Broward County, Florida's New ED Strategy

With Broward County expected to grow by another half-million people by 2020, political and business leaders are calling for greater regional cooperation to ensure transportation, schools, housing and economic development keep pace.

The ambitious ideas laid out in their VisionBROWARD report include the construction of a coordinated mass transit system, public support for affordable housing, construction of high-density housing near transit stops and an environmental protection program stretching from the Everglades to the beaches.

VisionBROWARD is the first major effort since the mid-1980s to lay out a road map for the area's future.

Key points in the plan released this week are:

- Creating a regional brand that would market and identify South Florida as one place.

- Creating a regional economic foundation that would provide direction to local governments on transit, development and planning issues.

- Creating regional service centers that would streamline the development approval process.

- Targeting redevelopment programs to ensure that there is affordable housing for people of all income levels.

- Strengthening the school system from pre-kindergarten to college to ensure the area has the type of competitive workforce business wants.

- Establishing an international trade center that would expand trade opportunities for local business and bring foreign investment.

- Drafting plans, land-use regulations and development incentives that would expand regional transit and the development of high-density housing nearby.

- Implementing a "Sawgrass to Seagrass" environmental program that would preserve natural resources and promote quality of life.

- Encouraging entrepreneurial growth, including helping expand business opportunities for minority-owned firms.

More here.

Shawnee Tribe Looking at Gaming in Ohio

The Eastern Shawnee Indian Tribe will buy a 150-acre site in a commercial park along Interstate 75 to develop a casino, tribal officials said Friday.

The Oklahoma-based tribe said it plans to invest $250 million at the site about 25 miles north of Cincinnati and still hopes to develop five to seven gambling operations throughout the state.
The tribe hopes to close soon on its contract to purchase the land, which is in the 800-acre Corridor 75 Park off the interstate, said Terry Casey, a Columbus consultant representing the tribe. He would not say when the deal would close.

The tribe will need two years to design the development and will work with neighboring landowners on hotel, retail and entertainment facilities that could open in several years, Casey said.

More here.

Will Pleasanton Lose PeopleSoft?

While PeopleSoft's busy Friday created a stir in the stock market and on newscasts, its hometown seemed to take the same approach it has since Oracle made its hostile takeover bid last year.

With 3,928 workers, PeopleSoft is Pleasanton's largest employer. It produces about $650,000 a year in property tax money. Pleasanton does not release sales tax figures by company, but it does list PeopleSoft as one its top 25 sales tax revenue producers.

Another case where there can be negative consequences to corporate M&As.

Stay tuned.

More here.

Washington DC and Sports Development

The city's success in landing the Expos baseball team comes at the end of a road littered with one sports failure after another. An Olympic bid, an auto race and a marathon all flopped. But the return of baseball to the nation's capital is being hailed by business and government leaders as a victory in their efforts to promote economic development.

"Sports and entertainment is a big, big part of this, and this is a huge achievement on that end," said Mayor Anthony A. Williams, who hopes to build a new $440 million stadium he contends will have benefits beyond professional baseball.

In recent years, local business leaders have joined elected officials in unsuccessful efforts to land the Super Bowl and the 2012 Olympics. While the city has hosted the NBA All Star Game and last year's NFL Kickoff celebration on the National Mall, the D.C. Grand Prix and the revived D.C. Marathon turned out to be one-time events. In the case of the marathon, organizers canceled the 2003 event just days before - leaving nearly 7,000 runners high and dry - then promptly filed for bankruptcy.

More here.

New ED Proposals for Native American Communities

Paul Babbitt today announced a major new economic development proposal that will help start the long process of creating sustainable self sufficient economies in Native America. Native American reservations are some of the most impoverished places in rural America and rural Arizona, and rather than continuing the same shortsighted plan of sporadic construction and funding in various areas, Babbitt is presenting a long term visionary plan that will help Native America and the surrounding rural communities far into the future.

More here.

Presidential Candidates on Economic Development

Three times a week, The Associated Press picks an issue and asks President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry a question about it. Today's question and responses:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: How would you seek to revitalize communities in greatest need of economic development?

Bush: "I believe that America's economic prosperity should extend to every corner of our country. My Opportunity Zone proposal would assist areas that have lost a significant portion of their economic base and are transitioning to a more diverse, broad-based economy, as well as poverty areas eligible for existing programs. Opportunity Zones would ease that transition by targeting federal resources and encouraging businesses to invest in these areas. They focus both on stimulating new economic activity and promoting education, job training, affordable housing, and other activities critical for a vibrant community. Opportunity Zones also recognize that overcoming barriers to growth requires local involvement, and requires communities to work with the federal government to reduce those barriers to development and job creation."

