| |
|
Economy Watch
Sunday, November 27, 2005 Here are the interesting economics articles I came across last week: Silicon Valley's Call: Smarten Up, America! How Powerful Is the Federal Reserve? Holiday sales off to a lukewarm start Economists warn of world recession as G7 set to meet Vital Signs for the Week of Nov. 28 US economy, manufacturing and monetary policy The Maverick: Uncle Sam is facing troubles he can't ignore Steelmakers on a roll, until the next glut posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the interesting articles I came across on incentives. The Missouri Department of Economic Development's Incentives Review Committee has issued a report on state and local incentives. Read more. Massachusetts has enacted legislation to create incentives for communities to adopt "smart growth" practices. Read more. The Supreme Court will hear the appeal from the Sixth Circuit's decision in Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler in January. Here's an overview. Read more. More people are starting to connect the dots. Company incentives can often come at the expense of budgets for educating people. Here's the controversy over TIF districts in Missouri. Read more. Philadelphia has been trying to encourage a regional approach to economic development, but incentives still play a big part in moving companies around in the region. Read more. North Carolina's aggressive incentive policy may not be serving the people of Western North Carolina very well. Read more. Minnesota and Georgia are in conversations with Ford over restructuring. Read about Minnesota. Read about Georgia. New York State is seeking to "claw back" some incentive money from Oneida, but the company is on the ropes. Read more. In New Jersey, Pfizer's tax deal is safe despite the fact that the company will close a plant. The incentives are not tied to any particular facility. Read more. posted by Ed | Delaware Innovation Fund Founded in 1995, the Delaware Innovation Fund has been an important initiative in creating a new economic base for the state. In addition to financing, the fund provides expertise and a network. Read more. posted by Ed | Charleston, SC gets the van plant, finally Charleston has landed a DaimlerChrysler van plant. The facility will start by making vans from knock-down kits shipped in from Germany. Incentives are going to be tied to performance measures of employment and capital investment. Read more. This plant chase has a long history. At one time Georgia thought it had landed the deal, but the company delayed the project after the state had invested over $60 million in a site for the plant. Read more. posted by Ed | Converting donated patents into business The Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation in Racine, WI has an interesting model of development. It works to convert donated patents into business opportunities. As a Canadian observer notes: "CATI's innovative technology transfer model is at the forefront of a new way of thinking about the connection between technology innovation and economic development." Read more. posted by Ed | Skill shortages threaten U.S. manufacturing The National Association of Manufacturers has released an important report on the Manufacturing Skills Gap. The important message: Skills shortages threaten the future of U.S. manufacturing. Read more. You can download the report here. posted by Ed | Tech transfer in Charleston, SC Charleston, SC is focused on building a life sciences cluster. The challenge comes in building the networks needed to support high growth start-ups. Learn more. posted by Ed | Recruiting retirees Recruiting retirees represents a core strategy for many communities. Here's an article looking at this trend from the perspective of North Carolina. Read more. posted by Ed | Refocusing Louisiana Here's a good article from a professor, Davy Norris, at Louisiana Tech on how Louisiana should focus its economic recovery. Read more. He points to newly released survey by the Council on Competitiveness and New Economy Strategies: "The survey uncovered some fascinating results. For example, when asked to rank the most important factors in their firm's ability to innovate, corporate leaders cited access to a science and engineering talent pool, entrepreneurial managers and a good communications infrastructure. When asked to identify factors that would disqualify a region for new corporate investments, a talent shortfall, poor communications infrastructure, poor K-12 education and low quality of life were cited as impediments to outside investment." posted by Ed | Community-owned stores Here's an interesting article, especially for EDPros in smaller communities. It's about a community-owned clothing store in Powell, Wyoming (population 5,200). Read more. The University of Wisconsin Extension (which publishes some of the most practical economic development stuff you can find anywhere) has produced a brief report on community-owned stores as alternatives to chains. You can download the report here. Here's another short article about a community-owned stores. Read more. Community-owned stores are one strategy that activists are promoting as an alternative to Wal Marts. Read more. posted by Ed | Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund Michigan is moving aggressively to remake its economy in the wake of the major restructuring taking place in the auto industry. By July, the state will be releasing grant funds to co-invest in new business opportunities in life sciences, automotive technology and alternative fuels industries. Read more. At the same time, state officials are taking the right step in managing expectations. The Michigan plan is designed to refocus the state's economy over the long term. Immediate pay-backs are unlikely. Read more. Govenror Granholm did not come to terms with the Republicans in the