Why We Need to Pay Attention to Kids

"One of the best investments state and local governments can make with their public dollars is in high-quality, parent-involved early childhood development programs, an early education and economics expert told a local conference of educators.

Arthur J. Rolnick, senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said governments, in hopes of job creation, conventionally promote economic development by spending billions of public dollars in subsidies to get private companies to either locate or expand their business."

Read more here.

BEA White Paper on Globalization and Offshoring

In my research, I ran across an interesting paper on globalization and offshoring by Ralph Kolzow of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Download it here. Here are the overall conclusions of the paper:

Although a great deal of statistical information is available to help answer many of the questions now being asked about globalization and offshoring, clearly much work remains. There are reasons for not accepting current government statistics as the final answer. Not all questions have been answered, and the impact of globalization will surely change as direct investment and international trade in services continue to expand, as tax laws are revised, and as business cycles progress.

Further, not all questions can be answered by statistics that are based on business surveys alone, as some also require the use of economic theories and statistical inferences, some of which are still being developed or refined. Finally, the forces of globalization are creating new or emerging issues that are tending to worsen some of the difficulties that compilers have traditionally faced in compiling the accounts.

BEA is committed to continuing its progress in updating its measurement techniques, and in providing more timely and comprehensive data, to assist policymakers and others who rely on BEA’s data to obtain insights about the impact of globalization and offshoring.

State of Ohio ED Website Upgrades

I like what the State of Ohio has done with its economic development website. Very interactive with a great deal of very useful data and information. Click here to see the types of state to state comparison data that are available on the website.

First Suburb Redevelopment Resources

Though first suburbs' challenges and opportunities are not well-known, some good resources are available to facilitate greater understanding and better solutions.

Please see the Brookings Institute web page for links to publications, organizations, and other information.

First Suburbs Consortium

The First Suburbs Consortium is the largest government-led advocacy organization in the country working to revitalize mature, developed communities and raise public and political awareness of the problems and inequities associated with urban sprawl and urban disinvestment.

Check it out. This is a good place to look for information on how to rebuild inner ring suburbs.

Largest Family Businesses

Who are they?

Click here and see which ones Family Business Journal lists.

Blogs: Trusted Information Source?

Here are a few clips from a recent article in Reuters about blogging. The results of the survey discussed in the article suggest that bloggers have their work cut out for them to gain reader confidence.

"Despite the popularity of the Internet in more developed countries and the emergence of “web-logging” or blogging, neither fared well in the survey, according to Globescan President Doug Miller. “The Internet is gaining ground among the young,” he said.“The jury is still out on ‘blogs’ — just as many people distrust them as trust them,” he told Reuters. The research found that just 25 percent of respondents said they trusted blogs, while 23 percent said they did not trust them."

"Dean Wright, managing editor of consumer media at Reuters,said he believed blogs would eventually come of age, as newspapers themselves once did. Wright added: “It’s a relatively recent phenomenon that people believe what’s written in a newspaper. One hundred years ago, newspapers were incredibly partisan: they were the blogosphere of their day. “There are already blogs that people trust and quality will win out once people realise which ones they can trust.”

Source: Reuters

Some Small Business Stats

1. Decline in small business owners' expectations about revenue growth, the general economy, and hiring = 10%.
   
2. Growth rate of the number of women-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 = 20%.
   
3. Growth rate of the number of businesses owned by Hispanics in the U.S. between 1997 and 2002 = 31%.
   
4. Growth rate of the number of firms owned by black Americans between 1997 and 2002 = 45%.
   
5. Percentage of women business owners who are willing to take above average or substantial risks when investing for their businesses in 2005 = 66%.
   
6. Percentage of inner city jobs held with small businesses in 2005 = 80%.

Source: Business Week

Good Training Opportunity

A.C. Alrey, Manager, Business & Community Affairs, Cleveland Empowerment Zone Office, is the planning chair for an upcoming training course entitled, Selling “YOUR Community”, Ohio. A.C. asked me to help promote the workshop.

The workshop is a part of the Ohio Economic Development Association’s Professional Development Series that will take place in Columbus on May 18, 2006. It is geared toward those interested in strengthening their skills in "selling" their communities to business prospects. It is designed to help individuals discover strategies that will ensure the inclusion of their community information and research in the CEO's and Site Selection Team's final presentation.

Those in attendance would gain invaluable knowledge in the concept of “sales” at a time when most of our communities now find ourselves focusing and placing more attention in the area of business attraction, in addition to our continued efforts to retain our current companies. We believe successful business attraction can take place locally and it is the goal of the OEDA to arm our individual local communities with an added tool in presenting their sales pitch. We would like to market this course to as many "economic development concerned" individuals as possible. It should prove to be an outstanding one-day course for all in attendance.

In the event the attachment could not open properly, please go to the OEDA’s webpage, www.ohioeda.com for a more concise copy and further information.

ED Futures Newsletter

Dear ED Futures Reader:

Here is the index of articles posted to the ED Futures website during the past week. I hope they are of interest and useful to you in your work.

I think there should be a National Appreciation Day for Economic Development. Do you agree? This could be an opportunity to appreciate the work of economic development leaders and professionals. Our work is important to society. A day commemorating economic development might help the public to better understand our contribution to community and economic well-being. Let me know what you think.

Best wishes,

Don Iannone
Publisher, ED Futures Journal
Email: dtia@don-iannone.com
Tel: 440.449.0753

_____________________________________

5/02/2006
Industry Profile: Warehousing and Storage
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5/01/2006
Industry Profile: Government Contracting
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4/30/2006
Industry Profile: Specialty Retail
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4/29/2006
Industry Profile: Restaurants
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4/28/2006
Industry Profile: Office Supplies
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4/27/2006
Industry Profile: Electronic Instruments and Controls
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4/26/2006
Industry Profile: Appliance and Tools
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4/25/2006
India Economic Overview
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4/25/2006
Industry Profile: Aviation Services
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4/24/2006
Rethinking high School Graduation Rates and Trends
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4/24/2006
New Mexico Rural Areas Examine Ways to Jumpstart Growth
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4/24/2006
Ontario's Tracking of Business Investments
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4/23/2006
Micropolitan Business Rankings
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4/23/2006
Latest on ED Advertising
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4/23/2006
Housing-Jobs Linkages Rising Concern
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