Economic Development Futures Site Changes and a New Look

We've spruced up ED Futures a bit.

Hope you like the new template. The commenting software has been upgraded. 

I noticed that posting is a little slow, but maybe that is because this site is growing with over 2,000 articles. Wow, that is a lot of articles.

Let us know what you think of the new look and feel.

Leading European Life Science Centers

Who are they?

BADEN-WURTTEMBURG (GER)
BASEL/FREIBURG/ALSACE (SWI/FRA/GER)
BAVARIA (GER)
BERLIN-BRANDENBURG (GER)
CAMBRIDGE (UK)
CORK (IRE)
COTE D'AZUR (FRA)
FLANDERS (BEL)
GOTEBORG (SWE)
GRONINGEN (NL)
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON (FRA)
LILLE (FRA)
LONDON (UK)
LOWER SAXONY (GER)
NORMANDY (FRA)
NORTH RHINE WESTPHALIA (GER)
NORTH WEST ENGLAND (UK)
ORESUND (DK/SWE)
PARIS (FRA)
RHONE-ALPES (FRA)
ROTTERDAM/AMSTERDAM (NL)
SAXONY (GER)
SCOTLAND (UK)
SOUTH EAST ENGLAND (UK)
SOUTHERN FINLAND/STOCKHOLM (SWE)
THURINGEN (GER)
VIENNA (AUS)
WALLONIA (BEL)
YORKSHIRE (UK)

Want to know more about them? Of course. Click here. (Look under Special Reports/Life Science Centers Report)

How Have Business Location Strategies Changed?

If that question interests you, I suggest that you read the latest issue of BizSites and find out what has changed in the 30 years the publication has been covering business site selection and economic development issues.

Click here to read the article.

Congratulations on 30 years of giving to all of us!

Right-To-Work States

Right-to-Work laws secure the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union.

Employees who work in the railway or airline industries are not protected by a Right to Work law, and employees who work on a federal enclave may not be.

Twenty-two states and Guam have R-T-W laws. Want to learn more? Click here.

Information about individual state R-T-W laws can be accessed by clicking on the links below.

Alabama Arizona Arkansas Florida Georgia Guam Idaho Iowa Kansas Louisiana Mississippi Nebraska Nevada North Carolina North DakotaOklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Wyoming

APA Economic Development Division

The American Planning Association has an Economic Development Division. You can learn more about it by clicking here.

APA's ED Newsletter contains several interesting articles in each issue. An article on clusters and the "hidden tech population" appears in the most recent newsletter.

Canada Economic Development

Do you know about Canada Economic Development? Take a look at the organization's website and some of the work it is doing.

Canada Economic Development works to promote economic development in the regions of Quebec, focussing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It also fulfills its mandate by supporting long-term economic development, the creation of sustainable employment and income, and entrepreneurship.

Government of Canada ED Priorities

-CED contributes to the attainment of the Government of Canada's priorities with respect to Canada's economic future:
-Economic growth;
-Job creation;
-Achievement of Canada's full potential;

-Growth of SMEs;
-Make Canada as the most connected nation in the world;
-Sustainable development.

Regionalism in South Florida

Regionalism is NOT easy as most economic developers know. South Florida continues to work away at building regional cooperation.

A recent article says "many problems remain. Among them, convincing local and state politicians that the benefits of regional cooperation outweigh those of adding jobs to their local communities alone; educating potential investors as to the resources available in the tri-county area; convincing local government organizations, such as airports and seaports, to work in concert and attacking priority issues like public education, affordable housing, transportation, redevelopment and land use."

Here to read more.

New Entrepreneurs Group in NC Triad Area

The Piedmont Entrepreneurs Network and the Triad Entrepreneurial Initiative announced yesterday that they will combine some of their programs in a new economic-development group and will eventually phase out the individual organizations.

The new network, called the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network, will include entrepreneurial services available from PEN and TEI. Officials declined to call the network a merger of the two groups, however.

Action Greensboro, the Winston-Salem Alliance and High Point Partners are financing the network, which will have an estimated annual budget of $650,000, officials said.

More here.