Kerry: "I will create a Small Business Opportunity fund, expand loans and equity for small businesses, increase the federal government's venture capital investments, and expand loan programs to help more small businesses get off the ground. I will increase the share of federal contracts for small businesses and ensure that minority-owned businesses get a fair share, use tax credits to cut the cost of energy and reduce the cost of health care by two-thirds, and eliminate capital gains taxes for long-term investment in small businesses. And I will help small businesses offer retirement plans by using tax credits to help offset the startup costs of pension plans. I'll have a new jobs tax credit to cover an employer's share of payroll taxes for net new jobs created by small businesses in 2005 and 2006."

Don's Commentary: Come on guys. You can do better than that!

More here.

Right-Wing Center Takes Shot at Michigan ED Effort

The conservative Mackinac Center inMichigan took another shot at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's (MEDC's) efforts in an artcle that says:

"Consider the following trends, which are drawn from the most recent available data, and which Lansing’s programs had the chance to influence:

* Between December 1995 and December 2003, Michigan finished 51st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in employment growth, with a total of just 1.4 percent new jobs created.

* Between 1995 and 2001, Michigan dropped from 23rd to 30th among the 50 states in per-capita gross state product.

* Between 1995 and 2003, Michigan finished 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in per-capita income growth."

While I think the Mackinac Center tends to miss the point that economic development requires both public and private sector assistance and leadership, the Center is pointing to an important issue that all ED groups need to pay attention to: we need to look honestly at where our economies are headed and how much ED efforts can really impact our real economic conditions.

I have been saying for a long time that ED efforts work on the margins and not in the mainstream. In the future, we need to increase our impact on mainstream economic trends and issues through more powerful strategies that use strategic collaboration and joint investment. We need to set our sights higher.

More here.

Accountability in Using Incentives

A recent article by an Indiana site selection consultant speaks to the need for both businesses and government to exercise greater accountability in using incentives. It proposes a sensible approach for both parties. Go here.

Puerto Rico Economic Development Bank Counts Job Impact

The president of the Puerto Rico Economic Development Bank, Francisco Rodriguez, said Tuesday that 29,000 new jobs had been created through local companies since the fiscal year 2001 to June 30, 2004.

Rodriguez said in the fiscal year ended in 2001, 7,194 new jobs were created; in 2002, 6,390; in 2003, 12,727 and in 2004, 13,196. “We, in the past fiscal years, have been able to create 26,000 new jobs in local businesses,” he said.

He said the job creation figure is a way to measure the success of the EDB during the present four-year period. He also said that every sector has benefited from the jobs created through EDB financing, but the highest number of new jobs was registered in the manufacturing, tourism and service industries.

More here.

Houston Looks to Ways to Improve Its ED Efforts

Houston has dropped the ball in the past seven to eight years in its attempts to entice outside companies to Houston, according to a report released this week by the Task Force on Economic Development.

The task force, formed at the request of Mayor Bill White earlier this year, includes 23 members from the private sector and is spearheaded by Lee Hogan, president of investment firm Hogan Investments and founding president of the Greater Houston Partnership.

The group, which focused on what Houston needed to create, retain and attract quality jobs to town, found that the local private and public communities' efforts to promote economic development have declined in recent years as local CEOs focus more of their energy on global efforts and their own bottom lines than promoting their home city.

A booming economy in the late 1990s and plentiful job market decreased the emphasis on economic development, said Hogan, a need that has returned as the economy has tapered off in more recent years.

In response to its, findings the group recommended, among other things, that the City of Houston designate a point person on staff directly charged with working on economic development.

More here.

Learning From Business Leadership

A review of leadership development programs at eight major corporations reveals that nothing works better than interaction with colleagues.

Leadership is not just for leaders anymore. Top companies are beginning to understand that sustaining peak performance requires a firm-wide commitment to developing leaders that is tightly aligned to organizational objectives — a commitment much easier to understand than to achieve. Organizations must find ways to cascade leadership from senior management to men and women at all levels. As retired Harvard Business School professor John P. Kotter eloquently noted in the previous issue of strategy+business, this ultimately means we must “create 100 million new leaders” throughout our society.

More here. (Free subscription required.)