legislature over tax cuts, though. Read more. posted by Ed | Growth without growth Jobs is not the only measure of growth, and many communities are coming to understand that economic development involves a number of different, related dimensions. So, our measurements -- which worked well when recruitment was the only goal -- are starting to evolve. Here's an article out of Texas on measuring economic development success. Read more. The article refers to a useful paper by Paul Gottlieb, an innovative regional economist who now works at Rutgers. Download Paul's paper, Growth Without Growth. posted by Ed | Training the workforce This article from Kentucky highlights a problem most regions face. While incentives to companies are largely out of control, state investments in education and training are not producing enough people with adequate skills. Read more. The solution: shift incentives from companies to people. As regular readers of EDPro know, we are starting to see some evidence of movement in this direction. posted by Ed | Regional strategy along the Connecticut coast In another move to coordinate a regional strategy, the mayors in the cities of Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford, Connecticut are collaborating with a new initiative: One Coast, One Future. Congressman Christopher Shays has arranged the funding to get the initiative off the ground. Learn more here and here. posted by Ed | Tucson region's first plan Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) has outlined its first year plan to promote economic development in the Tucson region. Formed in July, TREO is designed to overcome the fragmentation in the Tucson region. The plan calls for a balanced approach of recruitment and working with existing companies. Learn more. You can visit the TREO web site here. posted by Ed | More innovation legislation coming in Connecticut Connecticut has six incubators, but a state legislator believes that the state is not doing enough to promote technology-based businesses. Referring to a recent report by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, the legislator argues that Connecticut is drifting downward, as other states invest more aggressively. Read more. His remarks set the groundwork for more state legislation in the 2006 session of the legislature. This year, the state established the Connecticut New Opportunities Fund. The Fund directs Connecticut Innovations to establish a fund for investing in up to twenty Connecticut emerging growth companies. posted by Ed | The concept of wins Buffalo Niagara Enterprise uses the concept of "wins" to measure its economic development programs. There are strengths and limits to the approach. Read more. posted by Ed | Defining a roadmap for Midwest technology development For the past six months or so, a group of civic leaders has been meeting in Chicago to explore how the Midwest states could accelerate technology-led economic development. Led by the Chicago Fed and the Economic Development Council of Chicago, the group has broken into a number of working groups to explore dimensions of the challenge. You can read more about the background to the process from this article in the Chicago Fed newsletter. Here is an overview of what the group has been doing. The most important recommendation is to establish an organization like CONNECT in San Diego. posted by Ed | The changing South The South is changing, and the Associated Press last week ran a series of articles looking at different dimensions of the change from different Southern cities: Definition of South, Southern is changing Northerners make powerful inroads in Va. Whither the Southern accent? Great literature amid illiteracy Country comedy is an evolving tradition posted by Ed | Quad Cities takes a step forward Last May, Angelou Economics and Next generation Consulting worked together to produce Blueprint 2010 for Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce. (The plan appears only to address the situation in the Illinois Quad Cities, not on the Iowa side.) Last week, several economic development groups in the Illinois Quad Cities announced an alliance to start implementing the plan. Learn more. The task will be tricky. As we put together regional economic development efforts, we recognize that no one can tell anyone else what to do. The challenge comes in building an atmosphere of trust in which alignments can take place quickly. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, November 19, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy from last week. What's behind the surprising strength of the greenback? Offshoring of Research and Development May Spur Further Innovation and Job Growth in U.S. Don’t let the sun set on U.S. saving and investment 'Managing ignorance' is a key to economic health Vital Signs for the Week of Nov. 21 The Man Who Invented Management Trusting the teacher in the grey-flannel suit posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are some of the articles on incentives I came across last week. Iowa announced incentives to eleven companies. Read more. Here's a good article on incentives from Montana, as EDPros try to land a DirectTV facility. Read more. Florida may need more than Scripps to build its biotech cluster. Read more. Governor Daniels in Indiana is reluctant to endorse incentives for a Cabela's deal. Read more. Colorado is trying to sort out its incentives in the wake of passage of Referendum C. Read more. North Carolina has a debate going on incentives for film production. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | Connecting high school with economic development Increasingly, experts are warning about America's declining position in science and technology. Read more. (To keep up with this issue, you can visit this site.) But how do we reverse the trends? Specifically, how do we get young people more interested in science and math? In Indiana, the governor convened a two day forum last week to find answers. Learn more about "Indiana's Future: Economic Development and the High School Connection". posted by Ed | Building a design center in the Triad In 2003, AngelouEconomics produced a strategy report for the Triad region of North Carolina. In the report, the firm recommended that the region create the Center for Design Innovation. Now, AngelouEconomics has produced a feasibility report on the Center. You can read more about it here. You can download the report here. posted by Ed | Pennsylvania seeds venture capital firms Pennsylvania's governor has announced a new plan for the state to invest in venture capital firms that will invest in local start-ups. Pennsylvania Venture Capital Investment Fund will invest $29.5 million in seven VC firms. Learn more. posted by Ed | Web Watch: Virginia's business portal The State of Virginia has launched a new business assistance portal. You can read more about it here. Or, you can visit the web site here. posted by Ed | Rebuilding Mississippi: The risks of sprawl Mississippi's Renewal Forum has a new report that urges local governments to get moving on redevelopment plans. Sprawl will be the cost of inaction, according to the report. Read more. You can download reports from the Mississippi Renewal Forum website. posted by Ed | Iowa's governor focuses attention on innovation Iowa's governor has announced the formation of a new commission to focus on creativity and innovation. Read more. According to the governor: “Innovation is the key folks. We have got to step up our game." posted by Ed | The value of trust to economic development San Diego has been a city in turmoil. A number of controversies have undercut confidence in city government. Read more. The loss of trust has deep consequences for economic development. Without civic trust, virtually everything grinds to a halt. Learn more. The reason is simple. Economic development happens in a "civic space" outside the four walls of any one organization. There's no command and control structure that operates in the civic space. Instead, we need to develop networks and alignments. That is far harder to do when trust breaks down. posted by Ed | Protecting farmland in Connecticut The Connecticut legislature recently passed legislation to help preserve farmland. The act is built around different approaches. For example, the state's department of agriculture will implement a matching grant program to promote the construction of processing facilities and farmers markets. The new law also provides $100,000 a year to promote the sale of Connecticut-grown food to schools, restaurants, retailers and other institutions and businesses in the state. Read more. posted by Ed | The future of manufacturing in Georgia A new report from Georgia Tech outlines the future of manufacturing in Georgia. According to one of the report's authors: "“Innovation, whether in products or processes, or in organization or services to customers, is one of the main paths through which manufacturers can become more distinctive, secure market premiums, satisfy customers, expand sales, reward workers and improve their bottom line." You can read more about the report here. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | The future of manufacturing in Wisconsin In September, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership issued an important report on the future of manufacturing in that state. (You can download the report from this page.) Now the study's author is making presentations around the state to explain the report's findings. Among the important lessons: "Companies can either succeed by being a low-cost provider or providing some value-added service. Wisconsin manufacturers and their employees need to make the transition to business practices that emphasize speed and agility." Read more. The future of manufacturing is going to be in the hands of companies that can innovate quickly with a blend of products and services. The EDPro's job is to help companies make the connections that make innovation easier and faster. posted by Ed | A new brainpower initiative for Upstate New York Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Here's another example of new thinking in economic development. In Upstate New York, Pipeline 4 Progress is focused on holding on to young minds. Read more. As the article notes, "The theory behind Pipeline is to take the traditional means of economic development and turn it upside down, building the workforce first and letting that attract new employers." As one of the organizers of Pipeline 4 Progress argues, "Companies don't care about tax incentives. They don't care about highway interchanges. They're gonna locate where they have a talent pool." Visit the web site. posted by Ed | Iowa releases two roadmap reports Iowa's Department of Economic Development has released two Batelle reports, one on advanced manufacturing and on information technology. You can read more about the reports here. You can download the advanced manufacturing report here. You can download the information technology report here. posted by Ed | Small town shops expand with Internet sales Here's a good article on how small town shops in Manitowoc, Wisconsin are using the Internet to build their businesses. Read more. The Manitowoc retailers include: Cooks Corner, Healthy Chocolate Treats, Natural Ovens bakery, and The Fitness Store. According to the article, a similar transformation is underway in Marquette, Michigan. posted by Ed | New Mexico governor points to achievements New Mexico's governor Bill Richardson has made little secret of his ambitions to run for President. So, it's not surprising that he is promoting the success he has had as governor in turning around the New Mexico economy. Read more