Iannone on Globalizing Greater Phoenix

Thinking about how to develop worldwide partnerships for economic development?

Maybe my recent keynote presentation to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council's Leadership Retreat on this very subject may be of interest. Download the slides here.

Give Don Iannone at 440-449-0753 to learn more about how to globalize your economic development strategy.

ASU in Downtown Phoenix

Folks is Phoenix are pretty excited about Arizona State University's plan to develop a major downtown campus. It's a good move for Phoenix, but how does Tempe really feel about it. That's another question.

The "blueprint of the future," as Phoenix is calling it, calls for a 15,000-student Arizona State University downtown campus less than a mile from a bioscience center filled with thousands of workers and researchers. The city's convention center is being tripled in size to attract more events, prompting the city to commit to building a 1,000-room hotel with public money.

Adding fuel to the storm are plans for 10,000 more housing units, up to 700,000 square feet of new retail, restaurant and entertainment space, and a light-rail system that will link downtown to Tempe and Mesa.

More here.

Michigan Puts $45 Million on Table Trying to Keep K-Mart

After all is said and done, Michigan's Governor says let's make a bid to keep the big K's headquarters.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. spelled out its offer in an undated six-page proposal. Chief among the incentives is up to $44.7 million over 10 years from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority Job Creation tax credit.

The incentive package is based on Kmart keeping 1,500 jobs in Michigan with an average annual salary of $70,000. Kmart would have to maintain that job level for 10 years to get the annual tax credit.

Is it worth it? The big K is slipping in the market, and does not appear to have a real strategy to best Target or Wal-Mart. I understand 1,700 good-paying jobs, but can K-Mart live up to its job promise for the incentives. Maybe not.

More here.

Give This Report to Your Board Members

Trying to explain what economic development is to your Board members, City Council, the State Legislature? Here is a report by NAIOP that can help. Download it here.

Corporate Real Estate Ahead

Read and heed...

If there is a single point to come out of a recent CoreNet Global sponsored Gallup poll, it's that Corporate America will require more flexibility with its real estate as it moves into the future. The poll was undertaken to assess the impact of technology and other key issues on employees and companies as we approach 2010.

According to the survey, how and where people work will continue to be driven by a company's overall business strategy and will be heavily influenced by traditional factors such as the location of key markets, sources of supply, labor, transportation, communications, utilities, incentives and other issues. However, as the world continues to become networked, the role and weight of these factors can fundamentally alter the structure of the company as well as where it chooses to locate, the nature of its assets and the configuration of its portfolio.

Specific predictions for corporate real estate in 2010 include the following:

-Ninety percent of the Fortune 500 companies will adopt "triple bottom line reporting," which means that companies will be measured by social responsibility, environmental sustainability and profit.

-In the networked world of 2010, corporations will require less space to perform effectively.

-According to the Gallup Organization survey, right now just seven percent have workers spending 25 to 50 percent of their time in unassigned office space. By 2010, 21 percent of companies will have their employees working remotely up to half the time.

-The work environment will be defined more as connectivity - a network of places both geographic and virtual - so that commercial real estate executives will manage networks as much as occupancy in facilities.

-Worker productivity will be measured in real time, thus allowing for real estate decisions to be made more quickly and more effectively. Portfolios will have to be flexible in terms of the lease agreement, financing and the ability to substitute assets during the lease term.

For more information.

Ford's Chicago Campus

Here is a good role model to look at.

The Chicago Manufacturing Campus, located just a quarter of a mile east of the Torrence Avenue Assembly Plant, is a groundbreaking development. The retooled Torrence Avenue Plant, now supported by a state-of-the-art supplier campus, will produce two new Ford models -- the Ford Freestyle and Ford Five Hundred, and one new Mercury - the Mercury Montego.
The recently completed 155-acre supplier park houses nine of the auto-maker's top-tier parts suppliers in four buildings, consisting of 1.6 million square feet of manufacturing space. Proximity to the Torrence Avenue facility allows the suppliers to produce parts and immediately send them to the assembly line, eliminating the inefficiencies associated with transporting and storing inventories.

The supplier park sets Torrence Avenue apart from other manufacturing facilities. Rather than having its suppliers in various geographic locations around the Midwest, they are now centralized in an industrial condominium complex near the assembly plant. As a result, the average distance for a given part to the assembly line has been reduced from 425 miles to 125 miles. Ford will also see the gains in efficiency on total assembly time, as mistakes and quality issues can be quickly addressed at the source before production continues. Key to the process is the increased level of communication between Ford and its suppliers, and between the individual suppliers.

The location of the campus, and the implementation of a just-in-time manufacturing model, result in dramatic reductions in inventory and shipping costs and provide more flexibility for the Torrence Avenue plant. In fact, the plant is one of several of Ford's North American plants being adapted for flexible manufacturing, which allows several different automobile models to be built on a single assembly line. Not only will Ford be able to reduce its manufacturing costs, but also it will be able to modify its assembly lines to produce the most in-demand model.