BBC Global 30 Index

The current BBC Global 30 index constituents are:

Europe

BASF (Germany)
BP (UK)
Enel (Italy)
HSBC Holdings (UK)
Nestle (Switzerland)
Nokia (Finland)
Novartis (Switzerland)
Siemens (Germany)
Tesco (UK)
Vodafone Group (UK)

Asia

BHP Billiton (Australia)
Canon (Japan)
CNOOC (Hong Kong red chip)
Hutchison Whampoa (Hong Kong)
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial (Japan)
NTT Docomo (Japan)
News Corp (Australia)
Takeda Pharmaceutical (Japan)
Tokyo Electric Power (Japan)
Toyota Motor (Japan)

Americas

Citigroup (USA)
Du Pont de Nemours (USA)
Exelon (USA)
Exxon Mobil (USA)
General Electric (USA)
Microsoft (USA)
Pfizer (USA)
Procter & Gamble (USA)
Verizon Communications (USA)
Wal-Mart Stores (USA)

Check out the index here.

World Economy Growth Rate Up

The world's economy in 2004 should grow at its fastest rate for 30 years despite rising oil prices, the International Monetary Fund has said.

The IMF raised its forecast to 5% from 4.6% in what will be the strongest growth seen since 1973, if its forecast is accurate.

Rising corporate profits and strong housing markets boosted growth in 2004.

However, the IMF downgraded 2005's global growth forecast to 4.3% from 4.4%, citing oil prices as a concern.

More here.

North Carolina Rural ED Leadership Program

We have begun work on a new rural economic development leadership program in Pennsylvania. Looking at similar initiatives in other states is a part of the design process. North Carolina has a good program to learn from.

The North Carolina Rural Economic Development Institute is a leadership development program that provides participants with the knowledge, skills and insights they need to bring about positive change in today's challenging economic environment. This program has been a fundamental part of the Rural Center's overall program since 1989.

By participating in the institute, rural leaders have the opportunity to:

- increase their understanding of the latest strategies in economic and community development.

- improve their leadership and team-building skills.

- understand more about resources available to their communities and how to take advantage of them.

- learn the fundamentals of long-range strategic planning and how to make it work.

- receive books and materials they can refer to for years to come.

- join a network of rural leaders who regularly share information and experience.

- become energized and motivated for the task ahead.

The institute consists of nine days of classes over a three-month period. Each three-day session includes lectures, discussions, learn-by-doing exercises, meals and socials.

Sessions run from Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon. During the days between sessions, participants complete homework assignments and test out their new skills in their home communities.

Graduation ceremonies are held during a formal luncheon on the last day of class. The luncheon gives participants the opportunity to celebrate three months of intensive work, professional growth and a network of new friends and colleagues.

More here.

Institute for Global Pharmaceutical Development

The Institute for Global Pharmaceutical Development (IGPD) will be an independent, free-standing, non-profit (501C3) organization whose mission is to conduct research and offer programs that will enable the pharmaceutical industry to accelerate the development of and access to new medications.

The IGPD will be affiliated with three founding partners: the University of Arizona (UA), SRI International (formerly known as the Stanford Research Institute), and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Each partner contributes unique strengths to the IGPD. The UA will provide the academic home and infrastructure for the IGPD's educational and research programs and an environment of innovation and inquiry. The participating FDA scientists will provide the first hand knowledge of the regulatory process and a wealth of experience in the evaluation of new pharmaceutical agents. SRI will bring practical experience in pharmaceutical development, scientific expertise, and a track record of commercializing new drugs.

More here.

University of Arizona Releases Tech Transfer Report

The UA tech transfer report, authored by Asim Khan, Ph.D. and Scott G. Davis, sets a benchmark for evaluating technology transfer activity at the University of Arizona in comparison to other major research universities.

The report examines nine key indicators or activities that occur throughout the technology innovation process. These indicators are: total sponsored research expenditures, resource base of offices of technology transfer, invention disclosures received, U.S. patent applications filed, U.S. patents issued, licenses and options executed, licenses and options yielding revenue, gross license revenue received and start-up companies formed.

More here.

Services Struggle In Japan, Why?

Japan's unproductive service industries are holding back its improving economy from achieving even better performance.

For a country that boasts some of the best manufacturers in the world, Japan's service sector remains strikingly poor. In recent years precious little has been done to improve things—businesses and individual consumers must struggle with outdated and inefficient services. Yet the sector represents a huge opportunity for Japan. Reformed and galvanised, it could take up the slack of future economic slowdowns and lessen the burden on export-led manufacturing. Why are service industries so backward and what might be done to improve them?

