Targeting Medical Devices: Where to Begin

When I conduct research on target industries and clustersm, I often start my research with major industry and trade associations that represent the industry. Here are some useful resources to consider if medical devices is one of your target industries:

Advanced Medical Technology Association
Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
Health Industry Business Communications Council
Medical Alley
Medical Device Manufacturers Association
Medical Marketing Association

Industry Snapshot: Casinos and Gaming

Gambling facilities play an important role in the tourism marketplace. Many areas have these facilities and more are seeking to attract or develop them. Here is a short profile of the industry to spark your thinking.

After a slump in the wake of 9/11 and the economic slowdown 2001-2002, the casino and gaming industries have posted notable growth, generating total revenues of approximately $75 billion in 2004, largely composed of income from wagers on sports betting, slot machines and lotteries.

Whilst gambling machines continue to provide the highest revenues for the US market, non-gaming operations such as restaurants, hotels and retail stores are an increasingly vital source of industry profits. The potential legalization of online gambling would create a growth sector, triggering massive expansion within the industry, with Internet gambling already predicted to generate $1 billion in the US. Many of the leading players are developing online alternatives in anticipation of this change.

Over the past few years, several state legislators have allowed large scale increases in gaming activities in order to boost tax revenues. However, the gradually improving US economy has reduced state budget deficits and accordingly, the tide to expand gaming to raise government revenues has declined. Regulation regarding the classification of casinos as financial institutions and increasingly stringent rules to tackle problem gambling are also slowing growth within the industry, pushing up operational costs whilst removing an important sense of anonymity from the industry.

Leading US players include International Game Technology, MGM Mirage, Harrahs Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and the Mandalay Resort Group. MGMs pending $4.8 billion takeover of the Mandalay Resort Group is set to create the largest casino resort company in the world, controlling approximately 50% of the hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip. If the Federal Trade Commission approves the deal, the combined company will surpass number one ranked Caesars Entertainment and number two-ranked Harrah's Entertainment in annual sales.

Souce: www.reuters.com

Texas Strengthens Its Stem Cell Research Position

The Texas House of Representatives has approved selling bonds to build a stem cell research facility in Houston, forging what could be a new strategy for helping Texas stay competitive with other states in the field.

The $41.1 million approved last week for a biomedical research facility at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston wasn't much by state budget standards, and the House proposal may well die in a special session that appears headed nowhere. But the language in the legislation could provide a framework for Texas to attract scientists in the future.

More here.

Smart Growth Information

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) tracks smart growth activities nationwide. Get the scoop at this website: www.uli.org/smartgrowthnews

Here is an example of the coverage you will find there:

Without Change, Region's Urban Ills Will Grow
Fort Worth Star-Telegram6/30/2005

Vision North Texas is a Dallas-Fort Worth regional effort intended to address how to deal with a future that may see 9 million residents of the region in 2030. This demographic projection from the North Central Texas Council of Governments was shown at the group's April conference, which included area elected officials, business owners, and policymakers. Continuing on its current course would doom the region to even worse congested highways, smog, and other urban problems, Vision North Texas argues, and it believes the solution lies in the set of principles variously known by such terms as smart growth, sustainable development, or transit-oriented development "We were not saying there was a right or wrong way to develop," said the council of government's senior transportation planner, Alicia Hopkins; "We were saying, 'Let's open our eyes.'" Area municipalities, entities, and authorities showed enthusiasm for acting as a unified region, says Vision North Texas's Karen Walz. The organization does not propose altering city sovereignty, and there were no federal highway funds allotted. Vision North Texas was scheduled to release a report on the conference in July.

Value of Construction Put in Place Data

Looking for data by major sector and detailed industries about the value of construction put into place?

