| |
|
Resource: Report on knowledge clusters
Thursday, September 29, 2005 The University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs has just released a report, Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship as Keys to Regional Economic Development. According to the e-mail from Lee Munnich, Senior Fellow and Director of the State and Local Policy Program: "The report provides economic developers with an understanding of the latest research on the issues surrounding entrepreneurship and knowledge clusters as economic development strategies, along with practical new ideas and tactics. Download a copy. posted by Ed | Resource: New report on e-learning for high schools EDPros are coming to understand that developing and deploying brainpower will determine the long term prospects for their economy. In short, we have a deep stake in improving the performance of the American high school. Few economic development investments are as sound as investments -- early childhood development, drop-out prevention, post-secondary education incentives -- that improve educational outcomes. Michigan has been a pioneer in high school e-learning with its Virtual High School. These type of innovations offer the prospect of improving outcomes in secondary schools, where innovations are remarkably hard to launch. (We still measure progress in high schools by Carnegie units -- a measure of "seat time" -- devised in 1906.) Here's an interesting report on e-learning opportunities for Michigan. According to the report: "Michigan cannot lead in the 21st Century without casting off the anchors of attitude, archaic laws and public policies and beliefs that bind us to 20th-Century education models." The same holds true for all states. Download the report. posted by Ed | New web-based tool for innovation The Kauffman Foundation has launched a new web-based to to accelerate the flow of innovative ideas from universities to the marketplace. The foundation's research showed that potentially valuable technologies lie dormant in universities too long. So, the foundation is investing in a new tool to tighten the connection between university labs and commercial markets. Initially, seven universities will participate in a pilot. Learn more. posted by Ed | Collaboration Council in Dane County Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Around Madison, Wisconsin, civic leaders have created the Dane County Collaboration Council. It is another model of building networks to create effective economic development strategies. Read more. Economic development takes place in a civic space, outside the four walls of any one organization. The challenge is simple to see, but complex to address: In the civic space, no one can tell anyone else what to do. Models of strategic planning, born from industrial corporate environments, are not as useful in managing these complexities. Command and control systems do not work in economic development. Our challenge instead is to build alignment among inter-dependent entities. The most important aspect in creating alignment is build trust among the people involved. Trust comes not from words, but from consistent behavior. So, we need to find ways to build trust by moving people quickly from thinking about collaborating to actually doing something collaboratively. posted by Ed | Incentive Watch: Supremes to hear tax case The Supreme Court said yesterday it will decide whether state governments can use tax breaks to entice companies to build manufacturing facilities in their jurisdictions. The case is an appeal by the state of Ohio and by DaimlerChrysler, recipient of an Ohio investment tax credit for building a Jeep plant in a depressed area of Toledo, from a federal appeals court ruling that benefits of this type interfere unconstitutionally with interstate commerce. Read more. posted by Ed | Innovation and entrepreneurship conference blog Starting today, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is holding a three day conference on Innovation and entrepreneurship. You can read about the conference here. The proceedings will also be posted on a blog. Visit the blog. posted by Ed | The evolution of land development We're entering into a third phase of land development for economic development. In the first phase, EDPros focused exclusively on infrastructure issues: connections to water, sewer, utility and transportation systems. In the second phase (which began around 1990), we began to see EDPros focus on the quality of development in their industrial parks. So, land development included restrictive covenants to give a site "curb appeal". Now we are moving into a third, more complex phase. EDPros are focusing on mixed use development and the design of town centers to give their development sites a "campus feel". Here's an example from Virginia. Read more. Land development, in short, follows what matters to business. In the first era, costs mattered most. Now, it is attracting and keeping knowledge workers. These workers value their experiences: They want good places to eat, convenient places to shop and exercise. posted by Ed | Web Watch: ChooseWashington.com The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) has chosen ChooseWashington.com as their top website this year. You can read more about the award here. VIsit the site. posted by Ed | Grow Wisconsin: The 2005 Agenda Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Governor Doyle of Wisconsin has announced a major new set of economic development initiatives: Grow Wisconsin 2005. The plan includes supporting small-business incubators; encouraging businesses to locate in "distressed" areas; expediting venture capital and angel investor tax credit expenditures and helping the state's manufacturers become more competitive,Read more. In addition, the governor announced that the state has made a major investment in a company conducting stem cell research. Read more. posted by Ed | Rebuilding New Orleans: Two important commentaries Here are two good commentaries on rebuilding New Orleans The first comes from a scholar who has studied how cities rebuild after disasters. Among his advice, "Don't fail to value and support existing social networks". Read more. These comments echo a recent column by Neal Peirce. He calls for a new Federalism that involves "a process of direct engagement, mutual respect, consultation and open democratic processes". He quotes Bob Yaro, a noted expert on physical planning for regions. Yaro indicates that "a science and art of reshaping communities is emerging in America." EDPros are right in the middle of these developments. Read more. posted by Ed | Integrating wireless networks across universities In an interesting move to stimulate collaboration among their campuses, Indiana University and Purdue University are integrating their wireless networks. The powerful aspect of this announcement comes in the next step. According to one of the project leaders, "[W]e should continue to work toward extending these capabilities across Indiana to other universities, colleges and related organizations." Read more. posted by Ed | Aerospace competition Here's an interesting article on the competition among states for aerospace jobs. Written from the perspective of Colorado, it outlines the many factors that come into play. Colorado's lack of incentives does not prevent the state from scoring some major investments. An interesting insight into why recruiting firms from other states is tough. Mike Coats, vice president of Lockheed Martin Astronautics indicates that companies don't like to relocate existing jobs to another state, because on average only about 20 percent of the workers end up making the move. