New Biotech Venture Fund In New Jersey

Already home to the nation's largest concentration of major pharmaceutical manufacturers, New Jersey is now looking to bolster its roster of biotechnology companies. Last week, State Treasurer John E. McCormac announced the state is creating a $10 million venture capital fund to help launch new life-sciences companies.

"We're thrilled; this is exactly what we need," said Debbie Hart, president of the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey. "There's a lack of early-stage life-sciences company funding in New Jersey. To have the state government step forward and kick something like this off is great. I keep pinching myself hourly to make sure I'm not dreaming."

The fund is being created to make equity investments in early-stage biotech and life-sciences companies. The state plans to hire a private fund manager, who will work with the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey to determine the criteria that will be used for making investments. Only life-sciences companies based in New Jersey will be eligible to participate.

Proceeds from a $50 million state Business Employment Incentive Program bond issue planned for November will be used to finance the $10 million biotech fund. The fund will be part of a $50 million venture fund the Garden State is planning to establish to spur the formation of new companies and new jobs in the state.

How is New Jersey doing in biotech? New Jersey is already home to about 120 biotech companies with more than 8,000 employees, according to the N.J. biotech council. An industry report issued earlier this year by Ernst & Young credited New Jersey with 69 public and private biotech companies, placing it fifth on the firm's ranking of biotech companies by state.

Good more New Jersey!

Go here to read more.

California's Economy

Economic development is really political economy and none of us should ever forget it. I spent last week in San Diego and had a first hand chance to find out how California economic developers feel about their current and future economic prospects. Most I talked with remained moderately hopeful the state's economy would turn around, but not without a substantially stronger state and local economic development effort to help businesses and communities to get back on their feet.

What are some of the economic watchers in California saying at this point?

"California has obvious problems," said James Diffley, an economist at Global Insight, a consulting firm that follows regional trends, "but the economic performance has been surprisingly good."

But the health of the economy here, at least relative to other places, also means that a bounce strong enough to eliminate the deficit on its own is unlikely. Many consumers have already bought cars and houses in recent years, leaving less pent-up demand than at the end of most slumps. And neither technology, a pillar of California's economy, nor finance, another important sector, seem to be on the verge of a hiring surge. That could leave Arnold Schwarzenegger with some of the budget problems Gray Davis had, forecasters say. "It's going to be very very hard," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

Concern about the economy, is considered one of the major reasons voters recalled Davis and replaced him with Schwarzenegger last week, though dissatisfaction with Davis's performance was also a big factor. Polls of voters showed that 83 percent said the state's economy was in bad shape. Nationally, 56 percent of people rated the economy negatively in a recent New York Times/CBS poll.

One reason that people here might view similar economic conditions more negatively than people elsewhere is because the boom here in the late 1990's was so great. Also, until the 1990's, Californians were used to their state routinely outstripping the nation economically.

"Things aren't horrible here, but it's not as good a situation as we used to have," said Michael Bazdarich, forecasting center director at the University of California at Riverside

Go here to read more.

Are Jobs Rebounding?

Most economic developers are looking for an answer to this almighty question. Here is the lastest from Global Insights on this issue.

Global Insights economists are saying that a case can be made that there is a growing pent-up demand for labor. Companies have been squeezing a lot of productivity out of their existing work forces. As they begin to believe that the current upturn in growth is likely to be sustained, they will relent and begin hiring once again.

One way to see this is by comparing the growth rates of GDP and productivity. In the middle of this year, real GDP has been growing at a rate of about 3%, while productivity has been rising at a more robust rate of 4%. Global Insight expects that—by the middle of next year—these trends will reverse, with output growing at 4% and productivity growth decelerating to 3%. This is consistent with the pattern of past recoveries, although it has occurred with a substantial lag during this upturn.

The expected slowdown in productivity growth means that employment—as well as the number of hours worked by the average employee—will increase. Global Insight predicts that by the middle of 2004, payroll employment will be rising at a monthly rate of around 250,000 to 300,000 jobs. However, because labor force participation is also expected to pick up, the unemployment rate will likely remain at current levels for most of the next 12 months.