More here.

Every State Should Have a Policy Statement Like This

Why Economic Development is Important to Virgina. Go here.

Who Created the China Trade Imbalance?

In this presidential-election year, the debate over foreign outsourcing and trade imbalances and their impact on the U.S. economy rages throughout media. But there can be no debate over the extent to which one particular country -- China -- is contributing to the trade imbalance.

In 2003, $148.6 billion in manufactured goods were imported from China, according to the U.S. Office of Trade and Economic Analysis, up from $97.3 billion in 2000, producing a manufactured goods imbalance with the U.S. of $126.8 billion ($21.8 billion of U.S. manufactured goods landed in China).

It's not just consumer goods -- apparel, toys, etc. -- hitting retailers' shelves that account for the China imports. Many U.S. manufacturers now look to China suppliers for their components and materials. Most U.S. industries are making China a cog in their supply chain -- even while many manufacturers in those sectors are losing sales and profits to the Chinese.

Based on findings of the IndustryWeek/Manufacturing Performance Institute 2004 Census of Manufacturers, nearly half of manufacturing plants surveyed (45%) now source components and materials from China. When reviewing the Census plants that do source from China, 74% indicate the dollar volume of components and raw materials sourced from China has increased over the last three years (18% say the volume has increased by more than 20%).

More here.

Who Has the Best Manufacturing Plants?

Click here to find out.

Uranium Enrichment Plant Headed to Ohio

Bethesda, Md.-based USEC Inc.'s American Centrifuge uranium enrichment plant will be built in Ohio. According to Ohio State Development Director Bruce Johnson, the Ohio Department of Development offered USEC $100 million in incentives for the project. The incentives include grants, a loan, a bond and tax credits and exemptions.

Once completed -- USEC anticipates the facility will be operational in 2010 -- the plant, which is expected to cost up to $1.5 billion, will employ 500 people and reach an initial production level of 3.5 million separative work units (SWU), a unit of measurement that pertains to the process of enriching uranium so it can be used as fuel for nuclear power plants.

Question: Is this one you would have gone for? Yes, the Appalachian part of Ohio needs the 500 jobs, but is there a downside here? Environmentally? Health risks?

More here.

Did You Know?

John M. Engler, a former three-term Republican governor of Michigan, has been president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) since Oct. 1, succeeding Jerry J. Jasinowski as head of the 14,000-member organization.

More here.

Young Entrepreneurs Organization

As a global, non-profit educational organization for today's leading business owners, the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO), and its sister graduate organization, the World Entrepreneurs' Organization (WEO), strives to help its members build upon their successes through an array of learning and networking opportunities. With more than 5,500 members in 120 chapters and 40 countries around the world, YEO/WEO provides its members access to a dynamic network of peers on an international level.

Learn more here.

Worldwide Directory of Development Organizations

Now here is a unique and valuable resource: Directory of Development Organizations 2004. It is broader than economic development, as we tend to think of the field, but nevertheless a great guide to who and what is out there in the broader development field.

The Directory lists 29,500 organizations that offer financial support, market access, information and advice to the enterprise and poverty-reducing sectors throughout the world. Contact details include the organization's mail and street address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address and Web page details, if available. This Directory is intended to provide a comprehensive source of reference for development practitioners, researchers, donor employees, and policymakers who are interested in private sector development and poverty alleviation, particularly in low-income countries.

Locate it and download it here.

Early Childhood Education's Economic Benefits

Here is a summary of an excellent report published by the Committee for Economic Development (CED).

Job creation and economic development have become a centerpiece of state and local policy. Each year, billions of state and local tax dollars are committed to local development projects in the U.S., often in the form of providing inducements to high-profile companies, subsidizing entertainment infrastructure (such as arenas or stadiums), or creating “cluster” developments.

Though these investments are increasingly common, their returns are risky, if at all positive, and their benefits are frequently aimed at a small segment of the local population. Early childhood education, in contrast, appears to offer greater potential returns and substantially less risk, and should be included by state and local leaders as a component of their economic development policy toolkit. CED encourage local development policy-makers to view early education as a development tool and appreciate its lasting benefits. It is time that early education is implemented with the same energy, urgency, and funding that is currently being applied to other, less-promising, development projects.

Download the report here.

Michigan Displays Cities' Charms on the Web

The quest for cool has gone online, where state officials hope smart, hip twenty-somethings realize their dream career right here in Michigan’s cities and suburbs.

The state this month launched MiLife, MiTimes, an online magazine to immerse Michigan’s young adults in the state’s restaurants, clubs and corporate community. The e-zine is part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s “cool cities” initiative aimed at persuading educated young people to choose a career in places like Michigan over uber-hot spots such as Chicago or San Francisco.