here and here. posted by Ed | Northern Kentucky's clusters Northern Kentucky has identified three clusters on which it wants to focus its strategy: advanced manufacturers, technology-driven companies and office headquarters. EDPro Dan Tobergte explained that the decisions on focus came from analyzing three reports. "We took the best of all those studies, combined it with our experience and our projected resources that we have, and said here are the sectors that we need to concentrate on in our marketing efforts, and also in directing our community, to get prepared." Read more. posted by Ed | Leveraging Virginia's $2 billion state IT partnership Economic development is all about leverage. Here's a really smart deal on how a state modernizes its IT infrastructure while strengthening its development prospects in a rural part of the state. Virginia governor Mark Warner has announced a major partnership with Northrup Grumman to modernize the state's IT infrastructure. The 10-year, $2 billion contract between Virginia and Northrop Grumman will bring hundreds of new jobs to the state. At Warner's insistence, a large portion of the agreement focuses on the revitalization of the Southwest Virginia region that has not shared in the success of the information technology industry. In addition, the agreement includes a partnership between the University of Virginia and Northrop Grumman that will be based at the U.Va.-Wise campus. The first component of the partnership includes a $270 million data backup center. Here's a good article on the different approaches that two Virginia counties took to attracting the backup data center. Read more. Here's a follow-on article on how jobs for the data center will be filled. Read more. posted by Ed | Wireless symposium in Asheville Municipal wireless systems are popping up as more cities recognize the value of wireless networks. In Asheville this week, the Southeast Wireless Symposium is holding an annual meeting to inform local government officials and others about municipal wireless trends. EDPro reader Jim Roberts of the Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council is quoted: Wireless is becoming like electricity. When people are traveling for business, they simply expect it as part of the infrastructure.” Read more. North Carolina is a leader in providing expanded Internet accessibility in rural areas. Visit the e-NC Authority site. Here's an weblog article, where you can learn more about the pressure to establish municipal wireless, especially in smaller towns. posted by Ed | The growing momentum toward regional approaches If you have any doubt about the growing momentum behind regional approaches to economic development, here are some articles for you. In Delaware, a bank president this week underscored the importance of thinking in terms of the 11 county Greater Philadelphia region. "“In the big picture, we’re all knitted together. We’re all part of one great region. To fail to acknowledge the interdependence of the region is to continue what’s gone on in the past.” Read more. In Kentucky, EDPro reader Kevin Sheilley is engineering the merger of the economic development efforts in four different counties into one effort, Northwest Kentucky Forward. Read more. In Oregon, Portland's economic development efforts are focusing on the region, not just the city. As the article notes, "Portland is not just for Portland anymore. It's biting its self-centered tongue and becoming a cheerleader for the whole region now." Read more. In Evansville, IN, the mayor is calling for broader regional collaboration. Read more. In North Central Indiana, the proposal of the federal government to split the region into two separate time zones has rallied civic leaders to underscore the importance of the regional economy. Years ago, when I worked with Elkhart, South Bend was viewed with distant hostility. Not any longer. Read more. West Virginia's Advantage Valley, patterned after North Carolina's Advantage West, is moving forward with its regional agenda. Learn more. Civic leaders in North Mississippi have launched the North Mississippi Enterprise Initiative, Inc. a non-profit public and private regional partnership for entrepreneurial growth in North Mississippi. Learn more. posted by Ed | Report: Immigration fuels inner city job growth Tuesday, November 15, 2005 New research by the Institute for a Competitive Inner City argues that immigration is fueling job growth in America's inner cities. Learn more. (Side rant: ICIC has a lot of good information, but its embedded in one of the most annoying web sites I've come across. They should lose the frames and focus on a simple design. The new report might be on the web site, but I gave up looking. Other reports that I tried to download misfired.) posted by Ed | Kokomo's version of a brain gain initiative Here's another example of how economic development incentives are shifting to people. EDPro reader Elissa McGauley from Ft. Wayne passed along this press release on a new initiative in Kokomo to attract and retain a high quality workforce to the city. Under the program, qualified people can apply for a loan of up to $10,000 or ten percent of the purchase price of a home from the City. The loan will be forgiven if they live in Kokomo for five years. Elissa comments that this initiative is "a variation on Fort Wayne's brain gain project". Recently, Ft. Wayne Education Foundation announced the first three recipients of its Brain Gain awards. Learn more. posted by Ed | Kentucky responds to criticism on incentives Last week, I noted in the Incentive Watch post that a citizen group in Kentucky had criticized the state's economic development incentives. EDPro reader J.R. Wilhite, Commissioner of the Department for Existing Business Development in Kentucky, wrote to point me to a response by Gene Strong, Secretary for the Cabinet