Mixed Grades for Tech Development in Virginia and Maryland

Virginia and Maryland lead the nation when it comes to technology development and growth, but officials in both states say there is plenty of room for improvement.

Both states, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Institute of Public Policy, get high marks when it comes to federal funding, job growth and venture capital.

Unfortunately, the two states fall behind when it comes to turning university research into business and using state funds to support young technology companies.

Here are some of the major findings:

* Federal agencies invested $4.9 billion in Maryland (it ranked No. 1) and $2.2 billion in Virginia (No. 12) for research and development projects.

* Tech firms employ 11.7 percent of all workers in Virginia (No. 3) and 10.1 percent in Maryland (No. 10).

* The mid-Atlantic is home to more venture capital firms than any region except Silicon Valley.

* University researchers registered 140 new patents in Maryland and 112 in Virginia.

* With 13 each, Virginia and Maryland tied at No. 32 in the nation in the number of companies that spin out of public universities.

Source.

Cornell Gets Major EDA Grant

Cornell University received a $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce for site preparation and construction of the first building in the 74-acre park next to the New York Agricultural Experiment Station.

This is a major grant for the EDA (Economic Development Administration) and demonstrates the federal government's confidence in the soundness of the park concept," said Cornell officials. "There is much more work to be done, but the board of directors, city and county officials and the state and federal governments have forged the partnership that has enabled us to get to the point where the park is not just a vision."

Cornell has pursued this project since 1995, but it became a reality in 2001 with an EDA investment of $450,000.

Source.

Study Says Canada Quality of Life Slipping

Canada has fallen to eighth place from third on the United Nations list of the most desirable places to live in the world.

Canada had been No. 1 for seven years in a row for the best quality of life until 2001 when it was edged out by Norway, which continues to hold the top spot in the 2003 Human Development Report, which will be released this coming week.

Sources, who have seen the 2003 report card, would not provide the ranking of the seven countries ahead of Canada other than to say that Norway remains at No. 1, but they stressed "the differentials between the Top 10 are so minor that it becomes how do you decide on the minor differences in data."

The survey ranks countries on a scale based on four criteria: life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrolment and economic prosperity as measured by per capita gross domestic product or GDP.

Canada's drop in the ranking is due in part to the scales that measure poverty by which the plight of aboriginals has not improved despite $7 billion annually of federal spending, sources say.

"That is going to be part of what brings down some of our statistics. They are not going to differentiate between native and non-native, but in the compilation, those (native poverty, life expectancy and education) figures obviously bring down our stats," an official said.

I will be eager to see the full report next week.

Source.

Happy Independence Day!

This is a day to give thanks for our freedom. It is a day to remember that freedom must not be taken for granted. While July 4th is a holiday to remember our nation's first bout to achieve freedom, we must remind ourselves that this an ongoing battle. Not all places on earth are so lucky. Thankfully more are finding a path to provide a free life for their citizens. Let's hope and pray that Iraq and Afghanistan succeed in their new efforts to establish free societies.

Rural Business Cooperatives Can Help

Looking for new collaborative approaches to tackle stubborn economic development problems in rural areas? Consider a business coperative. Many exist across the country. They allow farm and agri-businesses to work together and build a competitive advantage. Sound like an industry cluster? It has some of the same attributes. Cooperatives have been around a long time.

Take a look at what the Iowa Quality Beef Supply Cooperative is doing. 875 beef producers are working together to increase their competitive advantage in the highly competitive beef market. They are using a newly retrofitted plant in Tama, Iowa to produce beef product for the market. One lesson to learn here is how to get that many farmers to work together. Herding farmers is a lot harder than herding cattle.

For more information about the Iowa cooperative and others, click here.

New Federal Agreement Increases Aid to Southwest Border Area

Fighting poverty and unemployment in the border area linking the U.S. Southwest with Mexico is no easy challenge. Recently, the Federal Government has stepped up its efforts to help through a new USDA/HUB initiative.

Under the agreement between USDA and HUD, the two departments will work to coordinate the delivery of their programs and services to residents of the border region, including the communities called Colonias, to improve access to assistance and achieve maximum program effectiveness. Cooperation may include cross-marketing of programs, cross-training of staff, and jointly preparing educational materials. Personnel from both departments will work together on one or more pilot projects to evaluate whether improved cooperation can materially improve conditions in the Colonias and areas heavily populated by very low-income migrant farmworkers.

The Colonias areas need a lot of help. Some of the most stubborn poverty problems found anywhere in the country exist in these small isolated communities. This is a case where a community-building strategy is needed with economic development as just one component.

Other joint activities between USDA and HUD will include exchanging information on housing, community, and economic conditions, and working together on research projects involving the Southwest border region.

Read more here.

Tribal ED Success Story

While all that glitters is not gold, casinos have helped many Indian tribes build wealth they would not otherwise have.

The dire poverty that made the Choctaws stand out even in traditionally poor Mississippi has vanished in barely a generation, replaced by two shimmering casinos, two golf courses, a water park and a string of self-sustaining businesses that have made the tribe a model for others to follow.

Here are the details.

The Mississippi Choctaw tribe is now ranked by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development among the most successful of the nation's 559 federally recognized tribes.

So how did the 9,000-member tribe emerge from poverty to generate $450 million a year - and do it within one generation?

Chief Phillip Martin, the 77-year-old democratically elected head of the Choctaw Tribal Council since 1979, says simply, but proudly: "We developed an economy."

That's an understatement.

More specifically, what the tribe did was invest in businesses that created jobs for its members, got more savvy at attracting federal aid and then used the money from both sources to improve its lot and to gain a political voice.