How might all this play out in the future? If the pent-up demand for labor does not materialize and productivity growth does not slow, then the jobs picture will continue to be gloomy, and the economy will enter another soft patch. Global Insight estimates that if productivity continues to grow at a 4% rate between now and the elections in November 2004, the economy will generate between 1 million and 1.5 million fewer jobs than projected in the baseline forecast, hours and GDP growth unchanged. In the event, both hours and GDP would be likely to fall, resulting in an even larger shortfall of jobs.

I am inclined to agree with the Global Insights' analysis of how things might go over the next 6-12 months. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the jobs materialize and that they happen in American communities instead of new production centers in China, India and Singapore.

Go here to read more.

Oregon Up to Small Things

Nanotechnology, the science of small structures, is where a lot of people in business, government and academia are putting their hopes and dreams these days, "the next big thing," in the parlance of venture capitalists and business magazines. It's also becoming a bigger focus for economic development in many states.

Oregon officials are in the process of setting up the National Center for Multiscale Materials and Devices, known as the MMD, which will be located in Corvallis.

MMD is the platform for launching new research, and for growing federally funded research here in Oregon," said Skip Rung, a consultant and former research and development executive with Hewlett-Packard who co-authored the MMD's business plan and has backed it enthusiastically from the beginning. "It is part of the effort toward doing research in commericalizable technology that lines up with the skill sets of industries in this region, and in the long term, for growing the revenue of Oregon companies."

The establishment of the MMD grew out of a recommendation by the Oregon Council on Knowledge and Economic Development (OCKED) that the state should invest in "signature research centers" to fuel economic growth.

Oregon officials have high hopes for the center and its ability to position the state for future growth.

Go here to read more

California: Timing Can Be Everything

A new job report from the State of California says the employment picture in the state just might be improving--a message that former Gov. Gray Davis could have used, and one that could help new Gov. Schwarzenegger as he readies the state for economic development.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger could be coming in with the wind at his back,'' said Employment Development Department Director Michael Bernick, a political appointee who will exit when the new administration arrives. "Just as Davis is leaving and Schwarzenegger is coming in, the employment picture could be picking up."

Go here to read more.

Asians Want More Jobs and Growth

How do residents of your community feel about future economic growth? Are they for or against it? Let's put this issue in a global context. How do citizens of various Asian countries feel about growth? Here is what a recent survey has to say.

Majority of Asians want their leaders to focus on job creation, economic reforms and development as much as on ending corruption and ensuring democracy in all nations, a new survey has found.

While more than half of Asians feel positively about the impact of economic globalisation and nearly three-quarters want increased cooperation between Asian countries, an overwhelming majority is opposed to a free flow of workers within the region with an open border policy, says the survey.

Released ahead of the World Economic Forum East Asia Summit beginning in Singapore on October 12, the survey found that proportionally more respondents in India (72.2 per cent) than in Singapore (25.2 per cent) are willing to pay taxes to speed up development in the region.

In addition to economic reform and development, the respondents want their leaders to focus on ending corruption and introducing more democracy. As many as 40 per cent of the respondents said they are willing to pay higher taxes to stimulate faster development both in their own country and in the region.

The survey, conducted by global market information company TNS, found that the majority of 7,900 respondents pointed to employment as a major concern and called on their next generation of leaders to give priority to job creation.

Go here to read more.

Look Out: Next-Gen Outsourcing Coming

Ready for this? Outsourcing of business functions is about to take yet another leap offshore.

The concept of business process outsourcing typically conjures up images of inexpensively hired college graduates dialing away at call centers in India, Singapore or the Philippines. It suggests software engineers rewriting arcane code in a technology park office in Bangalore, Beijing or some other place in the developing world for a fraction of the salary that their U.S. counterparts might earn for similar work.