Rich Florida 'Clarifies' His Message

Richard Florida was back in Phoenix this week (he was a star attraction at a New Times downtown forum last year) speaking to a group at the Rodel Foundation.

His new book, The Flight of the Creative Class, is due in March. But this was also a time to clear up misconceptions about Rise that even Florida groupies may hold. He has neither an arts agenda nor a diversity agenda, he says. Rather, he's a self-described student of how we generate wealth and economies.

It so happens that the cities best at generating wealth also have abundant cultural assets and are welcoming of all kinds of people, including gays and minorities.The Creative Class? "It's not about artsy-fartsy, everybody's a poet," Florida says. And it's not just tech jobs. "It's about the nature of your involvement in work."

Hum. Sounds like you're setting the stage for your new book, Rich. And of course, the next generation of speeches.

More here.

Mitsubishi Cuts Jobs In Normal, Illinois

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. says it will lay off 1,200 workers this fall at its only U.S. plant, trimming car production as part of a worldwide revival plan the automaker hopes will pare mounting debts.

The Japanese automaker, battling losses from bad credit and recall scandals, said Wednesday that production will be cut from two shifts to one in October at the Normal plant, which now has more than 3,100 workers.

Finbarr O'Neill, chairman and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Motors North America, said production had to be adjusted as the company tries to rebuild sales that have dipped nearly 27 percent in the U.S. for the first six months of 2004.

Rich Gilligan, president and chief operating officer of MMNA's Manufacturing Division, said in a statement: "This was a very difficult decision, but we believe it is necessary for the long-term success of the company."

More here.

Salt Lake's Ambitious Downtown Plans

A couple or years ago I did some consulting work in Salt Lake City. It appears that things are moving forward with the City's downtown development plans.

Salt Lake City's leaders have done their share over the years to bolster arts and culture downtown. This time, they want arts groups to help them.    

The Salt Lake Chamber/Downtown Alliance has a bold new plan for downtown revitalization that relies on arts and culture as its economic engine. The aim is to form a nucleus of arts groups and theaters reminiscent of New York City's Lincoln Center on the block between West Temple and Main and bounded by 100 South and 200 South. The concentration of touring shows, films, ballet, opera and theater is intended to draw restaurants, shops, hotels, galleries - and people with money in their pockets - to the area.

Salt Lake Community College will have a downtown campus at 115. S. Main, bringing an influx of college students to the area. The theater SLCC sponsors, Grand Theatre, has been invited to use Capitol Theatre, which would be available if Ballet West and Utah Opera move to the Utah Theatre. Like Morey, the Grand Theatre's artistic director Richard Scott is interested, but unable to commit while the project is in its early stages.   

Brigham Young University, which will have a downtown Salt Lake campus as part of the LDS Church's development, might also be contacted  about using Capitol Theatre for productions, Beattie said.    Utah Film Commission and Salt Lake Film Society have been approached about moving to the block to create a film presence. Utah Museum of Fine Arts and Utah Museum of Natural History could locate "satellite exhibits" on or near the block. With the new Museum of Utah Art and History right across Main Street from Utah Theatre, a concentration of galleries would result. Regent Street, a narrow alley which runs through the center of the block MUAH is on, could possibly be developed for small shops, galleries and restaurants.

More here.

Bridging Workforce and Economic Development

I have been working with the U.S. Department of Labor over the past several months on new ways to bridge workforce development and economic development.

I was invited to write an article for one of the Labor Department's newsletters about this work. Click here to download the article. Interesting reading.

Should We Have Reporters in the Board Room?

Most of you must deal with media all the time in your jobs. I do.  Here is one example of how a feisty local newspaper in Northwest Pennsylvania sees the issue. 

As background, Crawford County, PA is working through some very hard cooperation and team-building issues. The leaders involved would not be willing to honestly air their issues with news reporters sitting in the room.

Your thoughts?
___________________

Meadville Tribune (Reprint)
Meadville, Pennsylvania
July 21, 2004 

Doors closed on economic development meeting
By Keith Gushard 

- Work on a new unified economic development strategy for Crawford County has begun - behind closed doors.

