Mexico Expects Increase in Foreign Business Investment in 2006

Mexico may receive as much as $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year, helping sustain the country's economic expansion, Economy Minister Sergio Garcia de Alba says.

Direct investment is poised to rise from last year's $17.8 billion as foreign automakers look to expand output in Latin America's second-biggest economy. And that investment, Garcia says, could help push Mexico's economic growth rate this year above the central bank's estimate of 3.5 percent to 4 percent.

Investment in Mexico's auto industry will reach $5 billion this year as manufacturers such as Ford Motor Co. and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. gear up to boost exports to the United States, Garcia said. The U.S. buys about 85 percent of Mexican exports.

Read more here.

Korean Domestic Business Investment Declines

Korea has seen a decline in its business investment within the country. Why? Take a look at the reasons cited by Korean officials. Sound familiar?

One cause of sluggish facility investment is high-flying land prices and the inflexible labor market," said an official of the Finance Ministry.

The ministry cited several other factors, including the worsening profitability of domestic small and mid-sized companies and export-oriented firms due to competition from Chinese manufacturers. The ministry also noted the growing difficulties to create new profit models as the economy matures.

Korean companies' growing risk-averse managerial style in the wake of the Asian financial crisis also contributed to the stagnating corporate facility investment.

"To boost facility investment, we should foster innovation-focused, small and medium-sized venture firms and value-added service industries," the official said.

Read more here.

On a Minimum Wage Hike

The federal minimum wage was last increased nearly a decade ago and remains at its 1997 level of $5.15 an hour. Recently, however, Arkansas became the 20th state to raise its own state minimum wage above the federal minimum wage.

Given the relatively stagnant wages of low-income workers during recent years and the surging gas prices of recent weeks, it will not be surprising if pressure builds for more states -- and even the federal government -- to reconsider current minimum wage laws.

Surprisingly, a new Wells Fargo-Gallup Small Business Index poll, conducted March 1-15, 2006, finds significant support among small-business owners for increasing the minimum wage.

Source: Gallup (Read more at the website if you have a paid subscription)

Team NEO's REDIS Program

Here is a program you should know about.

REDIS is a portal that allows users to identify available commercial and industrial property and land. The asking price, square footage, property description, and broker contact information, in addition to other vital information, will be listed with each property.

The portal also provides data including workforce, demographics, business information, and credits and incentives. This information can be accessed in relation to a specific property or a municipality. Information, including enterprise zones, schools, and railroads, can be turned on and off on the interactive map display.

The data is created and displayed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) that combines layers of information in order to better understand details about a specific location. REDIS is powered by GIS Planning's ZoomProspector software and is brought to you by Team NEO (www.teamneo.org).

Cleveland State University’s Northern Ohio Data & Information Service (NODIS) and several local real estate companies and economic development organizations have assisted with the development of REDIS.

Learn more here.

Ontario's Regional Innovation Network Strategy

Ontario is implementing a commercialization framework based on a system of "regional innovation networks." These are multi-stakeholder, regional development organizations established with Provincial funding that support partnerships among business, institutions and local governments to promote innovation.

While initially focused on the life sciences, Ontario's 11 active regional networks are expanding into other areas of innovation excellence such as information technology, energy conservation, and advanced materials-depending on their local strengths and opportunities.

One of the benefits of these networks is that they can bring commercialization services closer to the clients that need them-small firms, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors. The regional networks can also facilitate access to other commercialization resources, including the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the new Medical and Related Sciences ( MaRS ) centre, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, and Communitech.

Ontario's Regional Innovation Networks

Louisville's High Impact Program

Here is a good program you should know about.

Louisville's High Impact Program is a public/private partnership, initiated by Mayor Jerry Abramson, funded by Louisville Metro Government and administered by Greater Louisville Inc. - The Metro Chamber of Commerce (GLI) that identifies and serves fast growth companies, companies with the potential for fast growth and those companies that enable growth in others.