That picture is now changing, as providers of business process outsourcing (BPO) services move beyond call centers and routine data-crunching tasks toward higher-end services. Among this emerging group of BPO firms is Evalueserve, which has its headquarters in Bermuda and keeps its main operational center in Gurgaon, some 10 miles outside New Delhi, India's capital. It also has a U.S. subsidiary based in New York and a marketing office in Austria to cover the European market.

What's the message here? The message is that cutting costs is not the only reason why outsourcing such tasks makes sense for its clients; it’s also about higher quality of work. "Among the more unusual emerging developments is that business process offshoring is not merely a way to reduce cost by migrating core functions," says a recent report by A.T. Kearney. "It is also a strategic initiative to take advantage of technological advances and the human capital available offshore to fundamentally restructure an organization's operating model."

What does this next gen shift mean for your area? Could it even further erode business and job growth? My initial reaction is that is quite possible.

Go here to read more.

Atlanta: More ED Attention

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has decided economic development will be a priority for the next two years of her administration, and business leaders say they are relieved she's made that decision.

Franklin plans to work with other departments to create a "New Century Economic Development Plan" -- an overall strategy to answer questions such as what parts of the city should be targeted for growth and what types of industry Atlanta should seek out. Her steps also include:

* Revitalizing the Atlanta Development Authority. Greg Giornelli, the ADA's new director, said the authority will be much more involved in traditional economic development functions such as recruitment and retention of businesses, similar to what the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce does for the entire metro region.

* Adding employees to the Bureau of Economic Development, a part of the Department of Planning that exists by law, but has no staff.

* Creating the Atlanta Committee for Progress, an organization that will support and advise the city on its economic development efforts.

Go here to read more.

Los Angeles Pins Hope on Mega-Downtown Development

LA's downtown heart may develop a far stronger beat, judging from the recent unveiling of the US$1.2-billion Grand Avenue Project. The project design, which comes after three years of planning, plots an area with a plethora of people-drawing features, including offices, housing, an urban park, cultural and educational facilities, retail operations, and a new hotel. The revitalization could generate as many as 16,400 permanent jobs, project backers say.

"Today we are on the verge of creating the true heart of our city," Grand Avenue Committee Co-chair and billionaire Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad said in announcing the project at the city's Museum of Contemporary Art on Grand Avenue.

"Paris has its Champs-Elysees. New York has Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Central Park," added Broad, who originated the idea of revitalizing Grand Avenue along with Thomas Properties Group CEO and fellow philanthropist and Co-chair Jim Thomas. "Now Los Angeles will have at its center a grand boulevard and urban park, providing millions of people each year the opportunity to walk, shop and play while enjoying downtown at its best."

Here is an artist's rendering of the project.



Go here to read more.

Michigan Lands New Hyundai Auto Tech Center

Michigan business recruiters, on the other hand, are fast racking up a flurry of Detroit-metro auto-industry wins. Topping that list is Hyundai America Technical Center, which recently decided to relocate and expand its headquarters in a $117-million, 400-employee facility in Superior Township, near Ann Arbor. The decision counters the expectations of a number of auto industry analysts, who presumed that the Hyundai project would instead take a sharp southward swing.

Hyundai, however, is barely moving at all in relocating the headquarters of its technical center operation, which conducts emissions testing, engineering, research, development and design for Hyundai and Kia autos. Hyundai America Technical Center's 41-employee current headquarters is located in Pittsfield Township, only eight miles (13 kilometers) south of Superior Township.

Michigan's biggest competition for the Hyundai subsidiary headquarters came from Montgomery, Ala., where the parent firm is building a $1-billion, 2,000-worker plant.

Go here to read more.

New Tech Forecast Report Released

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today released a CEO opinion survey and white paper on the future of technology entitled, Enabling Tomorrow's Innovations.

The research predicts that several innovative technologies will gain widespread adoption over the next 10 years, estimating:

-- 65 percent of the world's billion-plus Web users will be able to access the Internet from a wireless device;

-- The number of people playing games online will swell to 100 million;

-- The number of converged cell phone-PDAs will jump from 4 million to 80 million; and

-- Local wireless hotspots will grow from 20,000 to 140,000.

