May 2005, Volume: 8, Issue: e/5, ISBN 1527-5175

~~~BREI winners... The Nashville (TN) Area Chamber of Commerce's BR&E program was the co-winner of the Large Community Award. Congrats to Steve Sparks and the Business Retention & Expansion team!

~~~The American Management Association's (AMA) new course catalogue included a number of titles helpful to economic developers. Some of the more interesting are: "Moving From an Operational Manager to a Strategic Thinker," "Information Technology for the Non-IT Executive," "Mastering Organizational Politics, Influence and Alliances," "Managing Chaos," and "Effective E-Mail Marketing". For details, go to http://www.amanet.org

~~~"I attended the 2004, 5th Annual Synchronist User's Forum in Chicago... and made it a point to talk to each of the 50 attendees who were at different stages of using their retention expansion program. They taught me a lot and made me feel welcome to call and ask questions... just like you are doing now." Source: IN user

p.s. The 2005 Annual Synchronist User's Forum is scheduled for Oct. 13 & 14 in Chicago. Synchronist Users should reserve seats now for an information-packed forum. http://www.blanecanada.com/usersforum.html

~~~Workforce boards... are, in some instances, responsible for funding existing business or retention efforts. For example, statewide Enterprise Florida is partnering with Workforce Florida, Inc., the Agency for Workforce Innovation, and the Florida Economic Development Council in a common agenda. Don't overlook the partnerships which should be cultivated in your territory.

~~~How does the Lafayette/West Lafayette (IN) Economic Development Corporation maintain its success and competitive edge? Cinda Kelley, Director of Business Development, highlights several factors_hosting an ED 101 course for public office candidates, all communities involved view collaboration as critical to generating success, presenting position papers to local congress members to keep them apprised, instituting a Industrial Park Task Force responsible for making sites shovel ready, and understanding and addressing strengths and weaknesses. 

~~~Alexa toolbar was mentioned in the last month's newsletter... "It does cool stuff, but my Ad-Aware fingered it as spyware, so I uninstalled it. Maybe I am just a little more privacy-conscious than some." Source: Bill LaFayette, Economic Analysis, Columbus (OH) Chamber 'I just did a competitive intelligence seminar, and Alexa is one of the tools I recommend. Technically, it IS spyware, and any good spyware software will detect it. However, there's nothing sneaky about it.  Alexa does what it says it does - track your movements on the web - and nothing else. I recommend to clients and colleagues to use it. Thanks again for the great work you do!"  Source: Shelley Cadamy, Oklahoma City

~~~How do you measure the success of redeveloping your community? (Heard at MAEDC) Steven Super, South Elgin Community Development (IL), says “Starbucks is the official yuppie stamp of approval.”

~~~How do you spell success?... The Mississippi Development Authority is partnering with the TVA, Entergy, Mississippi Power, and Delta State to manage their existing business program via Synchronist software.

~~~5+ years of cost cutting... means that companies must now invest in people and infrastructure to create new business opportunities. Synchronist Users have documented this reality through their executive interviews. They have found, in the past 5 years, only 19% of the companies interviewed introduced new products. In the next 2 years 75% plan to introduce new products. Are you on top of the opportunities in your community? Source: Synchronist National Data Study, 2004 (based on 5,694 executive interviews).

~~~How do you change a negative culture and pull a community out of an economic slump Terry Whipple, Juneau County (WI), created the Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club. It is a club where members can share and educate each other Failure became a learning tool.  After just two years of existence, the Club has over 300 members, covers 7 counties, and is averaging 20 start-ups per year. The goal became to change the culture, not create jobs or attract new businesses Create an entrepreneurial culture and economic improvement will follow.

~~~"Sincere thanks for sending your tremendous Marketing Newsletter... much appreciated! Your insights and thoughts are, or should be, at the top of all ED professional's lists of "things to really think about TODAY"!... I support your efforts to bring true professionalism and a healthy dose of reality to the marketing components of the ED field!" Source: FL

~~~NAID/ADC... National Assoc. of Installation Developers and the Assoc. of Defense Communities will hold their 2005 meeting in Denver, June 4-7. You might pucker at reading one seminar title, "Taking Lemons and Making Lemonade" or you might be more interested in "Life After Closure". For ED organizations facing military realignment of local assets, this is a "must attend". Go to  http://www.naid.org

~~~Prospect Activity Trend Study... Greater Phoenix Economic Council has recently released the 1st Quarter 2005 National Survey of  Economic Development Professionals. A few highlights: 1) Overall business attraction activity was up, with more lead and prospect activity reported. 2) Despite increases, announcement activity fell in the first quarter, and the quality and size of announced projects were down across the board. 3) Respondents are increasingly optimistic about the state of the national economy, but uncertainty regarding higher fuel prices, the war in Iraq, and outsourcing remain a concern. Complete survey: http://gpec.org/edsurvey/results.html

~~~"Better Investing" magazine's goal is to educate investors. It can also be an excellent complementary source on companies your ED organization might consider marketing to. The monthly publication is available at most major book stores.

~~~"While the US produces a full one-third of global economic output... two-thirds is located outside the US," according to Marvin Zonis, professor at the University of Chicago. "Many developing societies - India and China, certainly with 40% of the world's population - are growing two to three times as fast as the US." Source: "Optimize" magazine, April 2005

~~~Schneider Trucking Co... a privately held Wisconsin trucking and logistics company, cleverly outfitted trucks with satellite transmission capability above the cab of each track years ago The man who set this up had experience in a military setting for logistics planning. The logistics system allowed him to track all company vehicles, leading to greater efficiencies. The same company was concerned about the succession of its management, so it initiated succession planning. They created a formal leadership and management training program to accomplish this. They also benchmarked their program against 40 other companies. Recommended reading was the book, "The Leadership Pipeline". Can this same concept be carried into the economic development office? When meeting with local company executives, have you ever asked about succession plans? The book is co-authored by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel. Source: "CIO, the Resource for Information Executives" magazine, May 1, 2005.

~~~Sitting at Tammy's wedding dinner (she's our software specialist)...yes, we found a way to weave economic development into the conversation.  Turns out the HR director sitting at our table had just received word that the food casings plant in Indiana where he had worked for 30 years was being replaced by an operation in Mexico. The HR director was further taken by surprise at learning his insurance coverage was eliminated. Existing business calling programs might have been able to catch this relocation earlier. With the changing international economies, more frequent communication among business leadership and community leaders is more critical. p.s. Congrats, Tammy and Chris Mair.

~~~"The World is Flat"... is the title of a book written by a futurist writer for the 'New York Times', and 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Thomas Friedman. "Amazon.com" refers to his terms, 'globalization 3.0' and the flat rather than round reference to the earth, as reflective of a changing world which has lowered trade and political barriers. The digital revolution provides for rapid world-wide transactions, as if the world was flat rather than round.

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