The 17-member Crawford County Economic Development Leadership Team met Tuesday morning to start the process with consultant Donald Iannone. It's made up of a group of business and economic development members from around the county.

Reporters weren't permitted to attend the meeting, though co-chairmen G. Thomas Lang, a retired businessman, and Morris Waid, a Crawford County commissioner, met with the media following the two-hour session at Days Inn in Vernon Township.

The group's objective is to reach consensus in developing a unifying strategy - with measurable three-year goals - to guide economic development in the county, Lang said. It's expected to have a strategy developed by Thanksgiving. "We need one set of plans so we don't duplicate efforts," he said. However, it may not necessarily mean a consolidation of economic development agencies into one entity."We want to do it from the customer's point of view," Lang said. "The customer sees it as one system."

"A lot of people saw it as fragmented," Waid said of the current economic development system, which includes Meadville Area Industrial Commission, Crawford County Development Corp., Meadville Redevelopment Authority, Titusville Redevelopment Authority, Crawford County Redevelopment Authority and other agencies.

The committee now is in the process of developing issues to be addressed and gathering data and facts on businesses as it moves forward, Lang said. It will meet again Sept. 1. He said it also has to consider the need for regional cooperation and how Crawford County will be part of the economic strategy for northwestern Pennsylvania and the state as a whole.

Questioned why the meetings aren't public, Lang said the committee wants to be successful and, in order to do that, everyone must give 100 percent of their opinions."We want to reach a decision everyone can support," he said of the final strategy.

Consultant Iannone said having closed-door sessions is OK because a cross-section of community interests are on the board. The meetings need to be closed to have candor among participants, he said. "A lot of issues people won't discuss if there are reporters in the room," Iannone said.

The public will be kept informed through local media as well as through speakers dispatched to area civic organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

Lang said the committee has no authority whatsoever over the respective groups involved and only will succeed if all the groups agree to the plan."We'll succeed only if we have a commitment to the design," he said. "The only clout we have is consensus."

Midwest Manufacturing: Indiana Perspective

I have been doing a good bit of consulting work in Indiana lately. Here is a clip from any Indy Star article about manufacturing in Indiana and the Midwest.

Indiana job growth was smack in the middle last month when compared with its neighbors, new U.S. Department of Labor figures show.

Indiana gained jobs at a faster rate than Michigan and Ohio, both of which lost positions, but at a slower pace than Illinois and Kentucky.

However, a nagging problem remained common to all -- a flat manufacturing sector.
Stubbornly sluggish manufacturing job growth could slow the overall economy of the industrial Midwest, said George Erickcek, senior regional analyst at W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, an independent nonprofit in Kalamazoo, Mich.

"I'm not expecting the Midwest to really bounce back rapidly," said Erickcek, who believes the region will probably lag the national rebound.

More here.

Arizona Aims to Reivent Higher Ed System

An Arizona group is preparing a plan for the redesign of Arizona's university system. The group heard a consultant recently who said the system needs to adjust to Arizona's growing population.

"Your strategy for higher education makes a lot of sense for a small state, a small state with lean funding," said David Longanecker, the executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, who has been engaged to serve as a consultant for the study. "It is not a strong system for a fairly large state, which is what you will become." Longanecker pointed to Arizona's changing demographic mix and other factors that should be given greater consideration as the system grows in the future.

More here.

NY State High School Goes High Tech

As NY state's Capital Region tries to reinvent itself as Tech Valley, it stands to reason there would be a high school of the same name.

And so planners from two of the region's BOCES organizations, Capital Region and Questar III, have come up with an ambitious plan for a 400-student, $30 million Tech Valley High School, whose curriculum would include intensive internships and other projects with local high-tech firms.

The school would be one of the first of its kind nationwide. A handful of such schools have already opened in California, said Baldwin. During the last year, he said, BOCES officials have visited some similar schools, such as a High Tech High in San Diego. Kids there have developed a new product for which they are seeking venture capital so they can actually produce and market their brainchild, said Baldwin. Because they are trying to get funding, they haven't revealed precisely what they are working on.

More here.

