GIS Applications for Economic Development

GIS (geographic information system) software can assist economic development organizations to:

- Analyze their target market through accurate demographic information: location, age, sex, education, language, income, spending habits, and product and service needs;

- Identify their proximity to transportation infrastructures such as major highways, railroads and airports as well as public services and competitors;

- Identify locations for entertainment facilities such as golf courses, theatres and restaurants; and

- Undertake redevelopment of community areas to reverse deteriorating trends, create jobs, and revitalize the business climate.

GIS software is a great solution for analyzing and presenting this information to prospects. The core of GIS technology is its ability to bring information together at any scale from large to small to allow for more informed decisions.

Go here to read more.

Corporate Real Estate Links

CoreNet Global has assembled a useful set of real estate links for corporate real estate management and facility location. Go here to access the links.

Biotech Location Ranking

Business Facilities Magazine has re-worked some Brookings Institute data on biotech locations and arrived at a top 40 location list. Go here to see the rankings.

Here are the factors that were examined in the ranking:

-Number of Institutions Granting Biological Science PhDs, 1999 (weighted 0.5)
-Number of Biological Science PhDs Granted, 1999 (weighted 0.5)
-Percentage Share of NIH Funding Among Top 100 Cities, 2000 (weighted 0.5)
-Change in Percentage Share Among the Top 50 U.S. Metros for NIH Research Funding for Medical Schools and Research Institutions, 1985-2000 (weighted 0.5)
-Number of Biotechnology Related Patents Awarded, 1990-1999 (weighted 0.5)
-Nationwide Percentage Share of Biotechnology Venture Capital Investments, 1995-2001 (weighted 0.5)
-Number of Venture Capital Firms Highly Active in Biotechnology, 1995-2001 (weighted 0.5)
-Dollar Value of R&D Alliances in Pharmaceuticals/ Biotechnology, 1996-2001 (weighted 1.0)
-Number of Pharmacutical Establishments (NAICS 3254), 1997 (weighted 0.25)
-Estimated Number of Pharmaceutical Employees (NAICS 3254), 1997 (weighted 0.25)
-Number of Life Sciences R&D Establishments (NAICS 541702), 1997 (weighted 0.25)
-Estimated Number of Life Sciences R&D Employees (NAICS 541702), 1997 (weighted 0.25)
-Nationwide Percentage Share of Biotechnology Companies with 100 or More Employees, 2001(weighted 1.0)

State ED Incentives

If you are looking for information on state ED incentives, you may find this summary in Area Development Magazine to be of interest. Go here.

Area Development Site Selection Survey

Guess what? Labor is still the number 1 factor driving corporate site selection decisions. Guess what? Incentives are even more important now given current economic conditions than before. Guess what? Little else is new in terms of site selection factors. Guess what? International location projects are expected to be far more important in 2004.

Want to stop guessing and read more? Go here.

State Small Business Data

The Census Bureau has posted a very useful state level data file on small businesses. It covers the 1988-2001 time period and provides data on number of establishments by employment size and payroll. It's worth a look if you need comparative data for a state ED analysis. Go here.

State Legislature Links

Lots of valuable information about state economic development programs can be found at state legislature websites. This is a good place to look for information about what new state ED policies and programs have been created as well as evaluation studies on existing state ED programs. Often you find use competitive information on legislature websites that the state development agencies will not provide on their sites. Go here.

Canadian Company Profiles

Looking for information about Canadian public companies. Go here and search this great free online database.

Inc. 500: New Business Recruitment Prospects

Santa says check out the Inc. 500 List for new business investment prospects. Go here.

Strategy Under Uncertainty

A recent McKinsey Quarterly article addresses the question of how to design strategy in various types of unceratin business and economic environments. While the advise is aimed to companies, the principles also apply to economic development strategy for geographic areas.

The article identifies four types of uncertain environments:

1. Clear enough future: where the future situation is fairly apparent.
2. Alernative futures: where 2-3 possible future scenarios might apply.
3. Range of futures: where several possible futures are seen as possible.
4. Ambiguous future: where scenarios cannot be clearly identified.

It is useful in preparing economic development strategies to characterize future scenarios where they may apply. I am finding in my strategy work that this is even more important when the timeframe of the strategy is beyond 12 months.