“The whole issue is work force. We need to make sure we’re selling our story and attracting the best possible work force to stay or return to the state,” said George Zimmerman, senior vice president of Travel Michigan & Business Marketing, an arm of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which developed the e-zine.

More here.

Tax Foundation Ranks State's on Business-Friendliness

The new study, “State Business Tax Climate Index,” ranks the 50 states on how “business friendly” their tax systems are, providing a roadmap for state lawmakers concerned with keeping their states tax-competitive.

The goal of the index is to focus lawmakers on good-tax fundamentals in their states, rather than short-term tax abatements and exemptions designed to temporarily lure high-profile companies, baseball teams, and auto plants from other states.

Generally the index rewards tax codes that are neutral, have low and flat rates, are simple and transparent, avoid double taxation, and have statutory or constitutional restraints that keep tax burdens low over time. See Tables 1 and 2 here for the overall results.

The ten states that began 2004 with the most business-friendly tax systems are: South Dakota, Florida, Alaska, Texas, New Hampshire, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

Assessing the Creative Advantage of Ontario Cities

The report is almost two years old, but an interesting read. Click here to download it.

Work and Retirement Plans Among Older Americans

The Upjohn Institute for Employment Policy Research has just released an interesting article on this topic. Here is the conclusion.

Many people express a desire to continue working at older ages but wish to reduce their hours of work. Often, the only feasible way of reducing work hours is to change jobs, but this path to a shorter work week is taken by very few of those who had planned to reduce their hours.

This finding is open to different interpretations. One possible interpretation is that many people plan to reduce hours by changing jobs but have unrealistic expectations about their job alternatives. When it comes time for them actually to search for new employment, they find the jobs available to them unattractive and change their minds, continuing in their current jobs or, more likely, fully retiring. In this scenario, individuals become fully informed about their employment options and make rational choices based on this information.

Thus, there is no clear justification for policy intervention. Alternatively, older workers may face substantial barriers to changing jobs: age discrimination in employment and lack of information about job opportunities and options for skills training. In this scenario, policies to combat age discrimination, provide information on employment and training opportunities, and increase the efficiency of job transitions could have positive effects on employment among seniors. These issues warrant further study.

Download the article here.

ED Books at Amazon.com

Check out the ED books available at Amazon.com. Some great stuff there.

Penn State Offers Masters Degree in Community and Economic Development

Penn State's World Campus Community and Economic Development (CEDev) Certificate program consists of four 3–credit courses, plus a 1–credit integrative project. The CEDev certificate is designed to deliver the knowledge and skills required to address important issues in community and economic development. Learners wishing to go on to complete a master’s degree can roll these credits into Penn State’s new resident master’s degree program in community and economic development.

The four core courses introduce the field and cover the following topics: principles of community and economic development and leadership, rural organization, the economics of natural resources and rural development, population, land use, and municipal finance. During the final course, you will be asked to integrate concepts and practices from the first four courses into an applied project or paper. Courses in the program are delivered via a combination of technologies including (but not limited to) Internet/WWW, CD–ROM, e–mail, and print. Upon successful completion of the five–course sequence, students earn 13 credits and a certificate from Penn State’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.

More here.

NFL Commissioner Supports New Dallas Stadium

Paul Tagliabue, commissioner of the National Football League, pledged further support for a new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, this time suggesting the site could host numerous Super Bowls.

If the Cowboys open their new $650 million stadium in Arlington for the 2009 season as planned, the first time the city would be eligible to host the Super Bowl is February 2011.

Tagliabue also commended Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for his plans to contribute about $325 million for the stadium.After touring Arlington on Saturday with Mayor Robert Cluck and several other stadium supporters, Tagliabue came away with a sense that Arlington could really benefit from a new Cowboys stadium.

More here.

Branson Booms

Branson, Missouri’s answer to Nashville, is on pace for its biggest year of construction in a decade.

According to city officials, new construction has already hit last year's total. Through September, the city has permitted $61.4 million worth of new construction. More here.

California Fights Indian Gaming

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a warning for state voters: "The Indians are ripping us off."

Schwarzenegger has taken up the line to convince them to reject a tribe-backed initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot that would allow rapid expansion of American Indian casinos in the nation's most populous state and derail the governor's own effort to manage casino growth. Get the whole story here.

Milwaukee Moves on Regionalism

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce announced Oct. 8 it will work with local government leaders to create a regional economic development plan.

The plan will set priorities for industries to target for retention, expansion and recruitment.The association is acting because other midsize metropolitan areas have such plans. Milwaukee needs one to stay competitive, said Tim Sheehy, association president.

The new effort will be part of the group's larger goal of improving the area's education system, infrastructure and other institutions, he said. Read the story

K-Mart and Michigan

Some say that Michigan should be doing more to keep the K-Mart headquarters. Others say “let it go.” Read the complete story here.