Corporate Involvement in Sustainable Development

While this article applies for the most part to the developing world, it has a message fitting to the developed world as well. Click here to read it.

Venture Capitalists Greening Up

Many venture capitalists seem to be banking on the so-called “clean tech” sector -- start-ups committed to sustainable practices and products, embracing such industries as alternative energy generation and water purification. Clean-tech companies are also emerging in the sustainable agriculture, manufacturing and transportation sectors. Today, the deals are flowing as both individual “angel” investors and well-established venture capital (VC) funds are vying for their piece of “clean tech.”

Click here to read more.

Interesting Resource: U. Georgia Agribusiness & ED Center

This is an interesting resource for those interested in agribusiness development. Click here to learn more. (Check out the publications and presentations sections.)

New Mexico Announces New Partnership Investment Plan

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced his Invest New Mexico plan on Friday, a $150 million package of initiatives in the areas of housing, economic development, water, energy and health.Many of the proposals involve public-private partnerships, in which Richardson said the state would be able to better leverage available funds. More here.

Henderson, Nevada: Leveraging Its World Market Center

Trade facilities attract businesses. That is the message from Henderson, Nevada. The World Market Center is being credited with luring another business to the Las Vegas Valley.
Encore Home Entertainment, which makes furniture for home electronics systems, this week is setting up shop in a 181,000-square-foot plant in Henderson after leaving Commerce, Calif.

More here.

Beautiful Places

My consulting career has afforded me a unique opportunity to experience some absoutely beautiful places.

Pennsylvania ranks as one of the most beautful states I have seen. The state is abundant in natural beauty and charm. One example is the Cook State Forest, near Clarion, PA. Click here to see what I mean.

GPEC Names New CEO

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) has announced the selection of Southwest Michigan First CEO Barry Broome as the organization’s new President & CEO. GPEC’s board of directors met today and voted unanimously in favor of Broome’s selection. Broome has led Southwest Michigan First for five years and is expected to officially start the GPEC job by early February 2005.

I have known Barry personally since the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, I worked as a consultant to Barry and the City of Parma, Ohio to build the city's first economic development strategy. With Barry's leadership, the City successfully implemented that strategy.

I wish Barry all the best in his new assignment with GPEC.

NC Infrastructure Needs Assessed

North Carolina will need $7 billion in just five years to meet public water, sewer and storm water infrastructure needs, according to a study released.

The extent of the capital needs is a "staggering wake-up call," said Billy Ray Hall, president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, which conducted the study.

The study also showed that the state will need $15 billion for those needs by 2030.

More here.

New Hampshire Plans New Trade Mission

Off to Canada they go. Read more here.

ED Changes in Jacksonville, Florida

The City's top ED professional has just resigned.

Read more here.

Does Tucson Have the Right Strategy?

That is the question raised by a recent newspaper editorial.

Click here to read it. Some very valid points are made, and Tucson should be thinking in a more sustainable way about its future economic development.

New Phoenix Report on Quality of Life

According to a report released today by Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, education and public safety remain most fundamental to quality of life in Greater Phoenix. These findings, among others, are found in What Matters: The Maturing of Greater Phoenix.

In addition, the report shows:

- Quality of life in Greater Phoenix is "excellent" or "good" to more than 60% of those surveyed.
- Yet, 40% would leave the area if they could.
- Two out of three say Greater Phoenix is growing too fast.
- Greater Phoenix is largely consistent on its core quality of life values.

More here What Matters: The Maturing of Greater Phoenix.

Research Vital to Washington State Economic Growth

Washington state's two research universities need to work more closely with economic development councils and port districts around Washington to make sure that the technology developed on their campuses gets funneled to the entrepreneurs who can capitalize on it, the president of Washington State University said in a recent speech.

He outlined how Washingtion State and the University of Washington need to increase collaboration in the future to increase their statewide economic impact. More here.