Go here to read more. (Must subscribe to McKinsey Quarterly)

From Around the World: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Afrikaans - Geseknde Kersfees en 'n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Argentine - Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo
Bohemian - Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian - Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Bulgarian - Vesela Koleda i chestita nova godina!
Catalan - Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chinese - Sing Dan Fae Lok. Gung Hai Fat Choi (Cantonese)
Chinese - Shen Dan Kuai Le Xin Nian Yu Kuai (Mandarin)
Chinese - Shen tan jie kuai le. Hsin Nien Kuaile
Croatian - Sretan Bozic
Czech - Stastne a vesele vanoce a stastny novy rok!
Danish - Glaedelig Jul og godt nyter
Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar
Dutch - Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar
English - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Eskimo - (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto - Felican Kristnaskon kaj Bonan Novjaron!
Estonian - Rõõmusaid jõulupühi ja head uut aastat!
Faeroese - Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Filipinos - Maligayang Pasko
Finnish - Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!
Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French - Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année!
Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath yr!
Galician - Bo Nadal
German - Frohe Weihnachten und ein gl|ckliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Hronia polla kai eytyhismenos o kainourios hronos
Greek - Hronia polla ke eftihismenos o kenourios hronos
Hausa - Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian - Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian - Kellemes karacsonyi uennepeket es boldog ujevet!
Icelandic - Gledhileg jsl og farsflt komandi ar!
Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal dan Selamat Tahun Baru!
Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig Shona duit
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig Shona
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig faoi shean agus faoi shonas duit agus bliain nua faoi mhaise dhuit!
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!
Japanese - Meri Kurisumasu soshite Akemashite Omedeto!
Latin - Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian - Priecigus Ziemsvetkus un Laimigu Jaungadu!
Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu
Maltese - Nixtieklek Milied tajjeb u is-sena t-tabja!
Modern Greek - Kala Christougenna kai evtichismenos o kainourios chronos!
Norwegian - God Jul Og Godt Nytt Aar
Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Polish - Vesowe Boze Narodzenie
Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese - Boas Festas
Portuguese - Feliz Natal e um Prospero Ano Novo
Romanian - Craciun fericit si un an nou fericit
Russian - S nastupaiushchim Novym godom i s Rozhdestvom Khristovym!
Romanche - (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Serbian - Hristos se rodi
Slovakian - Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Slovak - Vesele Vianoce i na zdravie v novom roku!
Slovenian - Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto
Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Swedish - God Jul Och Ett Gott Nytt Ar
Thai - Suk san wan Christmas
Thai - Suk san wan pee mai - Happy New Year
Trukeese - (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Turkish - Noeliniz kutlu olsun ve yeni yilinis kutlu olsun!
Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian - Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Ukrainan - Z novym rokom i s rizdvom Hrystovym!
Ukrainan - Khrystos Rodevsia
Vietnamese - Chuc mung nam moi va Giang Sinh vui ve
Welsh - Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Da!"
Yoruba - E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

Source

Christmas is a time...

when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it." --Richard Lamm

Finding Heart in Our Work...

"Much of Heart Aroused deals with the hidden and neglected side of corporate life, where a woman's or a man's soul has been forced to reside, like Tolkien's character Gollum, in dark and subterranean caves. Modern business life arises from a love of the upper world, of material products, or order and organization; it celebrates the material, light-filled portion of existence. It is the world as we see it (or as we would like to see it) and as it most makes sense to us."

David Whyte, The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America

Whyte goes on to say that while our work fulfills us in many ways, it also robs us of our ability to be who we really are as caring and loving human beings. Sometimes it takes a poet to remind us to find heart in our work, whatever that work may be.

My wish for all economic developers and the business organizations they help every day is that all of us find more heart in our work in the coming year. We have a choice. Let's choose the heartful path to that which sustains us.

On Organization in Economic Development...

Perhaps one we should think about as we create new and re-shape existing economic development organizations.

"Organizations are rarely established as ends in themselves. They are instruments created to achieve other ends. This is reflected in the origins of the word organization, which derives from the Greek word organon, meaning a tool or instrument."

Source: Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization.

Looking for Ideas on Performance Measures

I believe that economic development has a long way to go in becoming more fully performance-based. We are making progress, especially in looking at the work that organizations like the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the Jacksonville Economic Development Corporation, Enterprise Florida, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Alliance and many others have accomplished in setting and achieving performance-based goals. It is possible.

