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Welcome How a Dose of Data Reality Can Enhance Your Region’s Competitive Positioning Fiscal Impact Analysis Creates a Win-Win for Projects and Communities Economic Gardening: Using Information to Help Your Entrepreneurs Grow Using Location Intelligence to Attract Retail to Underserved Areas Targeting a Portfolio of Clusters Quantifying the Creative Economy Economic Developer “Dinosaurs” Vs. Fast Internet Information Your Regional Knowledge Economy Strategy: Is it Succeeding? “We Have the Site, But We Need the Workforce!”  Subscribe
About Economic Development America
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How a Dose of Data Reality Can Enhance Your Region’s Competitive Positioning (cont.)Regional Growth Partnership (Toledo/northwest Ohio) The loss of 200,000 jobs in auto parts and other manufacturing sectors over the past eight years made this region eager to explore new opportunities in innovative ways. The Toledo area’s economic development agency, the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP), initiated the five-step process facilitated by IBM Global Business Services in 2006. The RGP’s president and CEO, Steve Weathers, calls the process “the best thing this agency has done in years, and maybe ever done.” The Toledo region underwent rigorous self-examination and benchmarking against 10 U.S. peer communities that have attracted inward investment from large companies despite economic difficulties. It then built a database model to compare 10 industries and discovered, for example, that peer regions are more competitive in auto parts cost and quality. But northwest Ohio stands out in other industries, and is one of most competitive in transportation logistics. While the Toledo area has high quality in medical research and development, it also has high costs, so other regions are more competitive. But the region is highly advantaged in industrial engineering services – the lowest city on cost and second highest on quality. Among the surprises in the data is that costs for specialty food manufacturers are high not because of the workforce, but because of utilities. The database model that offers these results is flexible and can be updated by researchers at partnering regional universities to adjust for economic changes. Data points include infrastructure, workforce, quality of living and cost of doing business (including labor and land costs, utilities and other factors). The model highlights industries in which northwest Ohio can compete, such as alternative energy (biodiesel and wind), financial services and electronics. Regional executives say they want to stay ahead of the game, to understand what skills are needed in the new economy and where the region must invest to remain competitive in innovation and technology. A workforce and intellectual capital that can match rapidly changing business strategies are key. With a solid, community-based tool in place – which the region will continue to refine and upgrade – the next step has been to find the money to invest. The RGP created Rocket Ventures, affiliated with University of Toledo, to target venture funds of specific industries highlighted by the research.Within six months, the RGP and Rocket Ventures moved from a base of zero to more than 60 funding opportunities in a variety of industry segments, including agriculture- related biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The Toledo region’s next step is to compare itself with similar communities around the world. Although the enhanced tool won’t give RGP the answers, as Weathers points out, it gives the agency the ability to find the answers that are right for the region and to put dollars into the areas of greatest impact.
Facing traditional-industry erosion similar to Toledo’s, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania arguably has developed one of the most comprehensive efforts aimed at giving all state and regional officials objective, data-driven development tools. The Global Competitiveness Initiative analyzes the state’s competitiveness and ability to attract new business by benchmarking 12 Pennsylvania regions and business sectors against 26 competitor regions in the U.S. and around the world. Results from the early analyses show Pennsylvania has the opportunity to improve its positioning in areas such as integrated biopharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech research, alternative energy, agro-food processing, digital media and pre-fabricated housing. Strengths also exist in attracting regional headquarter facilities and in financial services. As in other geographies, access to qualified workers is an ongoing concern. Pennsylvania has recognized that it must target workforce training initiatives to specific growth sectors of the economy, expanding community colleges and other programs that match training to employer needs. Governor Edward Rendell called the initial analyses “a tremendous tool to persuade Pennsylvania companies to expand and other companies to come to Pennsylvania.” The process, which began early this year, is ongoing.
Our experience shows that it is critically important to understand globalization. Digital communications and instant connections are proving what Thomas L. Friedman wrote in his bestseller “The World is Flat” – that we have to run faster in order to stay in place. No matter where you are, you are affected. The challenge to U.S. economies is how to differentiate themselves and move up to a more innovative environment. For the nation and for local regions to stay ahead, they must undergo critical self-examination of strengths and weaknesses from a client-centered focus. Data and analysis, smartly employed, are key.
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