ED Futures Newsletter

Dear ED Futures Reader:

Welcome to the latest ED Futures Newsletter.

Several new articles have been posted to the website over the past week.

Take a peek and see if there is something here that fills an information need.

Best wishes,

Don Iannone
Publisher
Email: dtia@don-iannone.com
Tel: 440.449.0753

Japanese Companies Invest in Vietnam

Amid a lengthy investment spree in China, many of Japan Inc's biggest names are making inroads into one of the world's few remaining communist states: Vietnam.

Since last year, Vietnam has seen a spate of big investment projects by prominent Japanese firms such as Yamaha Motor Co and Mabuchi Motor Co, which invested US$48 million and $40 million, respectively. Nippon Sheet Glass Co's $145 million joint-venture factory with a local firm is also under construction, as is work on Canon Inc's new $70 million printer factory. Small and medium-sized Japanese firms are also flocking to Vietnam.

According to some analysts, in 2000, Vietnam ranked eighth among destinations for Japanese investment. However, in 2005, Vietnam was in fourth place, just behind China, India and Thailand. For Japan's small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, Vietnam was the second option, just after China.

In 2005, Japan invested about $400 million in a record high of 97 new FDI (foreign direct investment) projects in Vietnam on an approval basis. In terms of the value of investments made that year, Japan was the third-biggest foreign investor in Vietnam after South Korea and Hong Kong.

Read more here.

Clusters in the Philippines

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) pressed the city’s business community to support the eight major industry cluster groups created by the Regional Development Council (REDC) 11.

The cluster groups are banana, mango, coconut, seaweed, wood, eco-tourism, information communication technology (ICT), and poultry and livestock.

REDC 11 said these are “champion industries” that will spur economic growth in the region.
DCCCII said it supports the stand of REDC 11 to empower the eight industry clusters and to work out strategies to achieve direct results from these sectors.

DCCCII said the unified support by REDC, Davao’s businessmen and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11 of the promotion of the cluster industries will lead to a better economic climate in the region.

Read more.

European Clusters

Recent research indicates that regional clusters enable companies to reach higher levels of productivity and be more innovative. A report mapping and analysing the regional clusters of the EU-10 states that "the lack of regional specialisation might be an important factor explaining the European competitiveness gap with leading global peers".

The report, authored by Europe INNOVA, first recommends enhancing geographical specialisation and efficient allocation of economic activity accross the EU. With this regard, the authors suggest that the EU could help, for example, by removing barriers to trade, investment and labour mobility.

Orlando's Tourism Market Off

Fewer people this year ar e staying in hotels around central Florida's mega-tourist draws, and the area could lose more without stepped up advertising, the head of Orlando's visitors bureau said.

Area hotel occupancy is down 2.8% so far in 2006, while the other top 25 markets for Smith Travel Research saw a 1.8% total increase. With around 50 million annual visitors contributing an estimated $28 billion in yearly spending, the home of Walt Disney World and other huge theme parks is the top tourist spot in a huge tourism state.

But so far this year room demand is down almost 4%, Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau president Bill Peeper told a gathering of hotel representatives.

"The aspiration to come to Orlando is not as strong as it has been in the past," Peeper said. "It does not appear to be a crisis situation, but we need to begin to figure out how we re-energize Orlando's brand."

Read more here.

Indiana Reports ED Results

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. released its performance data for the first seven months of 2006 on Wednesday. Job creation and capital investment already have surpassed 2005's full-year figures.

As of Aug. 21, the state had secured 124 economic development projects that will create 15,722 jobs and bring $3.9 billion in capital investment.

Last year, the IEDC closed 142 deals that created 15,407 jobs and brought investments totaling $2.7 billion.

So far this year, Indiana has approved $237.8 million in tax incentives. Last year, it approved $180.3 million.

"The new jobs committed this year pay an average of $20.77 per hour, significantly higher than Indiana's average wage of $16.70," Indiana Secretary of Commerce Michael Maurer said in a news release.

Environmental Markets

Business for Social Responsibility has launched a major, multiyear initiative to help businesses understand and address the world of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services refers to the "free" services that nature provides to business, such as crop pollination, soil erosion protection, water filtration, air cleaning, and other things? "How much are well-functioning environmental services like flood control and climate regulation worth to your company's bottom line? the organization asks in its announcement.

