Company Research Links

If you are conducting research on company prospects, you will definitely want to check out these links. Go here.

Florida Biotech Company Eyes Maryland Location

A Florida-based biotechnology company with a research and development facility in Rockville is looking for a second helping of space along the Interstate 270 corridor.

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals of Boca Raton, Fla., which recently began expanding internal manufacturing capabilities in Florida, is looking for 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and R&D space along I-270. It's unclear at this point whether Nabi's needs are immediate and it must take existing space, or if the firm can wait until new space is built.

More here.

Penn's Tech Transfer Efforts Paying Dividends

The University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Transfer launched 14 companies in the school's 2004 fiscal year, a number that likely puts it in rare company.

Only the University of California system and Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched more companies in fiscal year 2002, the most recent year for which data is available from the Association of University Technology Managers.

More here.

Southern Miss Makes Changes in ED Degree Program

The University of Southern Mississippi will ask the state College Board to approve splitting its economic development department and dropping "economic development" from the College of Business and Economic Development.

Southern Miss President Shelby Thames wants to shift the department's degree programs so that the College of Business and Economic Development can maintain its accreditation through the American Association of Schools of Business, he said during Wednesday's meeting of the President's Council.

"Because economic development is a new field, there are not a lot of PhDs in the field," Thames said. "We want to keep the program going and not impair the accreditation."

More here.

Maryland Priority Places Initiative

Maryland Governor Ehrlich's Priority Places Strategy is designed to make well-planned development and community revitalization easier to achieve in cities, suburbs and small towns across the state.

After designating promising projects and planning proposals as Priority Places, the state will dedicate all of the resources, regulatory power and expertise of its agencies to helping those projects and plans come to fruition.

This initiative will be supported by the Smart Growth Subcabinet, which is made up of all of the agencies that play a role in land-use and growth decisions. The goal is to support proposals that have the greatest potential to spark broad-based development trends and land-use patterns that are good for the economy, quality of life, and the environment.

More here.

Massachusetts Benchmarks

Massachusetts Benchmarks is a project of the University of Massachusetts in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and is managed by the UMass Donahue Institute.

The Benchmarks initiative, presently consisting of a quarterly journal and this Web page, will soon expand to offer conferences and seminars.The journal is a forum for researchers from the University of Massachusetts system, other universities and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to provide economic commentary and analysis to professionals who may not be in the field of economics.

Through this initiative, the University seeks to provide decision makers, opinion leaders and economic development practitioners across Massachusetts with information and relevant analysis about the health of the state economy, its performance over time and its prospects for future growth.

More here.

Northeastern Economic Developers Association Releases New Report on Competitive Communities

Here is one you may find to be of interest. It is a collection of articles on building competitive New England communities in the context of the global economy.

Nice job!

Download the report here.

Industry Cluster Literature Review

While the literature review is a few years old, it does a good job of describing some of the industry cluster research through 1998. Some foundational work that is worth knowing about.

Go here.

University of Arizona Cluster Work

The University of Arizona has done a good job of contributing to industry cluster development. To find out more about their efforts, click here.

Roanoke Releases New Cluster Study

Looking to gain better insight into and understanding of the Roanoke region’s economic structure, the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance has released a study that examines existing industrial clusters and explores possible economic linkages between the New River Valley and the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Highlands. Click here.

Australia's Creative Cluster Initiative

Australia is doing some noteworthy work with creative sector clusters. Click here to find out more of what economic developers are doing in the DownUnder.

San Diego's BIDs

If you are studying business improvement districts (BIDs) for your community, your first stop should be to examine what San Diego has done in this area. Click here.

Develop a Career Plan!

Do you want a successful, productive, and rewarding career in economic development? Of course you do! My advice is to go to work on a career development plan for yourself. Do it now.

I see many professionals in the ED field stagnating and running out of steam. Don't blame your problems on your boss or your board. Take charge of your career.

There are lots of ways to go about a career plan. Here are five important tips to keep in mind:

1. Set clear personal and professional objectives for yourself in your current job.

2. Measure your progress in achieving your objectives quarterly and annually.

3. Don't overstay your welcome in your current job. Start looking around for the next opportunity BEFORE you need to.

4. Know what work makes you happy and gives you satisfaction. Concentrate on those activities and don't spend your time doing what gives you pain. Life is too short.

5. Finally, revisit your career plan on an annual basis. Discuss it with your spouse, significant other, best friend, or even a professional coach or career counsellor.

Look for more on this subject here at ED Futures.

Global Stem Cell Research

Looking for a global picture of who is doing what in stem cell research? Click here.

Worldwide Biotech Competition Heats Up

A spate of traditionally non bio-centric regions announced biotech related economic development initiatives within the last week including Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Scotland.

