November 2006, Volume: 9, Issue: e/3, ISBN 1527-5175

~~~Top of the morning reminder... one full day lies before you... Risk success! Source: www.JustSell.com

~~~"Free land near Toyota"... takes leverage to a new level. Mt. Carmel, IL, located in Wabash County in southern Illinois, has taken a bold step to attract attention to the community from Toyota. Automotive suppliers are setting up to serve the new Toyota plant in Indiana. This is a very aggressive step for a small County of 12,500. Bold Stroke strategies can generate a lot of energy and viral marketing. It can mobilize resources previously inert. Are you taking enough risk? http://www.freelandneartoyota.com

~~~"The critical distinction (in success)... is not between business and social, but between great and good. We need to reject the naive imposition of the "language of business" on the social sectors, and instead jointly embrace a 'language of greatness.'" Translation. Running your chamber or EDO like a business will never make it a great organization. A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness. "Good to Great and the Social Sectors," author Jim Collins 

~~~Synchronist Users' Webinars upgraded... to increase capacity to meet the demand for additional training by Synchronist Users. These Webinars are a great way to help staff get more out of your investment in business retention. Contact us for details. 630-462-9222 or tmair@blanecanada.com (Synchronist Users Only)

~~~Rethinking economic development?... How can we help? Benchmarking only gets you to where the leaders were yesterday. Global trends have changed the game. A new vision will not be shaped by benchmarks. Truly new visions are formed in the crucible of chaos. It will be messy before it crystallizes. It will take shape on a long walk, not in a board room. Are you still in the game?

~~~The Name Game... No, not your prospect code name. File names. Have you ever thought about the dozens or perhaps hundreds of files that can be downloaded from your web site. Put your self in the position of a site selector doing research at home on the weekend. You are trying to get ready for a meeting next week. Searching the web, I come across your organization's web site. I find a half dozen files and documents I think  will be worthwhile to the search. I download and dump them in a file folder on my desktop. I move on to another and another site. Now it's Wednesday. I come back to the project and open the file folder. What do I see? Marketing isn't just about creating great virtual materials and powerful data. Marketing is also about visibility in a pile. Do you have a standard file naming protocol that identifies not only the content, but your organization? Should you? You bet. OH_Hamilton!_wage-study.pdf is a great deal more valuable than wws-0405.doc or wage040604-final.doc. Want to be at the top of the list? Start with AA_OH_Hamilton!

~~~Crossing county lines... "Maryville and Alcoa are partnering with Blount and Knox counties (TN) to fund and develop a business park, with each partner contributing 25 percent of the initial investment and all four partners sharing in profits from land sales, as well as property tax revenues." The big news is, "Alcoa City Manager Mark Johnson noted that Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County have already partnered on and share revenue from the Partnership Parks, but this arrangement is the first to bring in a partner from across county lines to share revenues. The Blount County Economic Development Board will own and manage the property's development along with a private developer. This is a very forward thinking view of product development and an excellent model for all economic development organizations.

~~~Existing business success stories... are not limited to helps and saves. They can go well beyond that as demonstrated by the winners of the 2006 Synchronist Awards at the 5th annual Synchronist Users' Forum held in Chicago in October. These successes go beyond the traditional helps and saves in many cases to put the organization in a strong leadership position. http://www.synchronist.com/synchronist_award_winners_2006.doc

~~~The rest of the story... oft goes untold. Our hats are off to Columbia Regional Economic Development Inc. (MO) which included in their community/investor flyer - Who is REDI - the economic impact of 9 companies assisted in 2004: $2,720,509 real and personal property tax and public school taxes of $1,903,617. Well done, Columbia! Source: http://www.columbiaredi.com/pdfs/Who_is_REDI.pdf

~~~ "50% of the core duties of the job you have (and 90% of other jobs) will change every three years!" Are you retooling your skill set appropriately? Source: Workforce futurist

~~~The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama has been identified in independent research as a role model for reinventing North Carolina's approach to existing businesses and business retention. EDPA, a Synchronist System user, was singled out as the correct way to create a statewide existing industry program. The report, "BUSINESS RETENTION AND EXPANSION: SYNERGIZING SERVICE DELIVERY A Comparative Analysis for Serving North Carolinas Existing Industries," was authored by Will Lambe, UNC, CFED. http://www.cfed.org/focus.m?parentid=2&siteid=668&id=2222

~~~We've been watching this new market unfold... since about 1984 when NASA and partners began work on the personal jet engine. Now, with commercial micro-jet aircraft (aka very light jet) production underway (Eclipse Aviation, NM) - the first to roll off the production lines in June - in New Mexico, the air taxi market will begin. DayJet Corporation is positioning service in the southeast as "Per-Seat, On-Demand" jet service uniquely tailored to each customer's individual schedule and priced at a modest premium to full-fare coach airfares. Headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, DayJet has developed this new industry's first real-time operations system. Combined with the speed and efficiency of Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), DayJet has created the next major advance in corporate productivity and regional economic development. Some companies are already establishing VLJ maintenance facilities at airports. Services by DayJet and competitors will make jet travel to small regional centers possible. Check out the proposed DayJet service map at http://www.dayjet.com.

~~~ On knowledge..."His knowledge on the subject is only PowerPoint deep." Anon. Source, Greg King, GA