The 250-company membership organization also has published a new report, Environmental Markets: Opportunities and Risks for Business, describing market mechanisms being used by companies to protect ecosystem services (emissions trading, conservation banking, philanthropic programs); lists some of the risks companies face when they engage in environmental markets (high transaction costs, increased regulatory scrutiny, lack of guarantees) as well as the opportunities associated with engagement (regulatory certainty, avoid project delays, enhancing economic development in emerging markets); and suggests questions companies should ask to get started.

Sustainable Business Trends

Investments in renewable energy hit a record $30 billion last year - that's a whopping 20-25% of the total investment in the energy industry worldwide; meanwhile the organic food industry just keeps growing. The clean technology era we are entering is often compared in scale to the rise of the telecommunications industry in the early 1980s. This is a gigantic opportunity and is the next huge wave of innovation, of investment opportunity, of business creativity. It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in young companies that are changing the world for the better. Read more here.

Arizona's Self-Employed Entrepreneurs

Arizona’s economy is dominated by self-employed entrepreneurs with no employees, according to research released today by the Arizona Department of Commerce. Growth of major firms (employing more than 500) has slowed, although they continue to employ more than half of the state’s workers.

Other key findings from the study “The Number of Businesses in Arizona” include:
· An estimated 414,109 businesses were operating in Arizona during 2003. More than three-fourths of these businesses consisted of self-employed individuals who had no employees.
· In 2003, Arizona had 97,758 firms that had employees at some time during the year. The figure likely has grown to a little more than 100,000 in 2006.

“This report provides a snapshot of Arizona’s business climate,” said Gilbert Jimenez, Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce. “It establishes a necessary starting point to further evaluate business growth and its impact on the overall state economy.”

More here.

Arizona Indian Communities

Ak-Chin
Camp Verde Yavapai-Apache Indian Reservation
Chinle, Navajo Nation
Cocopah Indian Reservation
Colorado River Indian Reservation
Fort Apache Indian Reservation
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
Fort Mojave Reservation
Gila River Indian Community
Havasupai Indian Reservation
Hopi Indian Reservation
Hualapai Reservation
Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation
Kayenta, Navajo Nation
Leupp, Navajo Nation
Many Farms, Navajo Nation
New Lands
Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
San Carlos Apache Reservation
Sells/Tohono O’odham Reservation
Tonto Apache Reservation
Tuba City, Navajo Nation
Window Rock/Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Reservation

ED Futures Newsletter

Dear ED Futures Reader,

Here is the latest newsletter.

Below you will find some interesting reading material.

Best wishes,

Don Iannone
Email: dtia@don-iannone.com
Phone: 440.449.0753

Nursing Update

More than two thirds of students entering the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) traditional baccalaureate Class of 2008 already hold a bachelor's degreeand a substantial number have previously pursued other careers before choosing nursing.

One hundred and seven (70%) of the 153 nursing students entering thetraditional program this fall hold bachelor's degrees, and nine have graduate degrees. That graduate degree trend is echoed in the JHUSON accelerated program which offers an intense 13-month course of study tothose who already hold a bachelor's. Among the Accelerated Class of 2007 that started in June, 12% of the 165 students hold advanced degrees, including two who have earned a PhD.

Read more here.

Babson #1 in Entrepreneurship

For the tenth consecutivetime, U.S.News & World Report magazine has named Babson College the #1undergraduate program in the U.S. for Entrepreneurship.

Babson is ranked #1 for Entrepreneurship followed by: #2 -- Universityof Pennsylvania, #3 -- Indiana University-Bloomington, #4 -- University ofSouthern California, and #5 -- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology.

Babson moved up to #23 in the Best Business Program ranking (#26 lastyear), tied with Georgetown University, Arizona State University, Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame, and University of Washington.

More here.

Slowing Job Growth. For How Long?

Job growth came in weak for the fourth straight month in July while the unemployment rate rose, according to a government report Friday that could give the Federal Reserve reason to pause in its two-year-old campaign to raise interest rates.

The economy added 113,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said, down from a revised gain of 124,000 jobs in June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast 145,000 new jobs.

Read more here.

More on Generational Friction

Often, the tensions are subtle and unspoken, but they're there: Baby Boom managers, those in their mid-40s and older, have a tough time understanding the group coming up behind them in the corporate ranks - Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1979, the first generation to grow up with the Internet. Read more here.

Inter-Generational Conflict?

A generation of promising future leaders now in their late 20s to early 40s find themselves stuck, unable to move up because the pathways to advancement are blocked by 77 million Baby Boomers. Read the story here.