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Sunday, September 25, 2005 Here are some of the interesting articles (and opinion pieces) I came across last week: Rita likely to spark rise in gas prices Tricky times for central bankers Law Changes Spur Bankruptcy Filings Storm brewing in Portland Great ideas are not enough Can America make it? Vital Signs for the Week of Sept. 26 US world position in education slipping, annual study finds Rising energy prices seen risk to U.S. economy U.S. consumer confidence gauge falls - report Fed hikes rates, says Katrina impact appears temporary posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the articles on incentives that caught my eye. A state legislator in New York is continuing his campaign against Empire Zones. Read more. Here's a review of The Great American Jobs Scam, a new book on the abuse of corporate incentives. Read more. Dell got a sweet deal when it moved into North Carolina. The state, hit hard by textile layoffs, was desperate for some good news, so it bought some (for $318 million). Read more. Samsung is shopping in Oregon, Texas and New York for the site of its big chip plant. Read more. Indiana is struggling with the issue of whether mega-retailers deserve incentives. Read more. The casinos along the Gulf Coast are ready to cash in on fat tax incentives. Read more. New Jersey is launching a new financing program to emerging high-tech companies. The initiative will make long-term loans from $100,000 to $1 million. Read more posted by Ed | Recruiting young brains to Midland Midland, Texas is launching a marketing campaign to attract young professionals away from bigger cities. Midland will be focusing its efforts on Dallas, Houston and Austin. The effort will also target out-of-state markets like Baton Rouge. Read more. posted by Ed | Too many governments in Pennsylvania? There's one thing for sure. Pennsylvania has a lot of local governments. The question is whether these government units promote or retard the state's competitiveness. Sometime ago, the Brookings Institution issued a report on Pennsylvania. Among other things, the report concluded that the fragmentation of local government in the state hampers competitiveness. In effect, the report argued that the state has a relatively high public overhead. (This is a regional problem. Northern states generally have a higher public employment per capita than Southern states.) This fragmentation also leads to an ineffectual response to sprawl. (Pennsylvania like other Great Lakes states, is suffering from no growth sprawl.) The study contended that by not addressing this issue effectively, the state was weakening the state's established communities at a time when it needs these communities to compete in the global, knowledge-based economy. Not surprisingly, township officials argue against these conclusions. Read more about this controversy. You can download the Brookings report from this page. You can learn more about what is happening in Pennsylvania as an outgrowth of the Brookings report from the RenewPA web site. posted by Ed | Center for Economic Growth in Albany In Albany, the Center for Economic Growth is a major player in the transformation of the economy. CEG is one of the leading organizations that has caught my eye for innovation in regional economic development. Now it is managing the region's angel capital network. Read more. posted by Ed | Open Source Economic Development in Lexington, KY In recent weeks, I've been working in Lexington, Kentucky. Here's a good article from the Lexington Business Journal which outlines the new approach we are taking to regional strategy. Based on the model of Open Source Economic Development, we are focused on building open networks of collaboration. To many, "open source" implies development by a chaotic crowd. In reality, the model is more organized and focused. It combines open participation with leadership direction. You can get a glimpse of what we are doing from this article. I'm thinking about holding a two day course in Open Source Economic Development in November. If you are interested in being a part of the first class, please e-mail me. posted by Ed | Jacksonville's Blueprint for Prosperity Jacksonville has an interesting set of strategic conversations under way. The Blueprint for Prosperity initiative is focused on a range of meetings to explore different scenarios about the regional economy. Read more about the Blueprint for Prosperity process. Visit the web site. posted by Ed | Creative businesses in rural Alabama In the past, rural economies focused on recruitng large manufacturing companies. The strategy is not nearly as productive as it once was. Now, rural economies need to focus on entrepreneurship and innovation strategies. These new approaches blur the distinction between tourism development and economic development. Here's an example from Alabama. The opening of Black Belt Treasures Gallery in downtown Camden highlights the region's creative businesses. Read more. EDPros in rural Vermont are pursuing this strategy aggressively. Download the Vermont report. posted by Ed | Toledo listens to Pittsburgh Older industrial states have a particular to difficult time in adjusting to the continued pressures of globalization. Yet, we see some valuable efforts underway. In Pittsburgh, for example, a range of collaborations have emerged to move the region's economic development strategies toward a more knowledge-based businesses. In Toledo last week, civic leaders listened to how Pittsburgh is making these adjustments. Read more. posted by Ed | The value of higher education partnerships Partnerships among higher educational institutions will play an increasingly important role in the competitiveness of communities and regions. Designing and implementing these collaborations is not easy. Higher education politics is often parochial and slow. At the same time, these partnerships are important to build more flexible, responsive connections among schools. Some of our most entrepreneurial civic leaders are leading our educational institutions. Economic developers have the opportunity to encourage these partnerships. In South Carolina, for example, Clemson is exploring a partnership with the state's 16 technical colleges. Read more. In another case reported last week, Yuba Community College District is moving closer to a partnership with California State University, Chico. Read more. posted by Ed | Building biotech scale in Charlotte The major announcement of a major research hub in Charlotte -- a Biopolis -- has led to important commitment by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to support the development. Read more. Leaders in North Carolina appear to have borrowed their concept from Singapore. The Biopolis in Singapore operates as a research hub. Learn more Singapore'a Biopolis. Meanwhile, in Winston-Salem, leaders believe that