State of America's Cities 2004 Report

Here is a summary of the major findings of the recent State of America's Cities report by the National League of Cities:

-City officials are generally pessimistic about the direction the country
is heading, but are optimistic about their own cities.

-City officials report that city fiscal conditions and overall economic
conditions have worsened and are a problem for a large majority of
cities. City officials rank city fiscal conditions and overall economic
conditions among the top five conditions that have deteriorated most
during the past five years. In contrast, in the 2000 State of America’s

-Cities survey, city officials reported city fiscal conditions and overall
economic conditions as the two most improved conditions in their
communities during the past five years.

-Federal and state partnerships with municipalities are reported to be
weakening, while three quarters of city officials rate their
municipality’s relations with other cities in the region and
metropolitan area as either excellent or good.

-City officials say "community building" conditions in their city have
improved. Most of the conditions cited as the most improved in
municipalities during the past five years are related to this theme of
community, including vitality of downtown and mainstreet and police
and community relations.

-City officials also identify local priorities for federal action, including
the cost and availability of health services, overall economic
conditions, impacts of unfunded mandates and preemption of local
authority, availability of quality affordable housing, unemployment,
and racial and economic inequalities.

-Compared to city officials from suburban and rural cities, officials
from central cities are more likely to be pessimistic about the general
direction of the country, to report an increased need for survival
services, and to report worsening fiscal problems. Central city
officials are also more likely to say that regional and inter-local
collaboration would have a positive impact on city conditions. City
officials from central, suburban and rural cities all express concerns
about unfunded mandates.

-Nine out of ten city officials say that lack of trust and disengagement
between citizens and government in the nation, generally, is a major
or moderate problem.

Education-Jobs Link

A panel of city officials and education and workforce experts last week called for a “national will” and a commitment from candidates for office at every level to eliminate disparities in education that block access to the American dream.
 
The call for national action came at a two-hour roundtable discussion on “Jobs and the American Dream: Eliminating Disparities in Education for Employment,” sponsored by the National League of Cities, the City of Orlando, Fla., Valencia Community College and WMFE-TV, the Orlando area public television station.
 
The roundtable was the second in a series of public policy discussions focusing on key challenges outlined in the NLC Advisory Council’s Report, “Divided We Fall: Inequality and the Future of America’s Cities and Towns.”  As a result of that report, NLC President Charles Lyons, selectman from Arlington, Mass., has called on cities and towns across the country to join the National League of Cities in a campaign to resurrect the American dream.
 
More here.

Geographic Information Systems: A Tool for Improving Community Livability

This fact sheet from the Local Government Commission explains how geographic information systems (GIS) software can help policy makers and stakeholders make more informed and effective decisions by relating data with place. Contains 20 short case studies of how communities have used GIS to improve the livability of their communities. Also lists questions to consider when choosing a GIS tool and a listing of free data sources. Download here.

Public Strategies for Cost-Effective Community Brownfield Redevelopment

By H. Wade VanLandingham and Peter B. Meyer

This Practice Guide is the first of a series to be produced by the University of Louisville Environmental Finance Center for use by local officials and staff. The series is intended to provide tools for trainers that can be used to better inform local elected officials and government/nonprofit agency staff about environmental planning issues and the economic and financial implications of the different policy choices facing state and local governments. The Practice Guide reviews three different types of institutional controls (deed notices, deed restrictions, and environmental easements) that may be used to make sure that the future uses are consistent with the flexible cleanup standards permitted and to assure that engineering controls are maintained over time. Download it here.

Optics Firm Goes Home to Arizona

A Santa Fe optical imaging firm is relocating back home to Arizona because, a company founder says, his firm could not find quality, motivated workers in New Mexico.
 
Optical Insights LLC, which manufacturers and designs optical imaging equipment for biotechnology and other industries, moved out of its offices on June 25 and took with it a handful of jobs and the promise of at least two future hires.
 
The company's founders are all University of Arizona graduates.
 
More here.

GPEC Search Firm Selection Irks Local Firms

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council's decision to hire a Florida-based firm to head the search for the group's next president frustrated leaders of several local executive-search firms, who believe they were snubbed."They didn't even give any of us a chance to make a presentation," said Chuck Pearson, chief executive officer of Pearson & Associates Inc., a Phoenix-based executive-search firm.
 