for Economic Development, and by Donna Duncan, Commissioner of the Department of Financial Incentives. Governor Fletcher also weighed in. You can read about the original criticism from this article. posted by Ed | Kalamazoo Promise scholarship program EDPro reader Timothy Bartik passes this note along about one of the boldest education/economic development initiatives in the country announced last week: "I think the Kalamazoo Promise...is an unprecedented education/economic development initiative that is and should be of national interest...This offer of full 4-year college scholarships to all students who graduate from Kalamazoo Public Schools, and also live in the District, should be viewed as an alternative economic development strategy that relies on attracting and developing human capital, rather than on using tax abatements to attract business." Kalamazoo Promise is a new initiative to led by an anonymous group of wealthy, private benefactors. They have aimed their collective resources at college tuition bills for thousands of high school graduates. Learn more about how the initiative works. Kalamazoo Promise represents another example of how civic leaders are moving economic development incentives from companies to people. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Monday, November 14, 2005 Here are the articles on the ecoomy from last week. Are illegals a net gain or drain for economy? Bernanke's Bumpy Road Ahead Vital Signs for the Week of Nov. 14 Sarbanes-Oxley has caused big headaches, but second-year costs are likely to stabilize Some facts for the emerging economic world Off the Charts: A tale of two deficits posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the interesting articles I came across on incentives. In Kentucky, a group has come out to criticize the state for the use of economic development incentives. Read more. In North Carolina, there's been a lot of debate about the value of incentives. Now some are exploring the use of incentives with the film industry. Read more. Colorado has an interesting debate going on the best ways to recruit and retain businesses. Read more. Here's a good review of the consequences of the pending Supreme Court case on Ohio's incentives. Read more. An article in the Kansas City Star reviews the case for cities offering economic development incentives. Read more. posted by Ed | Triangle universities focus on innovation and entrepreneurship Universities in the Research Triangle have gotten the message: Our economy will be transformed by open networks of innovation and entrepreneurship with colleges and universities in the middle of these networks. Read more about what's going on with the universities in the Triangle. Go. posted by Ed | Don't try this at home Sunday, November 13, 2005 The folks at Development Counsellors International are regular readers of EDPro. They got caught up in a controversy triggered by a bonehead letter from Vermont's chairman of the Democratic party. The chairman accused the state's governor of hiring "a Republican lobbyist firm with ties to (indicted House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay, George W. Bush and the phone-jamming scandal in New Hampshire." Well it turns out that the chairman got his facts wrong. Read more. posted by Ed | Boosting tech transfer in the Washington, D.C. region Here's an interesting story about a U.K. venture group that is planning to invest in technology transfer in the Washington, D.C. area. The U.K. firm provides a firm hand to guide promising technologies from a university research lab to the market. Read more about the firm's approach. posted by Ed | Milwaukee's citywide wireless plan San Francisco has Google. Philadelphia has Earthlink. But in Milwaukee, it's a homegrown start-up, Midwest Fiber Networks LLC, that has plans to provide citywide Wi Fi. Read more. posted by Ed | Select Philadelphia's new strategy Select Greater Philadelphia has a new strategy, and here's a good article that provides an overview. Read more. posted by Ed | Reinventing Silicon Valley One of the remarkable aspects about Silicon Valley is how the regional economy finds ways to reinvent itself. Here's a recent assessment from the San Francisco Chronicle. Read more. posted by Ed | Important new report on science and technology While I'm on the subject of technology and innovation, there's a new report from the National Academies that outlines the challenges we face from other countries. The report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, outlines how the race for competitive success is more intense than ever. The report raises some real alarms about the competition for high end jobs. As Senator Domenici notes in his remarks, "I think we thought we'd be all right. ... We thought we'd keep the high-end jobs, and others would take the low-end jobs. We're now on track to a second-rate economy and a second-rate country." The report includes some very helpful and practical policy recommendations. For example, to improve education, the report suggests recruiting 10,000 new science and math teachers a year by providing scholarships. The report also calls for a strong commitment to expanding investments in research. The report also calls for higher investments in education and training. You can read more about the report here . You can download the report here. If you still have doubts about how global our economy is, here's a view of the National Academies report from India. Read more. posted by Ed | Wisconsin's progress in building an innovation economy A report from Wisconsin shows that its technology indicators are heading upward, if slowly. The report shows that Wisconsin is closing the gap in technology workers and that it was improving in the production of patents. Wisconsin is relatively strong in per capita investments by private sector firms in research