the significant development in Charlotte will not detract from their efforts. Read more. posted by Ed | Arizona's habit of collaboration From the outside, Arizona appears to be one state with a strong tradition of economic development collaboration. While there's undoubtedly competition among different entities, collaboration is a dominant pattern. One commentator does not want the state's civic leadership to forget the importance of collaboration. Read more. posted by Ed | Google's free wireless plans? Google may have plans to introduce free wireless Internet access. That move would have a big impact on the telecommunications landscape. Here's an article that explores what might be in store. Read more. posted by Ed | Universities and economic development Economic developers are coming to understand that universities play a critical role in building prosperity is within the region. It only makes sense. In a knowledge economy, universities are a key source of brainpower. Here's a good article that discusses the evolving role of universities and their relationships to surrounding cities. Read more. In Iowa, the deans of the engineering schools from Iowa State and the University of Iowa combined to write a strong commentary on the importance of universities to Iowa's economic future. They paint a vision of a technology quadrangle stretching from Ames in Des Moines to Iowa city and Cedar Rapids. Read more about their vision. And finally in Wisconsin earlier this month, a leading business executive underscores the importance of the state's University system to the future of the economy. Read more. if you are curious about how your state supports higher education, check out the National Report Card on Higher Education. posted by Ed | Early child development in West Virginia West Virginia is developing a focus on the connection between early childhood development and economic development. A recent study by Marshall University highlights the importance of early childhood development and calculates an economic return to this investment. According to the study's author, a dollar invested in early childhood education returns $5.61. Read more about what's happening in West Virginia. Download a copy of the presentation on the report. Here's another example, this time out of Wisconsin. Early childhood education is being promoted as an economic development initiative. The Milwaukee conference, sponsored by educators, is trying to build a bridge to the business community. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home: Butler County, OH: Part 2 Last week, I pointed to the problems arising in Butler County, Ohio. It seems that the County entered into a partnership with a company that appears to be less than ethical. Now, the county prosecutor has referred the case to the FBI. Read more. posted by Ed | The ICT cluster in Seattle While cruising the Internet, I came across of this study of the information and communication technology cluster in Seattle. You can download the report here. posted by Ed | Building public-private partnerships in a small town A small town to the east of Kansas City has developed a new public-private partnership for economic development. The partnership provides a means for the public and private sector to come together to identify economic development priorities. Increasingly, regions are coming to understand that both the public and private sectors have roles to play in defining economic strategies. We can divide the strategies into two broad groups. Publicly lead, privately supported strategies focus on infrastructure investments. Privately lead, publicly supported strategies tend to focus on business development. Read more about the partnership emerging in Blue Springs, Missouri. Her's another case of discovering partnerships in a small place. This one is from Wise County, Virginiai. Read more. posted by Ed | Creating networks with conferences In an effort to build a hits cluster in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Cleveland will be holding an economic summit on MEMS and nanotechnology. Events like this provide a useful way to build networks. Read more about the Cleveland event. In another example, Rochester will be hosting a venture-capital summit to next year. The annual meeting of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds will provide Rochester an opportunity to understand more deeply how venture capital networks operate. Read more. Evansville, Indiana is conducting its first-ever Evansville Technology Fair. Few people would think of Evansville as a technology hub. However, this event points to an important insight. Virtually any community with a postsecondary school can host a technology fair. Read more about what is going on in Evansville. Here's another example of a technology conference in a place you might not expect. Fayetteville, Arkansas is organizing a technology conference to highlight business development opportunities within the state. Read more about the Arkansas technology conference. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Monday, September 19, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy that caught my eye last week: Harris Poll results on hurricane Productivity growth slows while labor pressures increase Vital Signs for the Week of Sept. 19 Federal Reserve survey shows economy was expanding nicely – before Katrina struck Global Economy Projected To Slow in 2006, Research Group Says Katrina 'severely hit' output, Fed report says Ill Winds for Consumer Spending? The Mother Of All Toxic Cleanups posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the interesting articles on incentives I came across last week. Michigan has a new way to support its struggling to a new tool and die industry. Read more. Regional competition for companies around St. Louis is raising important questions about incentive wars. Read more. The alternative press in North Carolina has published a lengthy critique of the state's incentive policies. Read more. Tennessee is calculating the angles for the corporate headquarters of Nissan to move out of California. Read more. A press report from Maryland highlights the difficulty of keeping track of jobs goals with her women attached to incentives. Read more. Louisiana legislators are pushing incentives for rebuilding after the Katrina disaster. Read more. posted by Ed | Rhode Island relaunches business plan competition Business plan competitions are an effective way to encourage change in behavior and perceptions within communities and regions. It's a low-cost way to develop the networks needed for entrepreneurship and innovation. Here's an example of a business plan competition that has been re-launched in Rhode Island. Read more. posted by Ed | Wisconsin invests in partnership The Wisconsin Department of Commerce has provided some funding for the Greater Milwaukee Economic Development Partnership. The article highlights an important role that state governments can play to encourage regional collaboration. By providing seed money, the state can encourage the formation of these regional partnerships. The state will provide $500,000, the City of Milwaukee will invest $100,000 and four counties will each invest $25,000 into the partnership. The private sector will provide the majority of the budget. Read more. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home A little due diligence goes a long way. County officials in Butler County, Ohio were ecstatic last month when they announced a new partnership with a company to develop the county's Internet infrastructure. Read more. Fast-forward one month. County officials are now referring their partner to the FBI. It appears that the company may have fraudulently secured documents which it allegedly used to secure bank loans on equipment. Read more. The story is important because the company is involved elsewhere with other counties in encouraging them to build out their Internet infrastructures. For example here's a story out of Alabama. Read more. posted by Ed | Building innovation networks In an earlier post, I pointed to the Innovation Expo that will be taking place next month and South Dakota. Here are two other examples of how regions are working together to build a collaboration needed for innovation networks. These networks take time to form, but regular events like these speed the process. In the Tennessee Valley Corridor in Eastern Tennessee, civic leaders will be holding the Tennessee Valley Venture Forum. The purpose of the forum is to bring together business, research, and investors to explore new business opportunities. Read more. In a similar effort, EDPros in Western North Carolina recently held an event to bring together individual investors, venture capital companies, researchers and entrepreneurs. Read more. posted by Ed | South Carolina's research infrastructure for hydrogen South Carolina continues to build the infrastructure for a hydrogen research and technology. The latest announcement comes from Toyota. The company will partner with Savanna River National Lab to develop hydrogen fuel storage systems for automobiles. Read more posted by Ed | Connecting early child development to economic development An editorial out of Oregon last week highlights the continuing interest in bringing early childhood education to the center stage of economic development. The writer cites the importance of early childhood development to longer-term workforce development. Read the editorial here. In promoting this idea, he refers to the work done by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. Learn more about early childhood education and economic development from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. You can also read the report of the Committee for Economic Development. Download the report fromthis page. posted by Ed | Bio-Town in Indiana High oil prices have rekindled a interest in renewable energy. Among the most promising options are ethanol and biodiesel. The Indiana Department of Agriculture has come up with an exciting idea. It proposes to convert the town of Reynolds, Indiana into a renewable energy community: Bio-Town, USA. The department has announced a three phase development plan. Read more. posted by Ed | Attracting the young and restless to Tampa Economic development is moving away from recruiting companies and toward recruiting people. Here's an example out of Tampa. Creative TampaBay has engaged an outside consultant to conduct market research on ways the region can attract young, highly skilled professionals. Read more. posted by Ed | Diversifying the economy around Ft. Wayne The Northeast Indiana Corporate Council is leading an effort to diversify the economy of Northeast Indiana, around Fort Wayne. The council's efforts are focused on accelerating technology development and innovation. The article includes an important story of an owl Michelin decided to make a significant investment in one of its facilities in Ft. Wayne. The key connection came between the plant's manager and the local school system. In addition, the council is fostering connections with other international companies as part if its diversification strategy. Here is a good article that provides an overview. Read more. posted by Ed | Ohio State commits to a research park The Ohio State University has agreed to provide an anchor to a technology park in Dublin, Ohio. Read more about the partnership. posted by Ed | Milwaukee's inner city innovations The mayor of Milwaukee is launching an important experiment in urban economic innovation. Meeting with lawyers and financial professionals, he has devised a program that would use a wide range of inner-city assets, including vacant land, to provide collateral for promising entrepreneurs. The loan fund is targeted at people with strong management backgrounds and credit histories. These people do not, however, have the assets to support larger scale financing to expand their businesses. This approach is promising, because inner-city economies are characterized with very successful, but isolated businesspeople who operate on the edge of markets. This program will assist them in getting into the more mainstream banking relationships. Read more. The inner city is an important economic development frontier, and new models of development show promise. Some years ago, Michael Porter established the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to apply cluster approaches to these markets. Learn more posted by Ed | Building innovation in South Dakota Most people don't expect to hear much about innovation from South Dakota. However, EDPros in that state are taking the right steps in promoting and innovation Expo next month. The event will connect entrepreneurs, investors, and others involved in innovation. Read more These type of events for critically important to building innovation networks. We are in the habit of thinking that entrepreneurship is the product of a single individual with a big idea: Ford's Model T or Edison's light bulb. In reality, entrepreneurship involves building and operating within networks of collaborations. Trust is critically important to the effectiveness of these networks. And trust can only be built through personal interactions. That's why these events are so important. posted by Ed | Privately-held research campus in Charlotte North Carolina is continuing its efforts to diversify its economy. The latest example comes out of Charlotte. There, the Charlotte regional partnership has announced a major new research campus at an old textile mill. The privately-held research campus will cover 350 acres in downtown Kannapolis. The development plan calls for a five year build out. The project, ambitious and scope, hopes to create a new set of anchors or a knowledge-based cluster of businesses in health and nutrition. The campus will be anchored by a Dole-N.C. State Institute for Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science, a Dole analytical lab and a UNC-Chapel Hill Nutrition Institute. here and here. posted by Ed | Finding the virtues of collaboration In Michigan last week a panel of experts got together to discuss the state's economic future. One of the major conclusions: collaboration creates new opportunities for growth. One of the panel speakers highlighted the importance of "mental maps" and economic development. "We will be, what we believe we can become". Read more. posted by Ed | Libraries and economic development In a global economy that runs on brainpower, libraries are playing an increasingly important role in economic development. Here's a good