Just 40 years ago, tribal unemployment was 80 percent; 88 percent of households had annual incomes under $3,000 and only about two dozen tribal members could say they had at least some college.

But by 2001, tribal median household income was $25,000 and more than 400 were enrolled in college. Most of the tribe's civilian labor force works for tribal-owned enterprises or government services - such as the tribe's health care center.

The Choctaw reservation - mostly in Neshoba County about 70 miles northeast of Jackson - has nearly doubled in size to 35,000 acres. Tribal members, drawn by better living conditions and by jobs, began returning to the reservation, tripling tribal membership to 9,000.

It's not clear exactly how long the casino miracle will last. What is certain though is that successful tribes have not stopped at building and milking a casino as a cash cow. They have used the casino as an engine to build an economic base. That's the answer.

Article link.

Vancouver 2010

Vancouver was selected as the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics in a vote this week by the International Olympic Committee, defeating Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria to bring the Olympics to Canada for the third time.

Some say that the selection of Vancouver might hinder New York City's chances of playing host to the 2012 Summer Olympics. There has long been speculation that the International Olympic Committee could be reluctant to award the Games twice in a row to a North American city, although it did so in four consecutive Olympiads (Montreal in 1976, Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984 and Calgary, Alberta, in 1988), and in 1932 both the Winter (Lake Placid) and Summer (Los Angeles) Games were held in the United States.

More here.

Jacksonville Area Growing

The Jacksonville/NE Florida area has experienced very favorable growth over the past two decades, adding over 400,000 new residents. With a 1.1 million population base today, the area is expected to add another 100,000 people by 2006. The region's population base grew by 21% during the 1990-2000 period.

Over 525,000 jobs exist in the Jacksonville metro area, one-third of which are in services. The area is a major transportation center, has major strengths in finance and insurance, has an emerging technology base and is giving increased attention to the recruitment of both public and privately owned headquarters.

The Cornerstone Alliance is the lead EDO for the region, which is a very successful and hardworking EDO serving the needs of Jacksonville and counties in the surrounding region. Go here to learn more about the Cornerstone Alliance and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

What's ahead for higher education?

Here is what the latest issue of the Dismal Scientist has to say about the future direction for higher education as the economy continues to improve.

While the majority of U.S. industries are expected to see demand for their products improve over the next several months, providers of higher education will see the opposite trend. Although data on enrollment levels are not timely, demand for higher education has clearly remained strong ever since the onset of recession in early 2001. Providers of higher education have added almost 170,000 jobs over the past two years, and growth in real personal consumption expenditures on higher education has continued to accelerate.

Much of the education industry’s above average performance may be due to the business cycle itself. There is good reason to believe that college enrollment is countercyclical. As outside economic opportunities become scarce, enrolling in further education becomes relatively more attractive. Also, since foregone wages represent the opportunity cost of attending school, education becomes relatively cheaper when compensation growth is constrained. Recently, anecdotes of students fleeing the labor market have been widespread, suggesting that this dynamic is likely responsible for much of the above average performance of the education industry.

Source. (If you subscribe to Economy.com.)

Cleveland Indians' Spring Camp Move?

The Cleveland Indians are looking for greener pastures for their Spring training camp. Winter Haven, FL may not in the cards in the future. Other Florida communities hope that Winter Haven's loss could be their gain. The question is how much is there to gain?

Spending $10 million to lure the Cleveland Port Charlotte, FL for spring training could help fill some hotel rooms. It could bring a sense of pride to the Charlotte Conty after it lost the Texas Rangers last year. And it might help some Ohio residents locate Port Charlotte on a map.

But don't expect the county to reap any significant economic benefits if spring baseball returns. That is the word that experts have to say.

That's despite a 2000 study commissioned by the Florida Sports Foundation that found the average spring training team had a $24.5 million annual impact on the county that hosts it. In a county like Charlotte, which typically has less than $250 million in gross sales per month, such a large infusion of spending would have a noticeable impact.

John Zipp, a sociology professor at the University of Akron, said the economic impacts of sporting events are often overstated. Most tourists don't flock to spring training sites solely for the baseball, he said.

"You can't build economic impact on something that happens for such a short period of time," said Philip K. Porter, professor of economics at University of South Florida.

But in Winter Haven, officials have a hard time ignoring the very quantifiable costs to keep their Chain of Lakes Park up to major-league standards. Of about $1.25 million to maintain the facility in the last fiscal year, the city's taxpayers covered $944,000, said Winter Haven director of leisure services T. Michael Stavres.

My advice is for EDO's to approach these projects carefully with a clear understanding of the longer costs and benefits. It's not worth the 'image bang' sought from these deals. And we are even talk about my Cleveland Indians here.

Article link.

Downtown Problems

Consider this a field report on downtown development.

The last three years have been very unkind to America's downtowns. I am currently visiting the Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL area for business and it is evident that 9/11, the follow-on threat of terrorism and now mostly the economic downturn have hit the downtowns of both cities very hard.

It's sad to see since so many wonderful redevelopment projects have been put in place struggle, but that is the current ecnomic reality. Hopefully both cities' downtown areas will find their way back as the economic skies continue to clear.

Yba City, the old cigar manufacturing district of Tampa, is a wonderful place with great restaurants, shops and sights to see, but obviously the economic downturn has caused many business closings in the area. These areas clearly have a 'carrying capacity' in terms of how much they can support. I would urge city officials to focus on more sustainable downtown and inner city revitalization strategies. Even with a healthy tourist trade, disposable income for retail is limited. A word to the wise.