and development. Read more about the report. Download a copy of the report. posted by Ed | Connecticut's technology and innovation benchmarking report Three weeks ago, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center released a report on the state's position in technology and innovation. The report, Benchmarking Connecticut's Economy: A Comparative Analysis of Innovation and Technology, raises serious concerns that Connecticut must continue investing in technology and innovation. Reports of this type are valuable, because they shift the policy debate in the state legislature toward issues of investment in science, innovation and technology. These investments are critically important to our long-run competitiveness. The report is helpful for EDPros outside Connecticut, because it benchmarks the state against other states nationally, not just neighboring states in New England. You can learn more about the report here. You can download a copy of the report here. posted by Ed | Maine's new science and technology plan Maine has released a new report designed to build the state's science and research base. The report, called the Science and Technology Plan for Maine, outlines a range of specific strategies. You can read more about the report here. You can download a copy of the report here. The report recommends an aggressive commitment by the state to a higher level of investment in research and technology. Maine spends about $45 million a year on R&D; the report calls for that investment to be increased to $120 million annually by 2010. If you are curious about how your state stacks up, the National Science Foundation gathers and publishes a wide range of data on science and engineering indicators. Here is a good place to start. posted by Ed | Oklahoma's rural development task force A new task force in Oklahoma is addressing the challenges of rural development. Read more about the task force, which is just starting its work. They appear to be heading off in the right direction by focusing on how to build more entrepreneurial networks. posted by Ed | Promoting campus sustainability One of the best ways to start moving toward a clean energy and energy conservation is to promote sustainability on college campuses. Here's a good example from Michigan. You can download a report on campus sustainability from Grand Valley State, or visit their web site to learn more. Here's an article on how another university, Western Washington, is "going green". Read more. For more resources, check out this site from Western Michigan. posted by Ed | Confronting the reality of weak skills This report out of High Point, North Carolina underscores a broader economic development challenge that we face. Today, too many students are coming out of high school with weak skills and no career plans. At the same time, workers who lose their jobs often are unable to qualify for new employment because they also have weak skills. The High Point City Council has commissioned this report to examine the challenges facing the city and region. Read more. posted by Ed | Next energy strategies as economic development In a speech before the Nevada Development Authority, former President Bill Clinton highlighted the importance of renewable energy development as part of an economic development strategy. "If I were the economic development czar for American today or if I were in charge of economic planning for Las Vegas and Nevada today, I would start by making a complete and total commitment to a clean energy future, because I think you can create more jobs there than anywhere else." Clinton believes that new energy strategies can lower business costs and at the same time generate environmental benefits. The engineering and manufacturing required to develop and produce new energy solutions would also become an engine for the economy. Read more. posted by Ed | Shaking up South Carolina The struggle continues in South Carolina to redirect the state's economic development strategy away from promoting relatively cheap labor and toward promoting innovation. Read more. posted by Ed | Avoiding the downward cycle Toledo's new economic development leader of the Toledo regional growth partnership is underscored the importance of regional collaboration. The partnership recently became a privately funded organization. Steve Weathers came to Toledo from the Tucson economic Council. Read more. Now jump to the other end of Lake Erie. In Buffalo, we can see the costs to economic development when civic collaboration breaks down. Read more. Older industrial areas are facing a major challenge of trying to streamline government services with stagnant or declining populations. Without stronger collaboration, older industrial metros like Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, and Detroit can enter into downward spirals. As incomes stagnate or decline, the pressure builds to increase taxes in order to maintain service and public employment levels. Higher relative tax burdens drive out companies and people, and the cycle accelerates. posted by Ed | Keystone innovation zone shows progress A couple of years ago, Pennsylvania launched a new initiative called the Keystone innovation zone. The idea was to build economic development zones around the state's colleges and universities. The Keystone Zone program is similar to a initiative to establish in Michigan called Smart Zones. According to this article that appeared last week, one of the Keystone innovation Zones is showing good progress since its inception in 2004. Read more. posted by Ed | OneKC campaign Both the governors of Kansas and Missouri have endorsed a strategy to promote the Kansas City metro as one region. The region includes 18 counties and 50 communities. Read more. posted by Ed | Economy Watch Saturday, November 05, 2005 Here are the articles on the economy from last