Florida Leads Nation's Job Growth

Indeed, Florida has been an anomaly in a nation struggling to shake a jobless recovery. The fourth most-populous state, Florida has posted job growth for nearly two years and has fared better than the national unemployment rate for 26 months. Last month, 4.6 percent - or 381,000 - of Florida's labor force was out of work, a full 1 percent below the national average.

Here to read more.

Raleigh's New Job Development Plan

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce has an ambitious plan to attract 50,000 new jobs in Raleigh and Wake County in five years -- and double the amount for the Triangle region.

The Chamber of Commerceplans to aggressively go after certain companies to try and lure more jobs here through a program called edge 3.

The focus will be on high-tech and highly-skilled jobs.

A total of 100,000 jobs over the next five years sounds like a lofty goal, but there are plenty of signs of an improving economy in our state -- 40,000 new jobs were created in North Carolina in the last year.

In March, the Triangle's unemployment rate dipped below the national average for the first time since the year 2000.

Here for more.

Consumer Spending Continues to Grow

This is an encouraging sign for economic growth.

Consumers, whose behavior plays a crucial role in shaping economic activity, increased their spending in April by a solid 0.3 percent, a good signal that the recovery remained firmly rooted as it entered the current quarter.

The increase, reported yesterday by the Commerce Department, came after a brisk 0.5 percent advance in March. It suggested that consumers continued to do their part to support the economy.

Americans' incomes, meanwhile, rose by a strong 0.6 percent in April, marking the largest gain since January 2001. The growth in income, which followed a 0.4 percent rise in March, was especially encouraging because that is the fuel for future spending. The income and spending figures are not adjusted for price changes.

Here for more.

1970s Deja Vu?

Good question. Business Week is asking it in a recent article that talks about some similarities to that period in our history.

It all seems too familiar. An increasingly unpopular and expensive foreign military conflict, rising energy prices, and the threat of higher inflation. These factors, in Standard & Poor's opinion, may be causing investors to question whether the future investment climate may replicate the bad old days of the '70s. The rest of the article talks about the stock market, but it's an intersting read nevertheless from an economic development standpoint.

The 70's saw an interesting set of dynamics in economic development. For one, the shift to the West and the Southwest gained momentum. Industrial restructuring in manufacturing took root in the Northast and Midwest. And the Japanese began their trek to America to create an offshore production base to garnered a bigger piece of the US market. Hey, I started my career in ED in the mid-1970s.

Read on here.

Wal-Mart and Subsidies

Yes, they've gotten $1 billion in ED incentives, and I am not in the least surprised. After all, Wal-Mart is exactly what America wants. It reflects us. So, am I surprised that we have recklessly doled out $1 billion to a cut-throat retailer that is driving US manufacturing policy? Nope. Read on if you like. No surprises here though.

Cote d'Azur Economic Development

We don't have all the answers here in the U.S. Take a look at how the Cote d'Azur region of France is approaching innovation-based economic development. not a bad place to vacation either. Just ask my wife. Here for more.

InternetCoast: Take a Look

InternetCoast vision: A regional initiative leading South Florida as a global science and technology hub.

InternetCoast mission: Focuses on social innovation, entrepreneurship and a knowledge based workforce to facilitate investment and drive economic growth.

What Florida companies are involved? click here to learn more.

EU Giving More Attention to Entrepreneurship

Erkki Liikanen, the Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, made a speech on the subject of "Entrepreneurship: an integral and vital part of the EU policy mix" at an extraordinary meeting with the Employer’s Group of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, two days ago.

Here are some of his observations:

Entrepreneurship and small businesses are a key source of jobs, business dynamism and innovation. Some 25 million SMEs in Europe provide more than two-thirds of total jobs in the private sector. This means SMEs employ more than 100 million people. The EU's most dynamic SMEs account for around 80% of new jobs created.

There are still too many barriers stand in the way of entrepreneurs. With the new Entrepreneurship Action Plan, the EU intends to target practical issues such as:

> How do we encourage entrepreneurial initiative and are we doing enough to ensure small firms can grow?
> How do we handle the handover of family businesses from one generation to another?
> How do we make sure that if a business fails people are given a second chance?
> This initiative, together with our initiatives in the areas of industrial policy, innovation and competitiveness – together with our ambitious work to achieve better regulation – all have a positive contribution to make as key elements to ensure growth in Europe.

Here for more.

More Accountability and Results Demanded

I find these types of stories in many places across the country. This is from a recent news article in the Hilton Head, SC area pointing to accountability problems and the need for more results from the area ED group. My advice is that EDO's need to advance their efforts aimed at becoming more performance-based. Despite some progress in this area, everyone has a long way to go. What is happening in the Hilton Head area could happen to your organization!

"Beaufort County hasn't gotten much bang for its buck in economic development, and County Council should reconsider its approach.

The county paid $270,000 this year to a public-private organization that is not producing results. It has paid $805,000 to the Greater Beaufort-Hilton Head Economic Partnership over the past three years. On top of that, a number of other public bodies put lesser amounts into the partnership, which has not brought any companies here and has not raised income levels.

In fairness to the partnership, there are not a lot of success stories nationally. A slow national economy, a shift to more global competition, the increase in outsourcing and the stiff competition for jobs nationally have made it hard for anyone, particularly those in small markets, to hit home runs.

But that doesn't entitle the local partnership to a blank check. There needs to be more accountability."

Here for more.

Saratoga, New York Gets Funds for New Tech Campus

The Empire State Economic Development Corp. has loaned the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. $5.6 million to buy 164 acres in Malta.

The acres are part of the SEDC's plans to create the Luther Forest Technology Campus. The campus received zoning approval from the Malta town board on May 18.

Empire State Development approved the loan the day after the Malta vote. Empire State Development said Saratoga Economic Development would pay no less than 4 percent interest on the five-year loan.

Here for more.

New Kentucky Ag Business Program

The Mountain Association for Community Economic Development in Kentucky has set aside funds for a new agricultural lending program. The organization mainly helps the eastern Kentucky area. Here to learn more.

Indian Gaming in California

With the likelihood that the governor or voters could remove a California state limit on tribal slot machines, the potential growth of Indian casinos is immense. And that has people wondering – or worrying – about the impacts, from traffic, land use and water to changes in the social and political landscapes.

This issue has created quite a debate across California.

Go here to read more about it.

Economist Becomes India's Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh, an academic economist turned politician, was inaugurated India's 14th prime minister on May 22.

What does this tell you about India's future priorities? It says to me that India will give an even greater emphasis to sustaining its economic growth in the future. Of course, George Bush is a former businessman and an MBA; so what does that tell you about our President's priorities?

I still wonder in the larger scheme of things whether "local economic development" as we know it today is advancing given our current national and global business and economic strategies. Maybe that is why I have been devoting more attention to business strategy than economic development strategy in the past year. I believe global business strategy today is working hard at neutralizing the effects of geography on business growth. What do you think?

Here to read more.

India Economic Update

Here is an interesting update on India's economy.

India's business confidence in April was at an eight-year high, with the economy estimated to have grown at its fastest in 15 years in the year to March 31, said the National Council for Applied Economic Research.

The April confidence index rose to 142.8 from 138.1 in January, the New Delhi-based council said in an e-mailed statement. The quarterly survey is based on responses from 609 companies and was conducted in March and April.

The rise in the index comes as a new government was inaugurated yesterday, pledging to achieve economic growth of as much as 10 percent a year as pledged in the ruling Congress party's election manifesto. The government estimates economic growth at 8.1 percent in the fiscal year to March 31.

Both government and companies will need to increase investment as higher growth generates more demand for manufactured products.

Here for more.