Predictions from the research estimate that productivity improvements in the next five years could yield up to $140 billion in annual cost savings to industries. Additionally, efforts to make the Internet safe for all commercial transactions would help Internet commerce grow a full six times, expanding from $1 trillion last year to nearly $6 trillion by 2006.

Noting that there are challenges to reaping the full potential of some future innovations, the study concludes with a "call to action," which identifies five concrete steps necessary to promote next-generation technologies and the benefits they will drive:

1. Invest in Innovation - Public and private investment in research accelerates the development process and speeds the benefits to businesses and consumers.

2. Protect Intellectual Property - Without such protection, investors won't invest and software developers and computer makers won't be able to create cutting-edge products.

3. Focus on Users - This means creating easy-to-use, secure and reliable software that can be optimized to a particular business environment.

4. Advance Business Models as Well as Technology - Business models must continue to be adjusted, advanced and evolved. New delivery, development and deployment techniques promise new choices and options for businesses and consumers alike.

5. Invest in Skilled Workforce - Fully reaping the benefits of innovation will require a world class education system, access to the best minds and the ability to attract and retain skilled workers through compensation linked to company performance.

Download the report here.

Global Economic Outlook

Here's a summary of the latest global economic outlook, with a special focus on Latin America.

As the global economy turns up during late 2003 and early 2004, the pattern of recovery will be highly variable, with the U.S. acting as the engine of growth and Asia receiving the most direct benefit from the increase in activity.

The pace of recovery in Europe will lag that in the U.S. and Asia due to poor corporate profitability, a weak banking system, an overcapacity of commercial real estate, contractionary structural budget positions, and labor market trends that militate against a pickup in household consumption. Near-term prospects are also poor in Latin America, where growth is being undermined by a cadre of structural constraints including a lack of transparency among fiscal and monetary institutions, distortionary trade practices, debt overhangs and contractionary fiscal and monetary policy.

As is the case in Europe, policymakers in Latin America possess an unprecedented mandate to pursue reform, although, as in Europe, entrenched interests are still a powerful roadblock. Success at implementing reform measures is essential to raising the sustainable growth path for the region. Failure in this regard will divert international investment to Eastern Europe and Asia, constrain growth, and exacerbate poverty.

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, aggregate growth in Latin America surpassed global growth as the region attracted inflows of capital. During the 1990s, in particular, state divestment of publicly-owned corporations, such as banks, mining concerns and utilities, as well as the lure of low-cost labor, was a strong draw to multinational corporations seeking high rates of return. Latin America has since fallen on hard times. A series of financial crises beginning with Brazil in 1998 pulled aggregate growth lower, and the region has yet to recover. Current recessions in Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay will ensure that 2003 growth will trail the global average for the sixth consecutive year

Go here, if you subscribe to Economy.com.

Texan to Head Team NEO

After a long and not so easy, search process, Team NEO (Northeast Ohio) has found the right person to head the new regional business development and marketing organization. Bob Farley, a well-known economic development executive at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce in Texas, will take the organization's reins in early November.

Farley's mission will be to work with business, government and civic leaders across 13 counties to help make this region more competitive in attracting and retaining businesse and jobs.

Bob has an extensive background in commercial development, economic development, site selection, logistics, public policy, research and engineering. He has also lived and worked in Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He currently serves as executive vice president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he directs all corporate recruitment activity in the aerospace, biomedical, financial services and logistics industries. Before that, Farley worked as a partner of Fantus Consulting, helping companies with site selection. I first met Bob during his Fantus days.

According to a Team NEO press release, Farley will hire a staff of about 10 to assist in getting the job done. Initially, the organization's office will be in suburban Brecksville, which is about midpoint between Akron and Cleveland.

I wish Bob well in his new assignment. He will need time to build and mount an effective strategy on a regional scale. This will take time and patience on the part of the Team NEO's Board and the organization's initial founders. Experience shows that successful regional ED initiatives, like the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the San Diego Regional ED Corporation and others, need time to "grow into" their mission and figure out where and how they can best "add value" to local communities and business.

