Communities Recognize The Value Of Jobs

One Southern Indiana
From Business First of Louisville: “On July 1, the Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Indiana Economic Develop­ment Council and Southern Indiana 2020 will be merged into a unified, business-support organization.”

“One Southern Indiana will help grow and retain existing businesses, attract new businesses to Southern Indiana, promote regional cooperation and plan long-term initiatives.”

From Business First Staff Writer Sarah Jeffords: “When Patrick Houghlin, executive vice president of Hitachi Cable Indiana, contacted One Southern Indiana about his company's plans to expand, he was pleasantly surprised by the chamber of commerce's rapid response.”

Portland, Oregon
Portland Business Journal, by Andy Giegerich staff writer: “The Four County Economic Development Corp. will begin shaping its policies in earnest Feb. 14 … the business-oriented group will study ways to promote the region's sustainability and manufacturing interests.”

“The group is expected to provide crucial support for industries in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah and Washington counties. It will work with public agencies to stimulate regional job growth and economic development by recruiting new businesses. It's an initiative within the area's Regional Business Plan, which aims to create more area jobs.”

Atlanta, Georgia
From an Atlanta Business Chronicle article and written by Ryan Mahoney, Georgia’s Economic Commission has a new chief, Ken Stewart. Quoted from the article: “Stewart plans to pick up Gov. Sonny Perdue's vision for the state where Lesser left off: that of a world capital for trade, tourism, finance and industries such as logistics, life sciences and technology.”

“Stewart said the department should focus on fostering the best possible business climate.
That includes emphasizing the role of small and midsized companies, "the backbone of our economy," in addition to Fortune 500s, he said.”

More Atlanta; From the Atlanta Business Chronicle by Douglas Sams: "DeKalb County is making a bid for more biosciences jobs, … DeKalb has spent nearly $100,000 in recent months to fine-tune its strategy for growing its biosciences sector, which it hopes will include pharmaceutical, medical technology and vaccine development companies that often pay workers at least $20,000 more annually than their counterparts in other industries."

Northern Kentucky
Not all regional development groups have unlimited funds, from a Cincinnati Business Courier by Lucy May Tri-County Economic Development Foundation, or Tri-EF wants to broaden its funding base by raising more money from the private sector.

North Texas Commission
The North Texas Commission has produced a 24 page fully color glossy guide titled “America's Global Logistics Center” to spot-light the area’s well established supply chain industry.

From a Dallas Business Journal article by Margaret Allen the guide “cites a multitude of sources for facts that illustrate the region's strategic status as a competitive logistics player. It details the benefits of the region's location, its infrastructure and its supply chain assets, from airports and airlines to railroads, intermodal centers and academic institutions.”

Dayton, Ohio
From the Dayton Business Journal by Yvonne Teems the Dayton Development Coalition: "midst of a campaign to brand and market the Dayton region. The $1 million project now is in the research and information-gathering phase. Marketing materials will be unveiled in September followed by a rollout to the communities within the region, said Maureen Patterson, project manager."

Kansas City, Kansas
In the Kansas City Business Journal by Rob Roberts Senator Pat Roberts is spear-heading a 43 member commission to bring a new $450 million National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to the area. According to the article: “Roberts has been spurring research and technology efforts in Kansas since 1996, when he formed the blue-ribbon Advisory Committee on Science, Technology and the Future. An outgrowth was the 2002 Legislature's adoption of a $115 million plan to help build research facilities at state universities.”

“A resulting structure, Pat Roberts Hall, houses the new $54 million Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University.”

Sacramento, California
From the Sacramento Business Journal by Michael Shaw: “The city of Sacramento is creating the capital's first true economic development department in an effort to attract more sales-tax revenue and corporate headquarters.”

“The proposal would increase staff and funding dedicated to attracting business, zone ready-to-build land for industry, bring retail back into the city and invest in projects rather than hand out city money in subsidies.”

San Francisco, California
From a Lizette Wilson article in the San Francisco Business Times: “Mayor Gavin Newsom is seeking to create a campus for clean technology companies, hoping to attract tech startups focused on solving environmental problems and create a cluster equal to the ones recently established in biotechnology and digital entertainment.”

“Newsom is expected to unveil details about the campus, plans for broad solar installations and other initiatives supporting the sector at the Cleantech Forum Feb. 21.”

“The annual conference is a "who's who" in the emerging industry attracting 600-plus venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and established executives, from Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers to Dow Chemical Co.”

Triad Region, North Carolina
I’ve written many times about the great job that North Carolina and specifically the North Carolinas Commerce Department headed up by Jonathan Marshall is doing to bring businesses to their state.

Articles about what North Carolina is doing to attract quality jobs; Another Win For North Carolina, North Carolina Gets Googled At A Cost Of $18,873 Per Employee For 30 Years, The Sun Belt Is Doing It Right, Imagine That – Governments Making Sense