example from New Jersey. The New Jersey State Library has launched a web site that enables business owners and entrepreneurs to access thousands of articles and reports. The only requirement is a library card. Read more. posted by Ed | Tennessee establishes new Leadership Center Sunday, September 11, 2005 Tennessee has established a new Tennessee Leadership Center to provide training for EDPros in economic development. The Center, headed by David Kolzow, will be encouraging a more regional appraoch to economic development in the state. Read more. You can also visit the Center website to learn more. posted by Ed | Business plan competitions Business plan competitions are a proven way to start building entrepreneurship and innovation networks in your economy. EDPros in Western Illinois are starting a competition. The article describing the effort includes contact information, if you want to learn more. Read more. Here is a report from Australia that outlines the value of business plan competitions. Download. And here is a good overview article. Download. posted by Ed | Why we do economic development Through this profile of an EDPro in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, we can see why economic development matters. Read more posted by Ed | Milwaukee moves to build a regional brand Branding -- telling your story effectively -- has become a critical part of economic development strategy. Outlying counties to metro regions often have difficulty coming to grips with the fact that the region depends on the city. Within regions, as within families, odd and dysfunctional relationships can form. So, it is a healthy step when civic leaders come to grips with their interdependence. Often the toughest challenge comes in marketing. Part of the reason is identity. People from Berkeley County (near Charleston, SC) like to be known as coming from Berkeley County. But few people in San Francisco (let alone Shanghai) know where Berkeley County is. Most probably know Charleston. Another problem with regional marketing arises from the mechanics. Regional marketing efforts -- especially when focused on business recrutiment -- requires a high level of trust to be successful. Handling prospects fairly (while still dealing with confidentiality issues) is tricky. So, it's a good sign that regional leaders in Milwaukee are moving to a regional brand. But the devil is in the details. Their success will depend, in large part, on whether they can build an sustain trust. Read more. posted by Ed | Nebraska life sciences Nebraska has formed a state bioscience association. You can learn more about it here. Or, visit the web site. posted by Ed | Connecting with e-commerce workshops Connecting smaller rural busnesses to larger market opportunities can take place through e-commerce workshops. Telecommunications companies will often pay to sponsor these sessions. Here's an example from New Mexico. Read more posted by Ed | New Orleans: Recovery Here's a good article from the Los Angeles Times on the opportunities ahead for rebuilding New Orleans. Read more. posted by Ed | North American Wind Research and Training Center A community college in New Mexico is stepping forward with a bold initiative to establish the North American Wind Research and Training Center (NAWRTC). Read more. You can also vist the web site. posted by Ed | The importance of our converesations It appears that Brownsville, TX has started down a useful path in defining its future. Last week, civic leaders in the region held a roundtable discussion on the region's future. They invited a number of outisde voices to start the conversation. Importantly, these perspectives focused on higher education. Read more. At the same time, as one participant noted, having good educational institutions is not enough. A region must focus on its assets and build off them. Another comment highlights this importance of how we think about these opportunities. A lot of economic development involves changing peoples' minds. We do that by changing the conversation. Why is this important? People move in the direction of their conversations. If we end up comparing our assets to others -- but we're only Brownsville -- chances are we will not focus on the opportunities to move ahead. If, instead, we focus on what we could do together -- how collabroation could work -- our chance of actually translating an idea into action increases. posted by Ed | Indiana's insurance strategy Indiana has unveiled plans to move aggressively in developing its insurance businesses. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has recently appointed a new director of its insurance initiatives. The strategy includes both recruitment of new companies and the development of existing businesses. Read more about the Indiana strategy. posted by Ed | Building brainpower Here is a good commentary from the executive at Battle Creek Unlimited on the importance of education and economic development. Read more. Most of us grew up in the economic development profession with recruitment as the central strategy for building an economy. Over the next 10 years, developing brainpower -- and figuring out how to convert this brainpower into wealth through entrepreneurship and innovation networks -- has become the central challenge of economic development. While recruitment will still play a part in our strategies, it will become more balanced with these other approaches. Here's another example of how this thinking is shifting. In a recent article in the Smoky Mountain News, discusses the need to shift economic development priorities in North Carolina toward encouraging the development of small businesses. Read more. posted by Ed | Regional partnership touching Missouri-Arkansas For a couple of years, we have been seeing regional economic development partnerships form across state boundaries. The main message: in a global economy, state lines don't matter much. Here's a good example partnership that among three counties between Missouri and Arkansas. Read more. posted by Ed | Building a knowledge-based strategy in Buffalo Increasingly, civic leaders are coming to understand that colleges and universities provide the major assets for competing in a knowledge-based economy. Any region with colleges and universities has a continuous stream of brainpower. The challenge involves finding ways to connect this brainpower through the regional economy. (A recent report by the Kauffman Foundaation indicates that university-based researchis not being applied to generate innovations. The Foundation will be conducting a workshop later this month to explore these issues more completely. Read more.) There is no single approach to build these networks. In some cases, incubators provide a useful start. In both Pennsylvania and Michigan, the state government is promoting innovation zones around the colleges and universities. A variety of other networks can prove effective. (See, for example, the Michigan University Commercialization Iniattive. Learn more.) Here's a good article that explores how the University of Buffalo is adapting itself to these new realities. Read more. posted by Ed | Manufacturing partnerships for young people There is no simple answer to the shortage in a skilled manufacturing workers in this country. Despite the popular