week: Job growth resumes in October Energy prices dampen job growth Economists predict increase in jobs Study: Offshore outsourcing creates jobs U.S. business productivity surges Vital Signs for the Week of Nov. 7 South must innovate to compete globally Fed chief warns anew on inflation and debt Science and Technology Report Calls for More U.S. Investment (You can download the report here.) Silicon Valley humming again posted by Ed | Incentives Watch Here are the incentive articles I came across this week. Another one of the weak spots for economic development incentives comes from school officials. Increasingly, some are expressing concerns that incentives weaken a community's ability to invest in education. Read more. Texas voters will decide whether incentives should be extended to upscale shopping developments. Read more. Here's a review article on how incentives can accelerate development in cities. Read more. posted by Ed | Forming employer training consortia Improving the linkage between schools and the workplace comes when employers form consortia to help guide the educational process. Kentucky has used this strategy successfully. So has North Carolina. Last week, a local group in Michigan announced that it is forming an employer training consortium. To learn more, consortium contact information is listed in the article. Read more. posted by Ed | Michigan, Massachusetts push new economic development funds Both Michigan and the Massachusetts moved forward last week on new economic development packages. In Massachusetts the economic package would pump millions of dollars into the state's university system. Read more. In Michigan, the governor and the state legislature has reached agreement on pumping $1 billion in the high-tech investment and another billion dollars into tax cuts through 2011. Read more. posted by Ed | Auburn's new research park Auburn University is moving forward with a new research park. Read more. posted by Ed | More on Ohio's Issue 1 Supporters of Ohio Issue One argue that investments in technology are worth the risk. Read more. At the same time, critics point out that Issue One authorizes the state to make direct investments in companies. By altering the state's constitution, these critics fear that the investment process could become politicized. Read more. Ohio Issue One has an uphill battle for approval next Tuesday. The paper in Cincinnati has come out against a proposal, an ominous sign. Read more. At the same time, Ohio's governor is at an all-time low in popularity. He can provide no political muscle to get this issue passed. So, former Senator Glenn has stepped forward as a main television proponent. posted by Ed | Cornell launches new university link to business Cornell University is launching a new initiative called Syracuse Tech Link Project to teach companies how university technology researchers can accelerate business development. Read more. posted by Ed | Ft. Wayne's brain gain initiative Here's another example of how economic incentives are moving from companies to people. In a smart move, Fort Wayne, Indiana has launched a brain gain program, a loan repayment fund administered through the Ft. Wayne Educational Foundation. The initiative provides financial incentives for young people to stay in Fort Wayne after graduation. Read more. posted by Ed | Truck manufacturing expands in Arkansas In a significant victory for EDPros Eastern Arkansas, Hino has announced that it will build a truck assembly plant in Marion, Arkansas just across the river from Memphis. Read more. posted by Ed | The shifting character of manufacturing in Georgia Manufacturing is shifting. Here's a good insight from Georgia. "Georgia is still very much a manufacturing state, but it's just that the state of manufacturing has changed so much it looks a lot different than it used to look. Thirty to 40 years ago, the companies we recruited to Georgia, we recruited from the Northeast. We told them we had cheap land and cheap labor." The core Georgia manufacturers now are "innovation-led manufacturers. It's the type of stuff that you don't offshore. It can only be done here and often in cooperation with universities and (research and development) labs." Read more. posted by Ed | Wireless technology in agriculture This article from Georgia highlights how we have developed a too simple model of how economies transform. Most of us think that economies transformed by moving from an agricultural base, to a manufacturing base to a services space. This model is too simple. Agriculture, for example, is moving into high-value, high productivity areas. In a conference held last week, speakers explored the impact of wireless technology on agriculture. Read more. posted by Ed | Measuring the early childhood education cluster In California, Solano County has issued a report on the scope of the early childcare industry in that county. Read more. This report underscores one of the important strategies that early childhood advocates are using to move early childhood education to the center stage of economic development. By reinforcing the importance of early childhood as an economic engine, they are illustrating the scope of the business. posted by Ed | Nissan HQ moves to Tennessee Nissan has announced plans to move its corporate headquarters from California to Tennessee. Read more. If you had any doubts that we're competing in the global economy, you can also read the same story in the the English edition of Chinese newspapers. Read more. Clearly the Chinese are extremely interested in the developments of the US auto industry. Beginning in 2007, we will start seeing Chinese made automobiles in the U.S. Read more. posted by Ed | Science and math resource center in Indiana In Indiana, a Life Sciences Best Practices task force has recommended a strong push for improving education in science and