–Australia's Geelong precinct within the state of Victoria has launched a new campaign to establish the region as a major research hub, which cited a report entitled Geelong Biotechnology Opportunities Study. The study names key attributes for an emerging biotech hub that are already in place in Geelong, such as research reputation, scientific infrastructure, and strong ties between acadamia and business. The precinct currently ranks seventh in biotech areas of Victoria with about 300 researchers.

–Pakistan's Higher Education Commision (HEC) Chairman addressed attendees of the country's first annual National Conference of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, and stressed the macroeconomic benefits of allocating funds towards biotech research at all levels.

–Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi met with 20 senior executives of U.S. companies in New York last week to stress the need and opportunity for biotech investment to modernize the country's agriculture sector and ultimately improve its economy. He stressed that the country is on the rise and that recent investments have resulted in a 7.8 percent jump in economic activity in the first half of 2004. The two hour dialogue session was organized by JP Morgan and attended by executives of companies that have current investments in Malaysia such as Ford, IBM, Boeing, GE, Citicorp and Oracle.

–Lastly, Scotland's investment promotion agency Scottish Development International (SDI), has begun to foster relationships with French biotech companies to stimulate scientific collaboration in cancer research and boost the country's biotech industry. SDI will make a strong push through a series of similar trade missions such as a visit to BioJapan 2004, and two separate trips to the East and West coasts of the United States "to tap into the world’s largest healthcare market, forge collaborations and build future funding relationships with venture capitalists." All of the above are meant to build a “big and sustainable world-class” life sciences cluster to deliver future medical breakthroughs," in the country. Scotland has spent more than £10 million a year on the biotech sector for each of the last five years and £150m has been allocated to the country's Life Sciences Intermediary Technology Institute to help companies and academics commercialize research over the next 10 years.

All these developments point to the growing over-capacity to support what is currently a fledging industry. It suggests that areas worldwide should be working together to strengthen their competitive advantage. Go it alone strategies don't make sense for many areas--especially those with no defined strengths in the biotech sector.

More here.

Columbus Region Rethinks ED Rules

The wave of jobs moving between Columbus and its suburban cities has prompted an effort to create regional ground rules for how far economic-development officials can go in luring away companies already situated in the region.

advertisementBut whether cooperation replaces economic-development combat may depend on how quickly the economy helps pave the way for Central Ohio municipalities to take jobs away from other regions.

A recent string of high-profile business moves has created a chorus of complaints from officials across the region:

- Dublin officials raised a stink in May after Hilliard persuaded BMW Financial Services to pick up and expand in the neighboring city - a move of about 8 miles that brought with it about 750 tax-generating jobs.

- The BMW deal came on the heels of Columbus' March offer of a sweetened incentive to get Nationwide's GatesMcDonald division to head for downtown from Hilliard. The deal added 480 jobs to Columbus' tax rolls.

- More recently, Columbus officials cried foul when Amerigraph LLC, which received tax breaks from the city just three years ago, said it would grab incentives from Gahanna to move its expanding manufacturing and office operations to the eastern suburb. That project involves 100 jobs and a pledge of 66 more jobs during the next three years.

More here.

Is the Economic Development Field Growing?

Like other "senior" members of the economic development field, I get this question frequently from newcomers to the field.

Truthfully, I am not sure what the answer is. If economic development is growing, it is not clear how the field is growing.

What is the current trend line in terms of new job openings in the field? Is the quality of economic development jobs improving? If so, how?

What does the future outlook for employment in the field look like? In which U.S. regions will ED jobs grow the most? What types of organizations will create the best jobs in the future?

These are just a few questions that go through my mind as I ponder the growth of our evolving profession.

I would welcome your thoughts on these questions, as well as the questions you would ask about the future growth potential of our field.

I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to post comments to this article, or drop me an email at: dtia@ix.netcom.com.

Inc. 500 Geography

Looking to locate the Inc. 500 companies? Start here by downloading this geographic analysis of where these companies are located.

Japanese Companies Investing More at Home

Japan's giants are investing in plants at home again. Why the switch?

After years of hand-wringing by authorities over the hollowing out of Japan's manufacturing industries, Corporate Japan is investing at home again. Expenditures on plants and equipment in Japan rose 10.3% during the first half over the same period of 2003, the Ministry of Finance reported in September. "These movements are very favorable for the Japanese economy," says Kenji Yumoto, chief economist at the Japan Research Institute. He expects capital expenditure to grow 10% in the current quarter and nearly 7% in the fourth.