perception that manufacturing is declining, we face a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. In large part, the problem exists because young people are not encouraged early to consider manufacturing careers. Another part of the problem comes in the fragmentation in our education and training system. Training in manufacturing careers often does not match the current needs of of current employers. The only realistic approach to address these gaps is to create new types of partnerships within your regional economy. Here's an example from California. Manufacturers in Stanislaus County, California have formed a partnership with the city schools and the Department of Employment and Training. The partnership follows a twofold mission. First, it is designed to make young people aware of the high-technology potential of manufacturing careers. Second, they want to expose high school seniors to work experience. Read more. posted by Ed | Revitalizing downtown Indianapolis Over the past 20 years, Indianapolis has revitalized its downtown. One of the keystone investment projects was the city's downtown mall. Here is a good overview of how Cirle Centre came to be and how it rejuvenated the downtown area. Read more. posted by Ed | New Orleans: Recovery Wednesday, September 07, 2005 I pass along a note that Pat Levine from of Development Counsellors International. DCI is a public relations firm that works with economic development organizations across the country. DCI helped us out enormously in Oklahoma City after the bombing. (I was working as a consultant designing their economic development strategy when the bombing took place.) Now DCI is working with Greater New Orleans Inc. The influx of people out of New Orleans is going to strain resources and infrastructure in other parts of the state. Friends of mine in Ascension Parish between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, are struggling with the influx of people looking for temporrary or permanent housing. (This creates another danger. For six years, we worked to enact a development code in Ascension Parish that would create a buffer between residential development and the big chemical plants along the Mississippi. The pressure of people coming into the parish may erode these buffers and create long term public safety problems.) Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish are also struggling. We are quick to turn the channel on national disasters. This one, though, will be with us for a very long time. Hopefully, we will not turn away. Here is the note from Pat about assistance offered through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation: Our client Greater New Orleans Inc. (GNO,INC.) is now operating out of offices of The Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF). BRAF has established two funds victims of Hurricane Katrina. My co-worker Tracey Foster is working with the media to get the news out. Below is background and the official release--I hope that among your continuing coverage of Katrina you can include an item on this local charitable approach --an example of one economic developer helping out another. Any questions it is best to contact Tracey (tracey.foster@dc-intl.com) or her associates Michael Egbert (michael.egbert@dc-intl.com or Maria Mantz (maria.mantz@dc-intl.com) or by phone at 212-725-0707. BRAF is the largest community foundation in the state of Louisiana with a long history of philanthropy throughout the state. What distinguishes this fund from the Red Cross is that it is DIRECT and LONG TERM solution which allocates resources in the most effective way to reach people in need. This could be through municipal organizations, through the Red Cross, etc. Many people have been complaining that they aren’t sure where their money will go, and this fund addresses that concern. This foundation is best positioned to help New Orleans refugees as this tragedy continues in the coming months, as they are a neutral party, with the proper infrastructure to administer long-term aid in the right way. We know that other funds are being developed and announced by people ranging from Mark Moriale to Bill Clinton, but this is available NOW for citizens who wish to contribute to a long-term direct fund. Greater New Orleans, Inc.(GNO, Inc.), a regional economic development organization is working with BRAF to help Louisiana residents in need. Early indication is that more than 500,000 New Orleans regional residents will be displaced in Baton Rouge for anywhere up to six months. Baton Rouge is looking to offer shelter for the majority of those displaced, which could more than double the size of the city. WITH STORM FAR MORE CATASTROPHIC THAN FIRST BELIEVED, BATON ROUGE AREA FOUNDATION ESTABLISHES KATRINA DISASTER FUNDS Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 30, 2005-The Baton Rouge Area Foundation announced today the establishment of two new funds in response to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina to southeast Louisiana. Donations are now being accepted. The Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund will benefit those individuals and families evacuated to Baton Rouge from the hurricane impacted areas in Greater New Orleans, who are now unable to return for what may be an extended period. Early official estimates suggest that as many as 500,000 individuals may be required to remain in our area for up to six months, and they will face numerous challenges related to housing, food, education, healthcare and basic survival necessities. This fund will support those entities and programs in our area that endeavor to meet these critical needs, as well as address the impact this influx of residents will have on our community. The Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Recovery Fund will focus on the rebuilding of infrastructure to provide basic human services to residents of these devastated areas. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation will coordinate closely with federal, state and local officials in an attempt to provide resources to programs and efforts that positively and immediately impact the quality of life of these individuals, and contribute to the overall rebuilding of critical service delivery mechanisms in the Greater New Orleans area. Tax deductible donations to one or both of these funds are now being accepted online at www.braf.org. Donations by check should be made out to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the designation of the fund noted on the memo line. Checks should be mailed or delivered to 402 North Fourth Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Toll-free (877) 387-6126 "We are just beginning to discern the magnitude of destruction and human loss that is unfolding in southeast Louisiana. This is a human tragedy on a massive level that will have a much greater local impact than many may realize. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Baton Rouge community must stand ready to assist the many thousands who are displaced from their homes through evacuations to our community," said John G. Davies, President and Chief Executive Officer, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation is a community foundation, a nonprofit organization composed of over 300 charitable funds with over $375 million in assets established by individuals, families, corporations and organizations. In 2004, the Foundation has made $9.6 million in grants in the areas of Arts & Humanities, Community Development, Education, Environment, Human Services, Medical/Health, Religion and Scholarships. For more information about the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, please visit www.braf.org. posted by Ed | New Orleans: Negative government Monday, September 05, 2005 For years, we have been laboring under the notion of "negative government". This tendency toward laissez faire runs deep in American history. It basically holds that free enterprise and the supremacy of individual freedom are the great regulators of economic affairs. Government should not interfere. (Brown University President Francis Wayland, writing in 1837, even attacked the notion that poor laws were justified. They presupposed that "the rich are under obligation to support the poor." From Laissez Faire and the General Welfrare State.) There's only one problem with this approach to political philosophy: Taken to extreme, it offends our moral sensibilities. Our sense of obligations to each other confuse the Jeffersonian message that "government is best which governs least". We saw what happens with the collapse of government last week in New Orleans. The poor, the infirm, the young and helpless were all left to fend for themselves against the fearsome aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. From 1865 to about 1900, laissez faire emerged as the dominant political philosophy of the day. But laissez faire -- the doctrine of negative government -- provided no guidance to the unintended consequences of industrialization: child labor, unsanitary food, price fixing, polluted air, unsafe drinking water. The list goes on. So the Progressive Era emerged to try to right the balance. Pragmatism emerged as a political doctrine. During the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt personified this approach to governing. "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." During the Johnson years, progressive politics found a new voice: The New Left. Government became the solution to many of the ills we saw around us, from inadequate voting rights to poverty and environmental degradation. The New Left touched off a counter movement: a Neoconservative revolt. Over the past twenty years or so, we have swung back to a more laissez fair approach to governing. Reagan's Supply Side economics reformed the contours of our national politics. It ushered in the latest era of Negative Government. In many ways, Reagan's conservative politics were an appropriate response to the excesses of New Left thinking. (An excellent background to all this comes in the insightful book Why Americans Hate Politics by E.J. Dionne.) Minimize government interference became the dogma; economic liberty became the slogan. (Remember the Contract with America?) Economic developers have been able to navigate successfully between ideological extremes -- the kind of extremes that grip official Washington. We are pragmatists. We focus on results. We share attributes from both ideological camps, and we get captured by neither. Unlike the Sixties Left, we understand the power of markets to drive prosperity. We recognize the importance of competitive, innovative businesses to generate good, secure jobs. We are deep capitalists. Unlike the Eighties Right, we recognize that importance of compromising for the public good. We recognize that business may be important, but it is not supreme for a simple reason: business does not command the votes. Business must listen and compromise for a community, a region to move forward. Blow torch politics by either side has little room in our world. I suspect that one possible outcome of the tragedy of Katrina may be a realignment of our national politics. We may be nearing an end to a highly politicized era of Negative Government. We may see a move toward pragmatism without rekindling the excesses of the New Left. A move to the center. A focus on results. A rebirth of civility and understanding. Americans want both a strong sense of individual freedom and a strong sense of community. They also want the decisions about their community to be made openly, so that burdens and benefits can be shared fairly. For over twenty years, political polarization in Washington has robbed us of simple, civil and deliberative processes to resolve disputes, find solutions, discover opportunites, and, most of all, move forward. Ironically, Hurricane Katrina may give us an opportunity for a national political recovery. One can only hope. posted by Ed | New Orleans: Blame Blame has begun, but it's a fool's game. We need deeper understanding of the systems that led to this crisis. Improvements will come, not from arguing and assigning blame, but from conversation, listening and a search for meaning and insights. Systems thinking teaches us that there is no outside, no inside, no up, no down. We are all interconnected. The cause of our problems are part of a larger system that extends beyond the people we are so quick to blame. Poorly designed systems, not incompetent or unmotivated individuals, create most organizational failures. And so it is with the slow response to Katrina. posted by Ed | New Orleans: Rebuilding Sunday, September 04, 2005 Commentators are already weighing in on the rebuilding of New Orleans. In a bonehead move, the House Speaker suggested that the federal government should not spend the money (even as people were dying in the streets of the city). He later back-tracked. Two reporters from the Chicago Tribune have outlined the most detailed report on rebuilding the city: Rebuilding expected to be grueling, complex, controversial. A reporter from the St. Petersburg Times provides another good analysis. Joel Kotkin, the urban planning pundit, voices his opinion: A NEW New Orleans. Here are some of the other interesting commentary I found: Dreaming A New New Orleans, Version 1 Dust Bowl vision needed for recovery New Orleans has soul, and souls never die In New Orleans, Once Again, the Irony of Southern History New Orleans Can't Stand In Nature's Way posted by Ed | New Orleans: Corruption One of the biggest challenges facing Louisiana has little to do with the catastrophe we see being played out street by street. The biggest challenge, in my view, will be political. Can Louisiana reform its politics as it rebuilds its largest city? Can FEMA clean up its record of fraud? Louisiana’s unusual legal system, odd election rules, bizarre constitutional history, and unmatched record of political corruption have weakened the ability of local government to govern. We saw the tragic consequences this week. When I first traveled to Louisiana twenty year ago to work, a local business man told me to read Louisiana Hayride by Harnett Kane. The book examines the political culture that arose in the state after Huey Long. Political corruption runs deep in Louisiana. I directly experienced problems over the past twenty years with a number of projects: a State senator grabbing $200,000 of a $800,000 loan commitment to a cut and sew operation we were moving from Nachitoches to Shreveport; a Shreveport city attorney in the pocket of a