Realistic outcome expectations should be set to guide the new organization, especially until the economy moves into higher gear and NE Ohio communities improve their readiness for economic development.

A quick success or two will be important to boasting morale and gaining longer term commitments from other community and regional ED groups. Hopefully along side these short term wins will be an innovative longer term strategy that rebuilds local, national and international business investment confidence in Northeast Ohio.

In general, my advice to not expect any silver bullets, anticipate that competition for future deals will be much more intense, and be prepared to to use a "team leadership model" to get results.

Stay tuned for more information as it is made available.

Governor Arnie

The poll results have been counted and the next governor of California is...Arnold Schwarzenegger. Californians turned out in droves and more than half - about 55 per cent - voted to "recall" Davis, effectively throwing him out of office.

I'm out here in California during this interesting moment in time. Republican-leaning San Diego folks I talked with before the election were confident that Schwarzenegger would prevail. One woman I spoke with said this to me: "Our economic mess is not Davis' fault, but he did a lousy job of keeping us informed and he could not maintain our confidence that our fiscal and economic problems could be solved. We need someone who is a sign of strength. Have you looked at Arnie's arms and shoulders? He is a picture of strength and that is what most Californians want during this hard time."

I think she said it all. Now, what will Governor Arnie's economic development program look like?

Medical Innovations Conference Starts in Cleveland

According to NE Ohio Craintech, the Cleveland Clinic's Medical Innovation Summit opened with Mayor Campbell encouraging attendees to take a closer look at Cleveland. "We are investing in our community," she told medical and biotech executives from around the world. "We look at the Cleveland Clinic as part of the work of rebuilding the city of Cleveland." Mayor Campbell highlighted the neighborhood redevelopment efforts surrounding the Clinic as part of her pitch to biomedical executives to look at Cleveland as an attractive place to locate their businesses.

The majority of the attendees are from outside Ohio. 800+ companies have registered for the event.

We will get you more on this exciting conference later this week.

Strategic Planning for Economic Development

This week I am in San Diego teaching two seminars on strategic planning for economic development at the Economic Development Institite's Fall session. I have over 125 people signed up for each course.

Strategic Planning 1 (SP-1) is an introduction to the principles and practices for ED, and Strategic Planning 2 (SP-2)is about advanced concepts and applications. I have a treat for you, especially in SP-2.

Download both at my website at don-iannone.com. SP-2 contains lots of brand new thinking about how to use strategic planning as a tool to create new "value" for your stakeholders: businesses, government, education, workers, funding sources, and your ED allies. This is a MUST read for all of you looking for innovative concepts. Get it here.

Consumer Comfort

How comfortable are consumers with letting go of their money at this point? The ABC News/Money Magazine index showed declining consumer comfort this week

With the surge in job creation, the number of people who think that the economy is doing well increased marginally. The positive tone in the September employment report was likely sensed by consumers who increased their assessment of the national economy.

Only 36% think it is a good time to make purchases. This is the lowest level recorded since mid-May. The chief culprit is the slowdown in cash flowing to customers. In July and August, consumption received a boost from the inflow of mortgages and tax rebate checks. Much less cash from refinancing is now flowing to consumers and further benefits of tax cuts will not be felt until January 2004.

Declining earnings is another factor that could be depressing the buying climate. The average hourly earnings fell by one cent to $15.45, marking the first time since 1989 that earnings dropped. While the decline may prove to be an aberration, earnings growth has been weak for some time. If maintained, declining earnings will hamper purchases.

Looking ahead, an improving national economy will create more jobs, though only gradually. This will contribute to a slow improvement in consumers' assessment of the economy. However, dwindling cash flow may mean that the buying climate will remain gloomy. Hence, improvement in confidence above its recent band will be slow in coming.

Minnesota Drops Out of Boeing Plant Race

That is the word in recent news articles. My question is: "Did Minnesota ever really have a shot at this deal?" Go here to read more.

Business Confidence Levels

Business confidence slipped a bit more in early October. Confidence remains high, but is now measurably off its late summer peak. Optimism has softened across the globe and most industries. Businesses remain cautious in their hiring and investment.

