Daily Quote

"Your self-beliefs either support or undermine you."

--Marsha Sinetar

Performance-Based Effort

How many of you can truly say that your ED program or organization operates with a performance-based plan, where results can be measured on a regular basis? I ask the question because a large number of EDOs--even those serving states and major metro areas--have a long way to go in this regard.

Performance metrics are a part of the solution, but much more is involved in creating an ED effort that is managed in a performance-based manner.

Does your organization budget to get results? Does your Board accept responsibility for getting results? Is your personal compensation contingent, at least in part, based upon your ability to get results? Is your strategic plan performance-based? Are your partnerships with other organizations performance-based.

These are some important areas to consider as you build a performance-based ED effort for the future.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this important and complex issue. Thank you.

NE Ohio Invests in New Startups

Two years ago the new venture development group, Jumpstart, was set in motion in northeast Ohio to strengthen the region's ability to startup viable new businesses. The early results are beginning to come in. Five new companies have received funding and the more are in the pipeline. It's a good start. More here.

California Conference Gives Attention to Manufacturing

California is a big player in manufacturing. Actually the biggest of all states. Business and ED officials met to discuss manufacturing's global challenges and what it might take to keep California strong as a center for industrial production. More here.

Daily Quote

"Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life."

--Wayne Dyer

Reading Recommendation: The Future of Leadership

Read this book: The Future of Leadership by Gretchen M. Spreitzer and Thomas G. Cummings, Editors. Published by Jossey Bass. I had the honor of studying under Cummings years ago when he was at Case Western Reserve University.

Green Building Update

Architectural direction of the future: Buildings using new design and technology to reduce environmental impact, cut costs and provide better places to work. Make sense. Go here to read a fascinating article on this very topic.

How Much Can a Cheap Dollar Help?

That is the question the Bush Administration must answer as it mounts an economic strategy to help US companies compete against low-cost foreign producers. The new Commerce chief, Carlos Gutierrez (Kellogg CEO), will face as he works on a diplomatic strategy to get other nations to buy into the cheap dollar strategy. This will be a crucial issue and one that local economic developers should be concerned about. More here.

Sixty-Four Cents an Hour

That is the estimated average hourly cost of labor in China, or at least that is a rough estimate offered by a consultant working to help the Bureau of Labor Statistics arrive at an accurate depiction of labor costs in China. More here.

Daily Quote

"The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time."

--Abraham Lincoln

Get the Scoop on Biosciences

LifeScienceWorld is a great place to start to find out what is happening in the world of bio and life sciences. Go here to learn more.

MichBio

MichBio is a non-profit organization dedicated to driving the growth of the life sciences industry in Michigan. The association serves a diverse membership, including new and established life sciences companies, academic and research institutions, as well as service providers and related organizations throughout the state.

The group's goals are:

1. Attract Michigan bioscience community to vital, attractive MichBio membership.
2. Host state-wide opportunities for networking.
3. Collaborate to assist in the recruiting needs of the bioscience community.
4. Provide provider services to membership.
5. Deliver current and informative information about Michigan's bioscience community.

More here.

Daily Quote

"No one, Eleanor Roosevelt said, can make you feel inferior without your consent. Never give it."

[This one to keep in mind as your area wrestles with image issues impacting economic development.]

Michigan Sweetens Bid for GM Expansion Project

The State of Michigan is offering $28 million in incentives to General Motors Corp. to encourage the company to invest $448 million in two plants, retaining 3,200 jobs and creating 350.
GM can collect the single business tax credits if it commits to a $300-million expansion of the Flint Engine South plant and a $148 million investment at the Flint Truck Assembly plant.
The engine plant expansion would create 350 news jobs to build a V-6 engine. Read more here.

North Carolina Concerned About Losing Top Site Selection Rating

After 3 years in a two, North Carolina must pass the baton on to Texas as the top-rated state for business location. The ratings are prepared by Site Selection Magazine. Read the story here.

Mountain Music Hall of Fame

West Virginia thinks it can position itself in the music industry. A group working to boost economic development in southern West Virginia plans to study the feasibility of establishing a Mountain Music Hall of Fame in hopes of luring tourists interested in the music's origins and performers. Congress appropriated at $97,000 for the study. More here.

Sustainable Business Winners

Three sustainable businesses get awards:

-Linax Extração de Óleos Essenciais, which is an enterprise that employs proprietary technology for the production of essential oils. Linax is a leader in linalol production. The linalol extraction is biodiversity-friendly and can replace rosewood, which is widely used and in danger of extinction.
-Mar & Sea Pescados, an integrated system of fresh organic fish production that exports certified fresh tilapia. Mar & Sea works with local producers, maintaining high quality and ensuring regional economic development.

-DryWash Indústria e Comercio, established in 1995, provides water-free car-washing services. DryWash has revolutionized the concept of water-free cleaning with a patented product that is environmentally friendly and prevents any damage to the body of the car or the surface paint.

More here.

Daily Quote

"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget."

--Thomas Szasz

Predict the Future

Here is a fun website for you to place your bets on the future. It's called Innovation Futures, which is a service of MIT's Technology Review Magazine. Click here to learn more and see some of the predictions made by others.

McKinsey's Offshoring Roundtable

You may want to read the transcript of a McKinsey panel on offshoring that attempts to look at the different sides of the controversial issue. Download it here.

New Offshoring Impact Study Planned

Congress just set aside $2 million to study the "impacts of offshoring on the economy and work force of the United States." The study will be conducted by the National Academy of Public Administration, an independent, nonpartisan organization chartered by Congress to assist governments in improving their effectiveness, efficiency and accountability.

It is hoped that the study will help measure the scope and effects of shipping high-skilled work to lower-wage countries such as India and Ireland.

Top Ten Pro-Business States

Chicago-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. has just released a new study, called "The Top Ten Pro-Business States 2005: Keeping Jobs in America," which weighed 26 factors such as the rate of unemployment, right to work laws, corporate and personal income taxes, sales taxes -- and how effective a state's economic development programs are.

Pollina's top 10 list of pro-business states are South Carolina, included Virginia, South Dakota, North Carolina, Alabama, Wyoming, Georgia, Washington, Florida and Oklahoma.

More here. Note: You must purchase the study.

Metro Area Classification System Changing

An overhaul of the widely-recognized metropolitan classification system by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will refashion the way research is conducted and federal dollars are spent. The new system, designed to capture 21st-century settlement patterns, alters the names, types, and boundaries for metropolitan areas and creates new "micropolitan" areas.

Click here to read an interesting Brookings Institute report on this important issue.

Phoenix Economy:Housing-Driven?

The Arizona Republic has undertaken a very eye-opening series on what makes the Phoenix area economy really tick.

According to the analysis, it's the housing industry that accounts for the biggest part of the region's economy.

I am not overly surprised by that, but at the same time the extent of the housing industry's influence in shocking. It says that the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and its local partners are in store for lots of hard work in the years ahead to offset this trend.

More here.