For more than a decade after a financial crisis in 1989 plunged once-booming Japan into a long period of slow growth, weak companies and wobbly banks clung to each other in mutual defiance of reality. Troubled borrowers needed the banks to overlook their problems and keep open the flow of money; the banks, too short of capital to admit that their loans had soured, obliged. Over time, this led to the emergence of so-called “zombies”—companies that are competitively dead, but, sustained by their banks, continue to walk the Earth and give healthier firms nightmares. And zombies are most prevalent in the service sectors of the economy, especially construction, property and wholesale and retail distribution.

More here.

Does Smoking Ban Hurt Business?

But most of the scientific, peer-reviewed economic studies indicate that smoking bans either have no overall negative effect or a positive effect on a city's hospitality industry, in terms of sales and employment.

"The only studies showing a negative effect are of low quality and done by or for the tobacco industry or one its allies," says Stanton A. Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California-San Francisco.

More here.

Pennsylvania's New Keystone Innovation Zones

Keystone Innovation Zones (KIZs) are designated zones that may be established in communities that host institutions of higher education – colleges, universities, junior colleges and technical schools.

These zones are designed to foster innovation and create entrepreneurial opportunities. They do this by gathering and aligning the combined resources of educational institutions, private businesses, business support organizations, commercial lending institutions, venture capital networks (including angel investors), and foundations. In other words, where a partnership of these organizations is formed, a Keystone Innovation Zone is possible.

More here.

Savannah: Plan for Regional Growth

Given the growth pressures in the Savannah, Georgia area, officials see the need for better regional planning to deal with growth issues, including land use and transportation issues. Go here to read more.

From Indiana: Invest in Education

"If you build it, they will come" is a classic line from the film "Field of Dreams." In life everywhere, capital investment precedes the realization of dreams. The failure to invest is the guarantee of failure to succeed.

One of our most important investments is in education. The state provides money to augment local property taxes. Those state dollars are only to pay school employees and day-to-day expenses. The buildings are the local communities' responsibilities."

Quote from an editorial by Morton Marcus, NW Indiana Times.

North Down, Northern Ireland

The Internet gives ED Futures global reach. I received a delightful and interesting call from Nick Rogers, the Economic Development Manager for North Down Borough in Northern Ireland, last week.

North Down, is a stable area seaside community in Northern Ireland. It sits on the southern shores of Belfast Lough, offering an attractive coast and countryside with many natural assets.

The Borough covers an area of over 88 square KM, stretching from Holywood to Bangor and encompassing Cultra, Helens Bay, Crawfordsburn and Groomsport. With an established industrial and retail base, and excellent transportation links, the area has a population base of 76,000 and a workforce of nearly 47,000 people. With Holywood just 3 miles from Central Belfast, and Bangor merely 13 miles from Belfast, North Down offers a strategic business location.

Traditionally regarded as a seaside location, North Down has worked to diversify its local economy and now boasts over 2,500 businesses. The range of businesses located within the Borough includes international manufacturing and plastic companies, IT, and multimedia businesses. The manufacturing sector of the local economy is dominated by smaller companies, principally involving high technology light engineering, plastics injection molding, food processing, paper products, furniture, clothing and craftware.

More here.

Higher Education Pays Off Globally

In most countries where the proportion of people in the working population with degrees has increased since the mid-1990s, the benefits of having a university qualification have also increased, this year's global education report for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found.

In the US, graduates have the biggest advantage, with earnings as much as 86 per cent higher than for those with only a high school diploma. Only in New Zealand, Norway and Spain have the advantages of going to university decreased.

More here.

China Tops U.S. in Foreign Direct Investment

China overtook the US as a top global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) last year while the Asia-Pacific region attracted more investment than any other developing region, a UN report said last week.

China's strong manufacturing industry helped the country attract FDI last year worth US$53.5 billion, compared with US$52.7 billion in 2002, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its annual report on investment flows.

Meanwhile, foreign investment in the US, traditionally the largest recipient of such money, plunged by 53 percent last year to reach US$30 billion, the lowest level in 12 years, according to data from UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2004.

Flows to the Asia-Pacific region as a whole rebounded over the year to US$107 billion from US$94 billion in 2002 driven by strong economic growth and a better investment environment, the agency said.

More here.

China Hosts Mega-City Meeting

The First High Level Forum of the World Mega Cities Development opens in Nantong, China, a city located in Yangtze River Delta where boasts most of Chinese mega cities, east China's Jiangsu Province. More than 300 participants, including over 100 mayors from 25 countries and 16 Chinese mayors of Yangtze River Delta, attended the forum for promoting exchanges and cooperation among the mega and big cities in the world. More here.