Businesses remain optimistic, but somewhat less so in the past few weeks. The four-week moving average fell again in early October. Confidence is still more than 35% above where it was at the start of the year and more than double where it was at its nadir in the lead up to the Iraq war.

Confidence in North America slipped a bit, with weaker responses coming from those in the financial services and high-technology industries. There has also been a softening in confidence among healthcare providers in recent weeks, as discretionary healthcare spending has softened, and the pharmaceutical industry is struggling with a number of key drugs coming off patent. U.S. based manufacturers, in contrast, continue to turn more positive. The somewhat weaker dollar and improved demand are providing substantial support.

Optimism in Asia continues to strengthen, particularly among transportation and travel companies. Japanese respondents have become notably more upbeat. European confidence has firmed as well, suggesting that the worst is past for the region's economy. Latin American confidence has yet to improve noticeably, as the Brazilian, Mexican and Venezuelan economies continue to struggle.

Source: Economy.com (If you subscribe)

Ford Expands in Mexico

While Ford is playing off its domestic plants against each other, it is expanding and creating new jobs in Mexico. The all-new 2006 Ford Futura, a cutting-edge mid-size sedan that continues Ford's aggressive revitalization of its car lineup, will be built at the Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant in Sonora, Mexico, beginning in 2005, the company announced today.

The Futura is the first iteration of a vehicle platform that will form the basis for up to 10 new products and 800,000 units of volume across the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in the next several years. Total program investment, including platform development, will be in the range of $1 billion USD.

Go here to read more.

Carrier to Close Syracuse Plant

Carrier Corp. will close its manufacturing operations and eliminate 1,200 jobs at its suburban Syracuse container refrigeration and compressor plants by next June, the company announced Monday.

Carrier said it would maintain its remaining 1,600 jobs at the East Syracuse plant, where it also has warehouse, administrative, engineering and research facilities.

The company said it could eventually expand its research and development operations in East Syracuse.

"Manufacturing moves are exceptionally difficult but this move is essential to Carrier's competitiveness and growth," said Ted Amyuni, Carrier's senior vice president for operations.

Go here to read more.

San Diego's Regional Innovation Clusters

San Diego has been working at industry cluster development for a long time. To learn more about the region's work in this area, download the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation's (SDREDC) innovation cluster report here.

Tampa Learns from San Diego

Many communities have found it useful to visit other cities that are sources of ideas on how to develop their community.

In an effort to improve Tampa's future, the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce organized a visit to San Diego to represent the Tampa area's business, university and research communities. The four main topics discussed during the visit were redevelopment, biotech, life sciences and transportation.

San Diego is a spectacular city. I will be going there shortly to conduct two training seminars on economic development strategic planning at the Economic Development Institute.



Read more here about what Tampa learned from San Diego.

Community Design Resource

I ran across a wonderful resource group in New York called the Environmental Simulation Center(ESC), which was established at the New School for Social Research in 1991. Since 1997, the ESC has been an independent not-for-profit laboratory, and is the only facility of its kind in New York, and one of only several worldwide. The mission of the ESC is to improve the livability of communities through the application of information technology to the community planning, design, and development process, thereby extending the capabilities of decision-makers and citizens.



What does ESC do? The ESC provides innovative place-based and performance-based planning, urban design, and regulatory solutions as well as the development of new digital tools that enhance the decision-making process. It has been a leader in the development of 3D-GIS, sophisticated performance-based systems and regulations, and conceived and led the development of Community Viz™, the world's first multidimensional place-based decision-support software.

The ESC's approach is predicated on the recognition that 21st century urban areas are complex, constantly changing environments that render traditional planning and design techniques more reactive than proactive. The ESC has demonstrated that new applications can enable planners and decision-makers to account for change as it occurs, making for plans, guidelines, and policies that are self-adapting and self-organizing – like the places they are designed to manage. The ESC has pioneered the practice of planning in an information-rich, interactive computing environment, and continues to develop decision-making techniques and applications that enable planning and development decision-making to be informed, targeted, up-to-date, and "just in time".