Why the shift? On one level it's because Japanese companies have already reaped most of the potential gains from moving production overseas. In the past decade the share of Japanese-owned productive capacity located abroad has grown to 45% from just 8%, Merrill Lynch estimates. That's almost as high as the 50% level seen in the U.S, which means Japan Inc. overall now has a cost structure that's as competitive as most rivals from developed countries. Canon, for instance, has made 80% of its capital investments overseas for the past decade, and today, 42% of its total production is abroad.

This year the company decided to reverse course and is pledging to spend 80% of the $7.2 billion in capital outlays it plans for the next three years at home.One factor pushing the trend is a growing realization that the savings from producing in China aren't all they're cracked up to be. Sure, China has low wages -- typically 5% of Japan's -- but they're rising in coastal areas. And the cost advantage is increasingly eroded by supply bottlenecks and power shortages, which shut down plants in many coastal cities over the summer. Osada Co., a Tokyo producer of parts for air conditioners, refrigerators, and elevators, has been plagued by high employee turnover and quality problems at the Chinese facility it opened in 1999. So instead of expanding on the mainland, it's building a $4 million factory at home.

Japanese companies, of course, will still open new plants abroad. Auto manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. continue to ramp up in China to take advantage of the fast-growing market there. And electronics makers such as Sharp, Canon, and Toshiba have no plans to close existing Chinese operations, particularly given their high hopes for fast growth in the mainland market. But that scary feeling that Japan had no future as a manufacturing center is finally starting to ebb.

More here.

Nanotech on Campus

Academia is fast becoming the center of this promising technology's universe, with states helping to pay the way.

Nanotechnology is the engineering of microscopic materials, but there's nothing small about its impact on universities. Huge nano centers are opening up across the country. Northwestern, Purdue, the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State, and the University of Albany have all recently opened spanking-new nano centers.

If universities are gaga for nano, it's not hard to see why. It starts with money. The federal government has earmarked $3.7 billion for nano research over the next four years. State governments -- eager to host the industries of the future -- are joining the rush. New York has funneled hundreds of millions to the nanotech corridor taking shape around the University of Albany.

More here.

Gaming Buys Tribes Political Influence

Following a nationwide trend, American Indians in New Mexico are using money from their gambling operations to flex newfound political muscle.

They're contributing to friendly candidates, opposing others and generally making their presence felt on the state's political landscape as never before.

Records compiled by Follow the Money: The Institute on Money in State Politics shows that Indian-gambling interests in New Mexico have jumped in recent years.

In 2002, the most recent year for which complete records are available, gambling tribes and associations contributed more than $103,000 in state races, with $63,000 of that going to Gov. Bill Richardson alone.

Is this surprising to any of you? Why should the tribes operate any differently than other population groups in the U.S.?

More here. (Free registration required)

Attracting Tourists to the Mississippi Delta

In the Mississippi Delta, life is never far from the blues -- a challenge and an opportunity for those promoting tourism there.

Already, millions of people visit, drawn by nine casino resorts in Tunica County that pump more than $2 billion a year into the region's economy.

But a short drive and a world away lies the real Delta -- stretching from just beyond the glitzy gambling halls all the way to the magnolia-shaded lanes of Natchez.

Here, amid some of the nation's richest soil and poorest people, are the sharecroppers' shacks, cotton fields, small towns and juke joints where the blues was born -- music that slaves first sang about the hardships of life.

Now a new effort is under way to market this aspect of the Delta to tourists. But just how do you attract visitors to a region once-famous for poverty and a violent history of racism?

Interesting story. More here.

New Urbanism in NE Ohio Communities

NE Ohio communities get with the New Urbanism wave -- Finally!

It makes sense...that is in-fill development, reworking older historic buildings, creating a walkable city, human-scale development, etc.

I had the pleasure of touring the Towne Square in tiny Titusville, PA last week, including the building that housed the very first office of turn-of-the-century oil baron, John D. Rockefeller.
Click here to learn more. It was a wonderful experience.

More here.

Ohio: The Job Loss State

Most Buckeyes I know are not happy about having the Presidential candidates characterize Ohio in these words.

But...that's the message some economic development officials are worried is being broadcast to business executives, courtesy of the state's high-profile role in the presidential campaign.

Virtually every day, someone in the Kerry campaign or its allied groups blare the fact that Ohio has lost more than 200,000 jobs in the past four years. It's the message in the Kerry campaign's latest TV ad. The Bush campaign says Ohio's economy had been hurting but is recovering.
The statistics aren't in dispute. The repercussions are.

"The concern is it's almost become a clichÈ now -- Ohio, Rust Belt State," said Linda Siefkas, senior vice president for business advocacy at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
That makes Ohio less appealing to business leaders thinking of new places to set up shop, she said. Ohio's regional economies are so diverse -- with Cincinnati and Columbus far different from, say, Youngstown -- that the campaigning sends an inaccurate image of the state.

More here.