BEA has just released the June 2005 data. Note: Historical data are available going back to 1983. Get the numbers here: www.ecoonomicindicators.gov

Useful Globalization Data

Looking for some useful data on foreign direct investment (FDI)? Check out the newest data releases by U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

U.S. Multinational Companies: Operations in 2003: The worldwide value added of U.S. multinational companies increased 9.3 percent after decreasing in 2002, reflecting a substantial increase in the value added by foreign affiliates. PDF

International Investment Position of the United States at Yearend 2004: The net international investment position at current cost was -$2,484.2 billion; in 2003, it was -$2,156.7 billion. The -$327.5 billion change mainly reflected substantial net foreign purchases of U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. corporate bonds. PDF

Direct Investment Position: The historical-cost position of U.S. direct investment abroad increased 15 percent after increasing 11 percent in 2003, and the position of foreign direct investment in the United States increased 8 percent after increasing 5 percent. PDF

Holding Companies in the Data on U.S. Direct Investment Abroad PDF

BEA's New Online Economic Mapping Service

Here is a good tool that was just introduced by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

You can generate your own analytical maps interactively using the online mapping application for gross state product (GSP). This interactive mapping application creates maps (and associated data tables) showing a number of analytical statistics, including Industry Specialization Indexes, state share of national output, and annual growth for GSP and its components (employee compensation, gross operating surplus, and taxes on production and imports).

Innovative Partnerships

What is your most innovative partnership? We'd like to hear about it. ED Futures is looking for examples of very creative and innovative partnerships used by ED organizations. For example, the San Diego works border regions in Mexico to co-develop economic development opportunities. Another example are the cooperation agreements Ottawa, Canada has with various cities and regions in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world.

Email Don Iannone: dtia@ix.netcom.com

If the Shoe (Company) Fits, Buy It

Things are changing in the sporting goods industry. Here is one you might want to pay some attention to.

Germany's Adidas-Salomon is to buy rival sporting goods firm Reebok in a deal worth 3.1 billion euros ($3.8 billion), Adidas said as it posted a forecast-beating second-quarter profit.

Adidas, the global number two in the sporting goods industry after Nike, is buying all outstanding shares of Reebok, the number three, for $59 per share in cash, Adidas said in a statement.

My question to you is this: If your area has a sporting goods manufacturing presence, and fewer here in the U.S. do, what impact will these moves have your area?

Source: Various Wire Service reports

Have You Noticed: The Diversifying Disney

Yes, Disney is changing, and in ways that could pose greater competition in other segments of the vacation destination market. This is a relevant trend you should be aware of if your area is attempting to grow its travel and tourism industry.

Disney has indicated that it will try offering a growing array of vacations outside the Magic Kingdom, including tours of Hawaii and Wyoming.

Disney already has expanded into cruise lines and time-share style vacation clubs as it looks to expand its brand into new markets

This summer Disney will test high-end guided tours in Hawaii and Wyoming, even though characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck will not be part of the experience.

More here.

Northeast Ohio's Most Watched Companies

Who are the most watched Greater Cleveland area companies, according to D&B? They are:

-Parker Hannifin Corporation
-Eaton Corporation
-National City Corporation
-The Sherwin-Williams Company
-Alcan Inc. (US Headquarters)
-KeyCorp
-American Greetings Corporation
-The Scott Fetzer Company
-The Progressive Corporation
-IMG
-MTD Products Inc.
-Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.
-STERIS Corporation
-The Lubrizol Corporation
-University Hospitals of Cleveland
-The East Ohio Gas Company
-Agilysys, Inc.
-Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.
-Ferro Corporation
-Forest City Enterprises, Inc.
-ICI Paints, North America
-NACCO Industries, Inc.
-Moen Incorporated
-Invacare Corporation
-Aleris International, Inc.

Northwest Pennsylvania: GIS-Based ED Data

The Northwest Commission and its member counties in NW Pennsylvania have done an excellent job in creating a useful GIS-based data system to support economic development. Click here to access the Pennsylvania Great Lakes Business Partnership website.

Cleveland's Future: To Build an Enduring Community

I happened to notice a wonderful brief by Brendan M. Patterson, M.D. Chairman, Dept. of Orthopaedics MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland about how we might think about Greater Cleveland's economic future.

Read the brief here on the Team NEO website.

Promising Practice: Northeast Ohio's Regional Economic Development Information Center

I really like what Team NEO has done with its new Regional ED Information Center.

I see a lot of these web-based research centers across the country. This is a good one. The center uses GIS Planning's capabilities, which is one of the best nationwide.

