~~~Stolen..."I stole the marketing plan from the back of 'Economic Development Marketing for Results!' worked the plan and now we have 600 new jobs. Thanks." Brett Doney, Maine.

~~~Next Quarter's economic picture...manufacturing slowing as growth of industrial production fell in February, after being flat for months. New orders for durable goods slipped back to levels not seen since last summer. Yet, the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) index remains above the important 50 mark. The APICS index, which had fallen below 50 from October through February, rose to 52.3 in March. The future component of this index rose appreciably. Apparently, the contractionary impact on our export sector of the strong dollar and the Asian slowdown are being offset by vibrant domestic demand. Next Quarter, April 1998, Jim Hagerbaumer, Hagerbaumer Economics.

~~~"Discretion...is the enemy of order, standardization, and quality." (Ted Levitt, "Marketing for Business Growth") Blane, Canada Ltd. works with clients to build marketing systems that create order and improve quality. Successful marketing is more than promotion.

~~~Own your own...e-mail's expanding popularity among economic development professionals is spawned by personal communications, networking, directories, and special information forums like this e-Letter. Many employers provide e-mail, but a personal e-mail address provides continuity when changes occur. Therefore, we strongly recommend maintaining your own e-mail account at a national ISP. It provides the ultimate in mobility security.

~~~Good times...are the perfect time to focus your marketing on effort on improving your closing rate. Too much traffic only distracts from the real goal - success stories. We are working with a number of clients on "end-game" marketing right now. Are putting your marketing dollars where they can have the greatest impact?

~~~Fascinating...in a recent proposal presentation, a debate ensued over urban sprawl: build a new greenfield industrial park or force development into the urban center. Of the urban center advocate, my colleague, Wally Biermann commented, "I can't believe he thinks he has a choice?" Wally's point, the market demands choice, different companies want different settings for their investment. So, successful communities offer a range of product to appeal to a broader market. It doesn't have to be either greenfield or urban. What do you think?

~~~Existing buildings don't mix...with food processors' expansion needs according to Food Processing magazine's analysis of expansions in 1997. Of the projects surveyed, 70 were new plants, 74 were expansions, and only 3 were renovations of existing buildings. Our point: don't shell (building) the food processing industry. It's a waste of your marketing resource. Food Processing, March 1998.

~~~Opportunity in the Valley?...Silicon Valley is the epicenter of America's high-tech firms. At a recent roundtable discussion on the real estate market in the Valley, corporate real estate executives noted: "... a significant effort to diversify our company by investing in areas like Singapore and Dublin...we are also looking at Boston, Chicago, and Salt Lake City." "We are always in the market for growing outside of Silicon Valley." "We are positioning ourselves within driving reach of campuses where we can attract the software engineer that is finishing his or her B.S. and wants to go for a master's." "The question becomes where can we go to attract more labor, transfer some labor and eliminate some competition." KEY WORDS: "ELIMINATE SOME COMPETITION." Real Estate Forum, March 1998

~~~Doing international?..."Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands" by Morrison, Conaway & Borden gives excellent advice on doing business in 60 countries. The book covers cultural overviews, behavior styles, negotiating, protocol, business practices. Speakers Net News <speakerNet@aol.com>, 3/20/98, edited by Rebecca Morgan and Ken Braly.

~~~Marketers increase value...by helping clients make better decisions. We have frequently referenced the need decision makers have for quality information. Now, the explosion of accessible information on the Internet and through other sources increases the value of the marketing professional.  Your job is now like our job as a consultant...gather, organize, analyze, synthesize, summarize, and deliver convincingly. In doing this well, you increase your value. Clever copy and flashy graphics alone are a hollow ploy.

~~~"Greetings...I just want to tell you that I think your newsletter is very good. (I'm judging from a writing standpoint.) It's clear, very tightly written and presented in an interesting, benefit-oriented style. I enjoyed reading it, and I'm not even in the economic development field!" Kathleen Krispin (IL)

~~~Help local businesses grow new business?...Check out FreeMarkets Online, an online auction place where industrial companies can buy and sell product. http://www.freemarkets.com/default.htm

~~~Beached recruitment...just how tough is the labor pool for employers? Tough enough to drive companies to take their recruitment effort to the beaches of Florida for "Spring Break '98". According to one of Eric's students, Columbus, OH took a delegation of 30 companies to recruit on  the beach! Times they are a changing.

~~~It's not a new idea...to list industrial or commercial properties on the Internet. Marketing services like RealBid and PIX work with listing agents to "show" properties on the Internet. PIX currently has a database with over $3 billion of investment property for sale. RealBid, according to Geoffrey Dohrmann's IREIzine, is planning to post over $600 million of property for sale in the next 45 days. Therefore, succeeding in economic development requires a coordinated marketing effort, not just posting a Web page with sites and buildings. Remember what we said last month on web marketing: think distribution, not media. PikeNet Dispatch, March 27, 1998, http://www.pikenet.com

~~~Since 1991, the Drucker Foundation has offered the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The award seeks programs and projects that exemplify innovation as defined by Peter Drucker: "change that creates a new dimension of performance." The award is presented each fall, and is accompanied by a $25,000 prize.  The 1998 nomination form is available at http://www.pfdf.org, and the deadline for applications is June 1, 1998. Benton Foundation, <benton@benton.org>, http://www.benton.org