Go here to learn more about ESC and gather some new ideas about how to approach community design.

NY-CT-NJ Releases New Sustainability Report

This is a good read. Take a look if you are looking for some ideas about sustainability. Download the tri-state report here.

Here are some other good references are regional sustainability initiatives:

New Jersey Sustainable State Project Report (1999)

Sustainable Pittsburgh

EcoCity Cleveland’s Bioregional Plan

Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area

Sustainable Seattle

City-Region 2020, Greater Manchester, England

Wal-Mart: What Kind of Company is It?

According to a recent American Demographic article, Wal-Mart is "America's favorite store and, among detractors, its most reviled corporation. It is the new downtown, staffed with smiling faces and stocked with items at the best prices. Critics, however, allege it's a labor nightmare, bilking workers of due overtime pay, firing employees for discussing unionization, discriminating against female staffers and paving over America's small business and small town infrastructure."

Wal-Mart creates 1 in every 20 jobs in the US, and opens a new outlet about every 42 hours. It is a $244 billion business with 1.3 million employees.

According to the American Demographics article, the median income of a Wal-Mart employee stands at around $12,000 a year, less than half the national median.

So, I ask you: "What kind of a company is Wal-Mart?"

Read other recent articles I've written about Wal-Mart, go here and here.

Go here to read more, if you subscribe to American Demographics.

Top US Logistics Centers

Expansion Management Magazine has just released its new ranking of US metro areas as locations for logistics and distribution operations. The metros were assessed in terms of workforce, infrastructure, road conditions, interstate highways, rail to highway connections, waterbourne and air cargo resources and capabilities.

Here are the top 25 metros:

1 Savannah, Ga.
2 Nashville, Tenn.
3 Atlanta, Ga.
4 Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio
5 Toledo, Ohio
6 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.-Wis.
7 Houston, Texas
8 Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.
9 Macon, Ga.
10 Anchorage, Alaska
11 Louisville, Ky.-Ind.
12 Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.
13 Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
14 St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.
15 Indianapolis, Ind.
16 Columbus, Ohio
17 Dallas, Texas
18 Charleston-North Charleston, S.C
19 Memphis, Tenn.-Ark.-Miss.
20 Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.
21 Birmingham, Ala.
22 San Antonio, Texas
23 Knoxville, Tenn
24 New Orleans, La.
25 Dayton-Springfield, Ohio

Four of Ohio's metro areas made the top 25 list.

Read more about the rankings here.

Download the complere list here

Metropolis Chicago Plan

Chicago has done an effective job of creating a knowledge-based vision of where the 6-county region is headed in the future. The Metroplis 2020 Plan looks at the major issues and challenges that lie ahead for the center city and its suburban neighbors. The plan provides a connected vision of Chicagoland, which is vitally needed if Chicago is going to remain a worldclass city in the future.

Click here to learn more about Metropolis 2020.

Chicago is a breath-taking city. One of my favorite city's to visit for both business and fun. As they say, Chicago, my kind of town...

.

Click here to see more of Krohn Photography's images of Chicago

Community Profile: Leeds, UK

Leeds is the second largest Metropolitan District in England with a population of 717,000. It is located near the geographical center of the UK, about a 2-hour train ride from London. It is the regional capital of Yorkshire. Over the last 20 years Leeds has created more jobs than any major city outside London. Leeds is a major regional business center for both manufacturing and service industries.

Leeds has played a strong economic role in the UK for several hundred years. It has been a major center for industrt at least since the early 1700's.

The city has considerable appeal from a business, living, tourism, and entertainment standpoint.

I like the city's marketing campaign, which is called "No Ordinary City." The campaign distinguishes Leeds from other UK cities. I also like the city's support of regional development efforts, ensuring strong economic and social linkages between the center city and the surrounding area.

Go here to learn more about Leeds marketing campaign.

Check out Leeds Castle below.

.

To see more great photographs of Leeds Castle, click here.