math. Specifically, the group has proposed the development of a science and math resource center. Civic leaders hope to launch the center by next May. Read more. posted by Ed | Early childhood education and economic development Here's an interesting commentary by a researcher in education in South Carolina. She points out that three forces are converging to connect early childhood to economic development. According to her, these forces are: "Irrefutable evidence about the importance of early experiences on future learning in life success; reports that much child care is poor and mediocre; and concerns about America's ability to compete in the global marketplace." Read more. posted by Ed | New Jobs for New York: Collaborations An interesting conference took place last week in New York. Sponsored by New Jobs for New York, a Manhattan-based nonprofit organization, the event brought together representatives from both large and small companies. The purpose was to find opportunities to connect and build collaborations. Read more. posted by Ed | New England's emerging Creative Economy In Connecticut last week, the New England Board of Higher Education held a conference on New England's creative economy. Read more. New England has been building this approach since the publication of a 2001 report by the New England Council. (That was about a year before Richard Florida published his book on the Creative Class.) You can read more about the New England report here. Or download a copy here. More recently, Vermont has been developing its creative economy. Focused on the rural areas, this effort is being guided by a strategy outlined in this report. Maine also has a new effort underway in the creative economy. The governor appointed a counsel to report back to him early next year on the strategy that the state should be following to develop this creative economy. Learn more. One of the presenters at the Connecticut conference last week outlined that the creative economy concept "was less about forcing cultural institutions to change and more about creating new economic opportunities for people who want and need them". posted by Ed | Meds and Eds in Lancaster County, PA In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Franklin and Marshall College and the Lancaster General Hospital are collaborating on a new economic development strategy. Read more. In doing so, they are touching on a strategy that was outlined in a 1999 report by the Brookings institution. That report, called Meds and Eds, highlighted the potential for collaboration between higher educational institutions and health care institutions. You can read more about the report from this page. You can download a copy of the report here. Most recently, Arizona has developed framed its strategy for healthcare around this approach. You can read more about what Arizona is doing by downloading the report here. posted by Ed | Behind the statistics Here's a good reminder that all those reports that rank places are only "maps of the territory". Behind the numbers, there are opportunities to pursue. Some small business owners in Maine explain that the numbers don't tell the whole story. Read more. For a number of years, I worked closely with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development on the state's community assessment initiative. We worked in many of the counties that fall outside the growth corridors in the state. That experience taught me that even in the most depressed counties, there are bright, optimistic people looking for new opportunities. Economic development takes place on the ground, not at 30,000 feet. posted by Ed | In a Nutshell: Big Box and Buying local Friday, November 04, 2005 Here's an experiment. I'm providing some background information on key issues facing economic development today. Each Nutshell will give you an overview of an issue and some useful links to get you started to learn more. The first EDPro In a Nutshell is on Big Box Retail v. Buying Local. You can view it here. posted by Ed | Indiana's technology assessment Wednesday, November 02, 2005 Here's a good assessment of the technology and innovation environment in Indiana. Produced by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the trade group Techpoint, the report provides a good profile of a state in transition. These type of reports play an important role in shaping the civic debate about priorities. The trick comes in translating these metrics into specific activities to improve performance. You can learn more about the Indiana report here. Or, you can download the report. posted by Ed | Rhode Builder: Focusing on existing firms Tuesday, November 01, 2005 EDPros are starting to focus on "business retention and expansion", the catch phrase that covers a range of different business development initiatives focused on existing firms. But figuring out what to do is tough. Not surprisingly, some of the most popular articles in EDPro focus on business retention. Here's an solid model of a sensible retention initiative: Rhode Builder based in Rhode Island. More than half the firms participating in the program are manufacturers. That's important, because manufacturers are a tough crowd. If they find value in the program, that's a good indicator. You can learn more here. You can download on one page fact sheet here. posted by Ed | The challenge: Boost Iowa's entrepreneurship ratings Iowa took it in the neck in the latest ratings from Entrepreneur magazine. (The state ranked 50.) One civic entrepreneur responded with some specific ideas to boost the state's ratings. She comes up with some interesting ideas. Read more. posted by Ed | Supporting inventors Vermont has an interesting set of initiatives going to support inventors. Learn more about InventVermont. Visit their web site. posted by Ed | |
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