In the next couple of months, ED Futures will be looking in more depth at how and which performance measures are set by EDOs across the country. Have a program that we should know about? Drop me an email to let me know about it. I'm all ears, as Ross Perot used to say.

New EDA Report on Technology Development and Economic Development

The Economic Development Aministration has released a new report on technology and economic development. The report finds that:

* Almost all innovation takes place in metropolitan areas. Rural and nometro areas are lagging way behind in this area.

* Less than a fifth of metro areas specialize in patenting (that is, have a share of U.S. metro patents greater than the share of metro jobs). Large metro areas (with over 1 million jobs) are far more likely to specialize in patenting than smaller areas. Two-thirds of large metro areas specialize in patenting compared to 14 percent of smaller metro areas. Larger metro areas have an advantage in the innovation process due to their greater specialization and diversity.

* Public R&D located in large metro areas is far more likely to lead to local corporate technology development than is so for public R&D in rural and small metro areas.

* While innovation activity (as measured by patents and industrial R&D) correlates with higher annual wages, it does not correlate with growth in total regional jobs and income.

* If technology development is a centripetal phenomenon, drawn towards relatively few large centers, commercialization is centrifugal in nature, taking place across the global landscape according to the competitive
advantages of local areas for carrying out particular production, distribution, management, and technical functions.

Download the full report here.

Federal Courts Uphold Tribes Gaming Expansion

Indian gaming has had its share of debates and debacles over the years. Here is the latest word on Indian gaming.

A federal appeals court upheld California's voter-approved expansion of tribal gambling Monday, saying federal law lets states grant Indian tribes a monopoly on Nevada-style casinos.

The ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected challenges by card rooms and charitable organizations to casinos run by 62 tribes that have signed compacts with the state. The opponents argued that exclusive tribal control of unrestricted casino gambling was unauthorized by federal law and amounted to an unconstitutional racial preference.

The appellate court's decision also removes an obstacle to one tribe's plan to open the state's first metropolitan-area casino in the west Contra Costa County city of San Pablo.

Go here for more information.

National Conference on Organizational Leadership and Renewal

Here is a program that you may want to learn more about.

Rapid workforce changes, new policy demands, and the recent specter of safety related issues are creating new and complex challenges for managers as they chart organizational growth and change.

This program will focus on:

-The sources of organizational breakdown
-Organizational assessment of current health/stress/breakdown
-Individual assessment of current well-being/productivity/effectiveness
-The nature of organziational renewal
-Strategies and techniques for individual self renewal
-Strategies for creating a high performance culture

Brookings Institute
April 13-14, 2004
Wash., DC

Foundations and Nonprofits Must Clean Up Act, Says New Brookings Report

EDO's depend upon private foundations for funding support so this story will be of some interest to you.

According to the Brookings Institute, public confidence is essential to America's 1.5 million charitable organizations and the 11 million Americans they employ. Confidence clearly affects the public's willingness to donate time and money, shapes the political and regulatory environment that governs charitable organizations, and has at least some influence on morale within the charitable workforce.

Confidence slipped when charities were slow to respond after 9/11, and it has been battered in the past year by scandals. The news media have delved into lavish spending at some of the nation's leading philanthropies, improper payments at the United Way of the National Capitol Area, conflicts of interest at the Nature Conservancy, and the firing of new YWCA president and feminist leader Patricia Ireland after just six months on the job. In turn, these stories have sparked legislative investigations and calls for tighter regulation, most recently from the California State Attorney General, who joined his colleagues in Minnesota and New York in calling for a new era in charitable accountability and the legislation to create it. Where the media go, Congress, state attorneys general, and watchdog groups are sure to follow.

Go here to download the report.

Baltimore: Innovative Leadership Solution

The Greater Baltimore Alliance (GBA) has decided that it will take two people to do the job formerly performed by its previous President and CEO Ioanna Morfessis.

After considering three candidates from outside, the Alliance's board has tapped Christian S. Johansson as the organization's managing director and David M. Gillece as CEO. Johansson, now the alliance's executive vice president, will serve as the highest-ranking leader in the organization's office, technically replacing outgoing CEO Ioanna T. Morfessis. And Gillece, the board chairman, will act as an advisory CEO, retaining his position as president and principal at local commercial real estate firm Colliers Pinkard.