local casino; supplier kickbacks at a local manufacturing plant; political interference into an entrepreneurship program for African-Americans; and, perhaps the largest heist of all, the alleged skimming of federal and local money from the Biomedical Research Foundation I established in 1984. (In my view, the allegations are probably true. The foundation built a 100,000 building for $30 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Energy. By my math, that's $300 per square foot.) The great casino shakedown in Louisiana, well-told in Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall of Governor Edwin Edwards, landed Edwards in jail. Prior to the hurricane, federal investigations of Louisiana politicians were in full swing. During the August recess, federal agents had raided the houses and business offices of U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-New Orleans). An investigation over contracts let during the administration of former Mayor Marc Morial continues with a recent indictment of Morial's uncle. He is accused of bilking the Regional Transit Authority of over a half-million dollars in a bond refinancing scheme. (People laugh at the strange mix. And it leads to some very interesting stories, like the whereabouts of Huey Long's deduct box. Ten percent of the salary of state employees went to Long's campaign fund in the deduct box. While he was governor, Long kept in a safe at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. When he later went to Washington as a senator, Long moved the box to the Mayflower Hotel and, later, to a vault in the Riggs National Bank.) One of the sad ironies of Hurricane Katrina is that the two politicans most responsible for altering Louisiana's corrupt practices in state and local government -- Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin -- may find their political careers deeply damaged. But corruption is not only a Louisiana problem. FEMA is rife with problems. A U.S. Senate investigation last spring uncovered widespread fraud in FEMA in the wake of the Florida hurricanes. Read more. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, FEMA "handed out millions in Miami-Dade neighborhoods with no reported damage, paid for funerals unrelated to the hurricanes and relied on contracted inspectors with criminal records to verify damages." posted by Ed | New Orleans: Inexperience The Boston Herald carries a story that is particularly disturbing. It turns out that Michael Brown, head of FEMA, has no professional experience with emergency management. Before coming to FEMA, he spent 11 years or so as a lawyer with the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado. He was asked to resign, according to the story. Read more. FEMA outsourced the planning for the disaster to a consulting firm in Baton Rouge, IEM, Inc. FEMA provided a $500,000 contract to the firm to lead the planning effort. Read more here and here. Meanwhile, looking at Mayor Nagin's press conference last Saturday, he advised people to get out of town. As for those who would unable to evacuate, the article notes: "Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town. Nagin said the Superdome might be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pick-up points around New Orleans." Read more. Might be used? posted by Ed | New Orleans: Predictions Tougher days are ahead. Thousands of people died in New Orleans. Thousands. We have explanations from our Secretary of Homeland Security that the scenario of a hurricane hitting New Orleans, coupled with the collapse of levees did not exist. According to CNN: "Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur." Chertoff called the devastation in New Orleans "a breathtaking surprise". Read more. Really? To quote from the 2002 report from PBS, "City in a Bowl": "The American Red Cross lists the worst natural disasters that might strike America. They worry about earthquakes in California, and tropical storms in Florida. But they say the biggest catastrophe could be a hurricane hitting New Orleans." Read the transcript. To quote from the 2002 series by the Times Picayune, "Washing Away": "It's a matter of when, not if. Eventually a major hurricane will hit New Orleans head on, instead of being just a close call. It's happened before and it'll happen again." "Once it’s certain a major storm is about to hit, evacuation offers the best chance for survival. But for those who wait, getting out will become nearly impossible as the few routes out of town grow hopelessly clogged. And 100,000 people without transportation will be especially threatened." Read more. "'Evacuation is what’s necessary: evacuation, evacuation, evacuation,' Jefferson Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Walter Maestri said. 'We anticipate that (even) with refuges of last resort in place, some 5 (percent) to 10 percent of the individuals who remain in the face of catastrophic storms are going to lose their lives.'" That translates to between 5,000 and 10,000 deaths. posted by Ed | New Orleans: How? Thursday, September 01, 2005 How could this be? There's a good, short history of New Orleans on Wikipedia: "Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain the city, including large pumps of his own design which are still used. All rain water must be pumped up to the canals which drain into Lake Pontchartrain. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed the city to expand greatly in area. However, pumping of groundwater from underneath the city has resulted in subsidence. This has greatly increased the flood risk, should the levees be breached or precipitation be in excess of pumping capacity, as would later happen in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A major hurricane could create a lake in the central city as much as 9 m (30 ft) deep, which could take months to pump dry." When I lived in Louisiana, I recall seeing a PBS special on Louisiana Public broadcasting that explained how these pumps worked, and how they could be overwhelmed by a direct hit from a strong hurricane. I remember comments of an expert who said that thousands could die from such a storm. I was stunned. Here's an excerpt of the broadcast in 2002, The City in a Bowl: "DANIEL ZWERDLING: Maestri says, imagine what happens if a hurricane like Andrew comes raging up from the Gulf: WALTER MAESTRI: The hurricane is spinning counter-clockwise. It's been pushing in front of it water from the Gulf of Mexico for days. It's now got a wall of water in front of it some 30, 40 feet high. As it approaches the levies of the-- the-- that surround the city, it tops those levees. As the storm continues to pass over. Now Lake Ponchetrain, that water from Lake Ponchartrain is now pushed on to that - those population which has been fleeing from the western side and everybody's caught in the middle. The bowl now completely fills. And we've now got the entire community underwater some 20, 30 feet underwater. Everything is lost." If you want to know more about how the storm surge worked, here's a good graphic Sadly, now we see. Perhaps most sobering, the pictures we see reveal how this catastrophe has fallen hardest on the least fortunate among us: the poor, the elderly, the sick. posted by Ed | |
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