Congratulations to Bob Farley and his staff.

Japanese Corporate Information

Many of you are engaged in business recruitment and business joint venture activities related to Japan. Here is a good information source to aid your info-seeking about Japanese companies.

The Company Profile Service provides you with quick access to information on selected companies. Use the following search options to find information you are interested in.

Linking U.S. and Japanese Biotech Companies

This September, the North American and Japanese biotechnology industries will converge during a program providing access to current market intelligence and partnership opportunities in Japan . Join the JETRO BioMission to Japan 2005, and meet face-to-face with top industry, government, and academic leaders in Japan ’s biotechnology and life science industries.

Over 100 companies joined the inaugural BioMission to Japan in 2004, gleaning information on the market, meeting with potential partners, and for many, doing deals and realizing their goal of expanding to Japan. Jim Alexander, VP of Business Development for the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association remarked on last years program: "As a result of JETRO's professional planning and execution of the BioMission, my organization was able to focus on our specific goals in Japan and be very productive."

Japanese Company Social Responsibility

Japanese companies are incerasingly concerned about their social responsbility. Get some insight into key developments in this area by reading this article.

Biotech: Industry Snapshot

Consistently strong growth of around 15% is a result of the rapid innovation and massive investment of capital into the US biotechnology and drugs market. The relentless technological advancement within the sector shows no signs of slowing with the biotechnology market set to reach a value of $80 billion by 2008.

Product sales are the most abundant revenue source in the market, although funding initiatives in terms of venture capital are increasingly important to the smaller players in the market. Whilst the markets innovative approaches to discovery offer great potential, the investment community and many strategic investors have been very cautious with recent investments, focusing on late stage development opportunities and products close to approval. However, the introduction of a zero capital gains tax rate on entrepreneurial equities could spur biotech investment into 2005.

Developments within the genomics sector are set to inspire growth as companies begin to incorporate complex genomics into their products, saving huge amounts on drug registration fees and changing the business focus of the sector from simply mapping proteins to catalyze drug discovery. The threat of bioterrorism has provided a substantial government investment into the industry although the misuse of bio-products and the controversy surrounding cloning will continue to provide the industry with negative publicity.

The US is expected to maintain its position as the worlds dominant market for biotechnologies in the near future with Amgen, Biogen Idec, Chiron, Genentech, Biogen Idec and MedImmune amongst the major players. The huge potential of biogenerics, whilst currently limited by existing legislation, is attracting the interest of companies currently faced with limited scope for profitable expansion in the commodity generics markets. The potential introduction of regulatory pathways for the approval of generic versions of biologics by the FDA could promote massive expansion into this sector, driving revenue growth for the industry moving forward.

Source: Reuters

Phoenix Looks Globally for Growth

That is the message in this recent article. Makes sense to me.

That's what I told the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board last September. Phoenix is ready to increase its global connections for growth. It's the next step in advancing GPEC's regional economic development strategy.

Smart Move: Cross-Training

TREO, the new regional ED group in the Tuscon area has a good idea. The new President, Joe Snell, has an ambition to cross-train everybody to handle all aspects of economic development. This makes sense.

Hopefully Joe's Board will be willing to engage in cross-training as well. Leadership must become better integrated into the work of economic development.

Read more here.

Harford County, Md. Attracts New Tech Jobs

Harford County (Md), facing one of the greatest influxes of high-technology jobs in the state's history, is teaming up with surrounding jurisdictions to accommodate the predicted economic development boon. Decisions are not final, but Aberdeen Proving Ground stands to lure an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 technology jobs to the area by the middle of the next decade.

Read more here.

Cultural Arts

Culturally-based arts can be a source of economic development. The Cherokee Heritage Arts program, in NE Oklahoma, focuses on business training and marketing assistance for rural Cherokee traditional artisans.

Cherokee Heritage Arts, although it does not employ many people, just four core staff, represents almost 200 traditional Cherokee artists. Aaron LeMaster, the Cherokee Heritage Arts Program Director, explained, “We’re showing the artisans the benefits of marketing outlets, like going to shows, newsletters, the center’s museum shop display, and website marketing.”

Read more here.