Kalamazoo Theater Gets State Brownfield Grant

A project that includes a 14-screen theater in downtown Kalamazoo has been awarded a $1.4 million brownfield tax credit by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., state officials announced recently. The tax credit will allow businesses in the planned complex to subtract a total of $1.4 million from their Michigan single-business taxes. More here.

Banking on Bio-Based Production

While much has been made of the societal benefits of a bio-based economy that increases our energy independence, our farmers and rural communities may be the primary benefactors. In fact, bio-based production could have perhaps the greatest potential for revitalizing rural America.

Read the article for some useful tips on how rural areas should go about it.

Compassion and Teamwork

A study at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management found that compassion and building teamwork will be two of the most important characteristics business leaders will need for success a decade from now.

Source: Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence

Celebrating a Successful First Year

I would like to take a moment to recognize Team Northeast Ohio (NEO) for a successful first year of operations.

Congratulations to Bob Farley, Pat Gammons, and other staff members for getting so far so fast.

It's not easy to mount a coordinated 13-county ED effort, especially in a region that has had little formal experience in large-scale collaboration.

Click here to learn more about Team NEO.

Utah Universities Add Economic Impact

Do universities add revenue to the local economy. Ask the folks in Utah this question.

"The University of Utah and Utah State University brought in nearly $1,000 for every man, woman and child in Utah last year. Of that $2.1 billion in revenue, only 16.9 percent came from state appropriations, according to an eight-page report presented Monday to the U.'s trustees."

More here.

Leadership

What would we do without it in economic development? And yes, there is plenty of room for improving the leadership we give to economic development in both urban and rural communities.

According to a recent Piitsburgh Post Gazette article, "there is more to becoming an effective leader than just getting a promotion. Aspiring leaders need to develop new skills and a broader leadership point of view. So how do they go about doing that? Aspiring leaders first must understand the difference between being an individual contributor and a leader."

I'm curious about how many of you have an ongoing effort in place to continuously improve your economic development leadership. I am working with Penn State University and the Northwest Pennsylvania Commission to create just that kind of capability in Northwest and Northcentral Pennslyvania's rural communities.

Reead more here.

Partnering Part of Vision Iowa Plan

Catch the latest on marketing and positioning Iowa and its communities for economic development here. An important aspect of Vision Iowa's plan is to get communities and regions to work together. Not a bad idea!

Eastern Tribes Consider Shared Eastern College

Unlike larger tribes out West, eastern American Indian tribes have never had a college they could call their own. New England tribal leaders who have long talked about the potential benefits of a tribal college will participate in a feasibility study of creating a college to serve 24 tribes from Maine to Florida. Go here to read more about these plans.

Asheville, NC: Invest in Education!

That is the message in a recent editorial in the Asheville paper. To read it, click here.

Kansas Works on Its Image

Starting with a Web site that hints at the campaign to come, Kansas commerce officials are investing in developing a new "brand" for Kansas, one that will help the state market itself to businesses looking to relocate and tourists seeking a new destination.

The state is teasing that brand through a web site, htp://www.thinkkansas.org. Visitors are asked what's the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Kansas.

India's Business Attraction Efforts

Want some insight into what India is doing to attract business investment? Click here and read this good article from the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper.

U.S. Newspapers Link

Need to access newspapers in various communities across America? Click here to access a very complete listing of papers. Much better than most links out there. This is a great place to monitor and benchmark what your competitors or best practice (promising practice) communities are up to.

Guidance on Online Data Presentation

You may find the information in this article helpful as ou craft data to support the site selection process on the Web. See the 'Focus Table List' article for guidance.

Foreign Investment Flow Trends

According to the 2004 edition of International Investment Perspectives published by the OECD, flows from OECD countries to developing and emerging economies held up well in 2003, increasing to US$576 billion from US$567 billion in 2002.

In contrast, FDI flows to OECD countries declined again in 2003, with North America being particularly hard hit. Finally, the 2004 report raises questions about the mutual consistency of commitments in regional and bilateral investment agreements, which have proliferated over the last decade. These are strikingly important issues for our consideration.