This program focuses on companies of these types headquartered in Louisville that have a disproportionately higher impact on the metro area economy. Through economic development solutions, our objective is to establish a firm relationship with these companies that results in further job and wealth creation.

Learn more here.

Great Canadian Cluster Analysis

Because of our consulting work in the Greater Toronto area, I ran across a wonderful presentation summarizing clusters in Canada.

Source: Greg Spencer and Tara Vinodrai, Measuring Creativity and Innovation: From Clusters to City Regions Slides <---(Download link)

Native People in Canada

Want to know more?

Click here to link to indigenous peoples across Canada.

First Nations University

First Nations University of Canada was established in 1976 as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) through a federated partnership with the University of Regina. The University is independently administered offering post-secondary education in a culturally supportive First Nations’ environment.

The First Nations University of Canada offers its programs and services on three campuses: Prince Albert (Northern Campus), Regina, and Saskatoon, in addition to various communities across Saskatchewan and Canada.

The First Nations University of Canada offers undergraduate and graduate degrees within an environment of Indian culture and history combining First Nation-oriented and standard areas of study in all programs.

Learn more here.

April 2006 Real Earnings

Real average weekly earnings rose by 0.2 percent from March to April after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. A 0.5 percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3 percent increase in average weekly hours was partially offset by a 0.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Data on average weekly earnings are collected from the payroll reports of private nonfarm establishments. Earnings of both full-time and part-time workers holding production or nonsupervisory jobs are included. Real average weekly earnings are calculated by adjusting earnings in current dollars for changes in the CPI-W. Average weekly earnings rose by 4.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from April 2005 to April 2006. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.4 percent. Before adjustment for seasonal change and inflation, average weekly earnings were $565.45 in April 2006, compared with $537.94 a year earlier.

More here.

ED Futures Newsletter

ED Futures Article Links, May 9-May 16, 2006

5/16/2006
Industry Profile: Plastic Resins and Synthetic Fibers
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5/15/2006
Industry Update: Gambling Industry
View

5/14/2006
Brookings: Work in the 21st Century
View

5/14/2006
Central Indiana Gets WIRED Grant
View

5/14/2006
Industry Profile: Manufactured Housing
View

5/13/2006
Industry Profile: Trucking
View

5/12/2006
Industry Profile: Amusement Parks
View

5/12/2006
State Industry Snapshot: South Carolina
View

5/11/2006
Nevada's Tax Climate: How Does Your State Compare?
View

5/11/2006
Oregon Industrial Site Certification
View

5/10/2006
Texas Minority Business Trends
View

5/10/2006
Healthcare Skill Shortages Expected in Oklahoma
View

5/09/2006
Arizona Employment Growth Forecast
View

5/09/2006
Coping with an Aging Workforce: Views from Arizona
View

Contact Information:

Don Iannone
Publisher, ED Futures
Email: dtia@don-iannone.com
Tel: 440.449.0753
ED Futures Website: www.don-iannone.com/edfutures

Brookings: Work in the 21st Century

To most people, work is the mainstay of livelihood, social integration, and identity. But the twentieth-century meaning of "work" can no longer be taken for granted. As patterns of work continue to shift in response to the demands of production and trade in the global economy, major challenges have arisen—not only in the lives of individual workers, but also for employers exposed to global competition and for the makers of national and international policy and law. At the heart of the debate lies the challenge of reframing the concepts and rules whereby people’s socioeconomic security and the human dimensions of work can be reconciled with the global market’s growing need for competitive labor flexibility.

Get the report here. (Cost: $49.95)

Central Indiana Gets WIRED Grant

The workforce development group Miami and Wabash counties are a part of was recently awarded a $15 million federal grant to foster entrepreneurship and increase innovation and job growth in North Central Indiana.

The region is one of only 13 across the nation that will receive the funds, said Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels at a meeting to announce the news at Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo Tuesday. The grant is a part of the WIRED initiative, or Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, and will be paid over three years.

More here.