Pearson and several others said they were miffed as to why an organization with a mission to attract high-wage jobs to the Valley would not give more weight to local firms in its selection process. The chosen firm, Joan Jorgenson Consulting, based in Jupiter, Fla., has already begun work to replace Rick Weddle, who left last week to head the Research Triangle Park Foundation in North Carolina.
 
These are senstive issues. Not an easy call for an organization like GPEC. My advice is to go with the best. In this case, Joan Jorgenson brings a wealth of experience to the job. That is not to say that Greater Phoenix area firms could not do the job, but Jorgenson's network is hard to match.
 
More here.

Search for New Incentive Policies in Greater Phoenix

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and new Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman are pushing hard this summer to build support for a regional moratorium to halt local tax subsidies for businesses in the low-paying service and retail sectors.
 
Gordon said he supports economic development incentives and even subsidies to help spur the growth of high-wage and knowledge-based sectors, but not big-box stores and auto malls.
The Phoenix mayor said major retailers such as Wal-Mart need to learn there is not "a constitutional right to drink from the public trough."

Hallman said he plans to conduct an internal review of Tempe policies to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used wisely and not to subsidize businesses.
 
What can I say? This is a tough tide to buck, but a worthwhile to explore. Might be worthwhile for the Phoenix folks to read the new report by Good Jobs on using incentives to support "quality" job development. Go here to download the report.

Where Does Phoenix Stand?

A recent Arizona Republic editorial bemoans Phoenix's deficiencies in quality and worldclass stature. It says big is not better, better is better. That is a good point.
 
After reading the article, it makes me wonder what Greater Phoenix leaders really want to accomplish over the next decade. I look at the region and see many successes in the past decade, despite the growing dissatisfactions about wanting more.
 
I would be interested in seeing a more "appreciative" assessment of the regon's assets and accomplishments. I suspect some very good things are being overlooked in this quest to become the biggest and the best.
 
More here.

Review of Rural Development Efforts

Looking for information about the state of rural ED efforts. Check out this EDA-funded study by Harvard's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness

In summary the report says that current policies to improve the disappointing economic performance of rural regions are,  by and large, not working. This is increasingly the consensus among policy makers  across political parties, not only in the United States but also in many other countries  around the globe. Not only is the performance of rural regions lagging, but the gap in performance levels between rural and urban areas seems to be widening. This state of affairs exists despite significant efforts to boost rural regions through a wide variety of  policies with budgets of billions of dollars in the United States alone.
 
Here for more.  (Download the report)

Real Estate Development Case Studies

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has a great library of case studies to learn from. Subscribers have access to full case studies. Anyone can access the summaries. Click here to learn more.

Michigan Cool Cities Initiative

Looking for ideas on how to be a cool place?
 
Click here and read how Michigan is approaching the issue.

Seattle Benchmarks Denver and Munich

Like great companies, great metropolitan areas must benchmark their practices against the best of their competition.  And, as in business, figuring out what your region's competitors are up to is a challenge that can yield large benefits.

Two such competing regions for Seattle are Denver and Munich.  Both offer models of transportation planning and regional cooperation that our area should be paying attention to.

This spring, more than 100 business, governmental, educational and civic leaders from Greater Seattle visited Munich and Denver to see firsthand how those regions worked to create jobs, attract investment and improve their quality of life.
 
This is a very worthwhile article.
 
Click here to read more about what they learned.

Greenville, SC: Lessons on Downtown Development

On Fridays in the summer in Greenville, S.C., residents gather downtown after work for a city-organized block party where they can hear bands, share a beer and patronize local restaurants. Families crowd the Marble Slab ice cream parlor on Main Street, where a line of customers frequently snakes out onto the street, and local college kids and young professionals grab a seat at one of the city's 80 restaurants.
 
Greenville, located about three hours northeast of Atlanta, has gained recognition for successfully converting its once-blighted downtown into what officials call a ''24/7'' city.Last year, it won the Great American Main Street Award, which is presented jointly by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Main Street Center.
 
More here.