Virginia's New ED Plan Gives Heavy Attention to International Issues

Virginia Governor Kaine’s new ED plan is the result of a process between the Governor’s Cabinet, key economic development and business leaders from throughout the Commonwealth.

It is built around nine broad goals, each of which contains a series of distinct, measurable strategies that track progress in achieving the goals by 2010, including:

-Increasing the total amount of Defense Department related contracts for Virginia firms by 5%, or $1.15 billion.

-Increasing the economic impact of tourism in Virginia from $16.5 billion to $18.5 billion annually.

-Increasing exports of goods from the Commonwealth by 7% ($855 million).

-Increasing foreign direct investment in Virginia from an annual average of 2300 jobs and $270 million to 3000 jobs and $300 million.

-Ensuring broadband access for every Virginia business.

-Increasing procurement for small businesses to 40% of state purchases.

-Increasing the proportion of 18-24 year-olds with a high school diploma or equivalent from 87% to 92% (an additional 34,000 students).

-Increasing the proportion of 18-24 year olds enrolled in college from 34% to 39% (an additional 34,000 students).

-Increasing the percentage of Virginia’s population (25-65) with a college degree from 35% to 37% (an additional 78,500 persons).

-Decreasing government administration transaction time for businesses by 30%.

-And by January 2008, formulating specific regional economic growth goals based on the Council on Virginia’s Future’s regional data.

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Politics of Immigration: View from Charlotte and Elsewhere

In booming Charlotte, where rapid growth and plentiful jobs have attracted thousands of illegal immigrants, Romero is the latest catch in an aggressive new effort to turn routine arrests into one-way tickets out of the country.

With anti-immigration feelings running high and elections just three weeks away, this once-insular state has become a key actor in the national debate over how to absorb - or expel - illegal migrants. North Carolina has had a greater increase in foreign-born population over the last 15 years than any state in the nation: a 412 percent increase, almost five times the national average.

The same concerns and fears being voiced from Hazleton, Pa., to Riverside, N.J., to Phoenix, Ariz., are writ large in North Carolina. Illegal immigration has figured prominently in political campaigns here and in neighboring counties of South Carolina.

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Is Wal-Mart a Poverty Fighter?

A recent New York Times published a column by John Tierney (requires subscription) that’s begging for some discussion. Not wishing to take anything away from Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Tierney argued that Wal-Mart had done more than any other organization to lift people out of poverty.

Wal-Mart uses suppliers from around the developing world, and they employ lots of people - perhaps millions - at wages that can be relatively high in their countries. Citing a study by two researchers from San Jose State University, Tierney wrote: “In Honduras, the economists note, the average apparel worker makes $13 a day, while nearly half the population makes less than $2 a day.”

Tierney also pointed out that while Wal-Mart may put some American shopowners out of business, it benefits American consumers by offering low prices on a wide range of goods. He didn’t mention that many of the world’s poorest people don’t have access to the kinds of jobs Wal-Mart’s suppliers offer. But still, is this really the best possible, win-win model for economic development?

Source: International Herald Tribune Blog

Caribbean to Study Skilled Worker Loss

The Caribbean Community will facilitate a study to examine the impact of an economic migration of the region's best educated workers to wealthier nations, an official with the 15-nation bloc says.

The study, to be completed by researchers at the University of the West Indies, will document an ongoing pattern of "brain drain" that has resulted in middle-class workers decamping to higher-paying jobs in the United States, Europe, and Canada, according to Barbadian Education Minister Anthony Wood.

Wood, who made the comments after a meeting of Caricom ministers, said the exodus of skilled professionals can prove particularly damaging in professions such as education but likely impedes regional development in a variety of ways.

A recent study by the International Monetary Fund estimated that the Caribbean was losing up to 40 percent of its most skilled professionals _ with many of those leaving high-skilled jobs in education, medicine, and law.

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Economic Developer Training for IT Services

The NACC's Economic Development IT Services Community Certification Program is for those economic developers and chamber of commerce members that seek an additional advantage over the competition in attracting and retaining IT Service companies that include, but are not limited to, call centers, shared services, business process outsourcing, software development, and other back office activities.

This certification program is for those who seek to move a section of their community to focus on the service and high technology IT based industries and may not know where to start. Certification is rigorous in both methodology and results which ensures that communities that complete certification will have expertise in attracting and retaining businesses in the IT services industries.

Moreover, following successful certification, a community’s information will be shared with the leading site selection firms to ensure that the communities are clearly separated and a notch above other communities. On the NACC Web site, a profile of that community will be presented allowing businesses and members of the NACC to find certified communities where they can open or relocate a new business.

IT Services Community Certification is a four quarter process with an additional final marketing plan product. A community can begin certification at the beginning of any quarter during the year. Workshops will be offered each quarter as part of the certification processes to assist any economic development personnel that need guidance or advice on developing the data and materials for each of the four modules and final marketing plan. Once certified, the certification is good for 2 years at which time re-certification can occur with a shorter update process.

Read more here.

Call Centers Have Their Place in Local Economies

Detailed statistics on call centers are difficult to come by because the job rarely receives its own statistical category. Call center workers for an airline, for example, might be categorized with other aviation jobs.

David Butler, president of the Call Center Research Laboratory at the University of Southern Mississippi and executive director of the National Association of Call Centers, estimates a call center work force of 7.5 million nationwide, while another study out of Cornell University estimates about 4 million.

Jobs in call centers are often perceived as low-paying, but the Cornell University study said workers average $13.50 an hour. A survey of 924 call center workers conducted in 2004-05 showed 366 of the people surveyed made less than $10 an hour and 364 made from $11 to $15, according to a report provided by Butler.

"They're not minimum-wage jobs," said Larry Waldman, a senior economist at the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "They are a niche and they provide an excellent option for certain classes of people like students or people that can't have a full-time job."

Read more here.

ED Futures Update

Catch the Buzz at ED Futures!

-Selling in China

-Connecting innovation and leadership in business.

-The Entrepreneurial Imperative (new book).

-Innovation Bay Area style.

-R&D headed to emerging markets.

-Take a note from the new "electronic city" Telford, UK.

-Oregon's new innovation plan.

-School reform to be major push for nation's governors.

And more...

Check us out at: www.don-iannone.com/edfutures


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

Arizona Governor Pushes School Reform in Her New NGA Role

The new head of the National Governors Association, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, has made school reform the centerpiece of her year-long leadership tenure. Calling the governors of all 50 states to action, Napolitano has proposed a plan--called "Innovation America"--to boost the competitiveness of American students, particularly in the areas of math and science.

As U.S. schools try to distance themselves from the stigma that they are lagging behind other, less-industrialized nations, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is calling for a concerted national effort on school-wide reform, urging leaders in all 50 states to better prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.

Napolitano launched her "Innovation America" initiative after taking over as chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group representing the nation's governors. The year-long endeavor, the cornerstone of her "Chair's Initiative," will focus on raising awareness about the need for American competitiveness and encouraging schools from coast to coast to reform their teaching strategies, especially in the areas of math and science, to better meet the needs of the new global economy.

"To be competitive as a nation, we must prepare our young people to meet the real demands of the job market," said Napolitano, a Democrat who has received strong political support in a traditionally Republican stronghold, during the closing session of the NGA's annual meeting in Charleston, S.C. "The goal of my Chair's Initiative is to educate our students to be innovators, and to carry that spirit of innovation through their university experience and into the workforce. Math and science education teaches true problem-solving skills that, in turn, will increase our nation's capacity for innovation in virtually every field."

Read more here.