A local councilman does not want a new business in his district. He doesn't like the idea of worm composting (also called vermiculture), despite the fact that this business is growing segment of sustainable agriculture. (To illustrate that the idea can make sense in urban settings, here's a web site from city council in Christ Church, New Zealand. Read more.) Apparently doing a little research on the Internet does not interest this particular Cleveland City Councilman. And his opposition is likely to squash this new business idea. According to the unwritten rules of Cleveland economic development, members of city council have a virtual veto power over business development in their districts. Read more. That level of political interference is a surefire way to stifle innovation. posted by Ed | Wichita's tattoo cluster Not all clusters are good for the neighborhood. On East Douglas in Wichita, a cluster of tattoo parlors is forming. Read more. Looking at Google, I found the following tattoo parlors on East Douglas: Redsea Tattoo, Luck Devil Tattoos, Bullwinkle's Tattoo & Body, Hell Bomb Tattoo, and Elektrik Chair. posted by Ed | Eminent domain: Aftermath of Kelo decision Friday, August 05, 2005 States are moving to respond to the Supreme Court's Kelo decision regarding eminent domain: States move to protect property Miss. lawmakers to pursue bar to cities seizing land for private development Indiana bill sets limits on eminent domain State, federal efforts directed at undoing Supreme Court private property decision Ohio: Eminent domain in question Task force looks at use of eminent domain in Missouri Tennessee: Senate panel to enter fray on eminent domain New Hampshire: Task force tackles eminent domain questions Eminent-domain uproar imperils projects posted by Ed | Comment: the impact of Scripps on Florida bioscience Wednesday, August 03, 2005 Robert Trigaux is one of the most insightful observers of economic development. He writes a regular column for the St. Petersburgh Times. Here's his take on the consequences of the Scripps project for Florida's effort to build a bioscience cluster. Read more. posted by Ed | Illinois makes international moves Illinois' Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation to create the Illinois Global Partnership, a not-for-profit corporation. A fourteen member board will govern the corporation. The Partnership has the authority to host monthly business leadership forums, manage trips to Washington, D.C. for key business leaders, arrange trips to Illinois for members of Congress from other states, host monthly trade missions from international companies, and help manage trips to other states and countries for Illinois business leaders. Read more. posted by Ed | The challenge of managing sprawl Regional thinking sometimes emerges as a consequence of sprawling growth. Tampa Bay is a good case in point. New residential development in Manattee and Hillsborough counties is forcing civic leaders to consider regional approaches to development planning. Here's the dilemma: In Florida, as in most states, development decisions are left in the hands of local officials. They can make incremental decisions -- one subdivision here, another there -- that accumulate to large scale regional impacts. Increasingly, these challenges will spread across Southern and Western states. From 2000 to 2030, population in theses regions are expected to grow by over 40%. (In contrast, population in the Midwest states is expected to grow by only 9%.) The struggles in and around Tampa will play themselves out in other metro regions in the South and West. Read more about what is going on in Tampa. Read more. posted by Ed | Defining a sustainability strategy for Eugene, OR Sustainability is still very much on the edge of economic development...but the trend is growing. For example, last month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution to support the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty ratified earlier this year without the United States. Learn more. Eugene, OR has focused on sustainability as a core concept in its economic development strategy. The goal is to make Eugene “a nationally known ‘center of excellence’ in this rapidly growing field.” Here's a review of what the city has been doing. Read more. posted by Ed | |
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