A 31-year-old with a master's in business administration from Harvard University, Johansson has a private industry background as well as ties to Baltimore. His resume includes stints with Booz Allen Hamilton management consulting group in London and a Boston software company that he founded.

Go here to read more.

NY City' Most Influential Minority Business Leaders

If I were a forward-thinking EDO, I would be looking at how to influence future business facility investment decisions by the rising minority business stars. Here is the list of the top 100 minority business leaders in NY City.

NY City's Best and Brightest Companies

Looking for business prospects in the New York City area, go here to Crains New York and work off the list in fashioning a prospect hit list for your area. (Note: you must purchase the lists.)

Chicago 100 Top Companies

Will your business recruitment efforts take you to Chicagoland in 2004? Click here to download the Chicago 100 company list from the Chicagon Tribune. (Registration is required.)

Boeing Outsourcing 7E7 Wing Work

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. have agreed to supply a composite material to make the wings and to underwrite several billion dollars of related research and development costs, though Boeing officials won't reveal a number on those costs.

Although some observers say Boeing's move makes sense financially and from a manufacturing standpoint, others contend the company is taking a huge gamble sharing its wing technology with outside suppliers.

Why would you give your most prized technology away for a just a couple of billion dollars?" asked David Pritchard, a researcher at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who has studied deals between Boeing and foreign suppliers since the 1970s. "One has to protect core technology. What's stopping them [the Japanese] from developing their own airplane?"

Boeing rejects such notions. "The idea that any single part of the plane is the golden key to an airplane is inaccurate," said Lori Gunter, spokeswoman for the 7E7 program.

Although Japanese suppliers will have access to detailed specifications related to 7E7 wings, the overall designs for the plane, Boeing's first launch of a new model in more than a decade, will be drafted on in-house computers and controlled by Boeing engineers.

Although the 7E7 will be assembled in Everett, Wash., the home of Boeing's commercial jet production line, some unionized workers there consider outsourcing of the 7E7 wing more controversial than when Boeing decided to have the 777 fuselage built in Japan. The workers fear that with the wing technology, government-subsidized Japanese companies will have a critical piece needed to build their own airliner.

What's your opinion? Should Boeing outsource this work to a foreign supplier, or any outside supplier for that matter? Let's hear your thoughts on this issue.

Go here to read more.

Boston Biotech Update

Here is an interesting update on Boston area biotech companies. Note that many are not out of woods yet in terms of profitability, which is making their venture investors unhappy, as you can imagine.

With stock prices plummeting, capital evaporating, and promising drugs getting sent to the back of the line by the Food and Drug Administration, this is a good time to assess how far Massachusetts' biotechnology industry has come -- or failed to come -- since its inception some 20 years ago.

The two titans of the industry, Biogen Inc. and Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge, each posted 10 percent increases in revenues, and both exceeded revenues of $1 billion.

Indeed, for many on The Globe 100's list of biotech firms with the highest revenues, little of the revenues come from the sale of drugs or therapeutics developed inside the company. At Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, about 45 percent of revenues last year came from sales of Integrilin, a drug used in heart surgery to prevent blood clots. But Integrilin was developed by COR Therapeutics Inc. of San Francisco, which Millennium acquired in a big stock swap last year. Most of Millennium's other revenues came from strategic alliances with big pharmaceutical companies. Velcade, a cancer drug approved by the FDA May 13, also came to Millennium via acquisition.

Many of the others on the list are so-called "tool box companies" that provide products, services, and supplies for drug discovery, yet don't seek to develop their own drugs. Charles River Laboratories International of Wilmington rose to prominence as a breeder of special mice for medical research; it has grown by acquiring other firms that provide preclinical testing services. Waters Corp. of Milford makes equipment used in the lab to separate and analyze molecular samples. Bruker Daltonics Inc. of Billerica makes lab equipment for an identification process called high-performance liquid chromatography.

Go here to read more.

Boston Globe's Top 100 Companies

Looking for business prospects in the Boston area? Go here to view the Boston Globe 100 companies. Chances are there are some growing companies on the list that will be looking for new facility locations in 2004. It's a really good list to work from, combining longstanding Boston area companies and new "upstarts" in the past several years.