E.D. Viewpoint Blog

Getting Ready for Company

Wed, 19 May 2010 21:10:34 GMT

You know the sense of urgency you feel when company’s coming?

That urge to vacuum the carpet, straighten your closet, light scented candles and make sure everything in the house is “just right” before the guests arrive. For me, it seems to involve a peculiar mixture of anticipation and enthusiasm.

I’m beginning to have similar thoughts as we begin the process of our first-ever peer review of our economic development program. Peer review is a rather generic term that’s used to describe a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within a specific profession. Its methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility.

We’re fortunate that Jay Chesshir, president and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Jim Fram, senior vice president of economic development at the Tulsa Metro Chamber, have committed to be in the community in mid-June to measure and evaluate Springfield’s program to commonly-held national standards. It’s a two-phase process consisting of a documentation review (i.e. marketing materials, web site, demographics and various economic assessments) and an on-site visit. Both phases are designed to evaluate our structure, organization, funding, programs, local leadership and staff.

They’ll tell us what we’re doing well, what we’re perhaps not doing as well as we could, things we should be doing that we’re not and maybe even suggest certain programs and efforts we should abandon altogether.

Couple this project with the Target Cluster Analysis, Incentives Review and Strategic Marketing Plan being performed by Market Street Services and one gets the sense that we’ve opened ourselves up for assessment and improvements like never before! Reminds me of something one of the smartest guys I know - Jim Jura of Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. - often says, “You don’t have to be sick to get better.”

We’ll be better as a result of all this work, and I’m anxious to get the results of these various projects. But right now, it still feels a little bit like company’s coming over. I need to vacuum…….

~ Greg Williams, Senior Vice President, Economic Development

Rethinking Incentives

Thu, 13 May 2010 16:22:06 GMT

I entered “Economic Development Incentive” into an Internet search engine recently and was shocked at the number of results that appeared.

12 million.

That’s right, 12 million sites that feature programs like targeted tax credits, relocation assistance, business finance programs, deferrals, exemptions and inducements offered by states, large cities, small towns, counties, villages and townships. All are offering some form of business development incentive to attract investment and create new jobs.

In this new economy, it’s become somewhat of a conundrum for groups like ours to spend a tremendous amount of time and resources trying to persuade business decision-makers to create new jobs and add payroll when those same people are being challenged by shareholders and directors to cut costs and become more efficient.

Some experts insist that the jobs lost due to national and global economic recession will come back, while others think private-sector employers have learned to do more with less. I’m not an economist, nor is my crystal ball working right now, so it’s really hard to know what’s coming. Will business development incentives at the state and local level continue to play a fundamental role in the attraction and retention of quality jobs and much-needed investment? Or will job-creators in private enterprise, who’ve adapted quite well to market challenges, politely decline the offers made by political sub-divisions across the globe?

I think there’s probably a balance here, and it’s time for states, cities, towns, counties and townships to develop some real dialogue with business decision-makers and determine what’s most important as we move forward and out of this nasty recessionary period. Employees are being asked to change right along with the economy, job seekers are more savvy than ever, employers are finding it more and more necessary to understand generational priorities. The use of business development incentives should also evolve to a new place. Normal is out. Flexibility is in.

Our public-private partnership for economic development has not used incentives to the extreme that others have and I think that’s good public policy. At the same time, it’s important to be innovative and prepared to facilitate quality projects in the future. That’s why we’ve asked Market Street Services to review how the City of Springfield uses incentives, which ones should be prioritized and perhaps what new and innovative programs should be utilized that haven’t been in the past. The conversation will be very interesting. The recommendations will be shared during the 7th Annual Economic Outlook Conference in October.

~ Greg Williams, Senior Vice President, Economic Development

The Wild, Wild……Midwest? Opportunities Abound.

Mon, 03 May 2010 14:33:57 GMT

American newspaper editor and politician, Horace Greeley, is generally credited with having coined the phrase “Go West, young man,” but many point to Indiana journalist John B.L. Soule as the actual originator of the phrase. Although Greeley used the phrase “Go West, young man, Go West” in an editorial in 1865, Soule had previously written “Go West, young man, and grow up with the country.”

It’s not much of a stretch to consider this Soule directive the mantra of the SBDC’s national business development program. I’ll take a liberty or two and claim “Go West, young man, North, South and East, as well.” It’s Action Item #5 of the 2010 SBDC business plan: Continue to Raise Awareness of the Springfield Region as a Destination for Job Creation & New Investment.

We’re blessed to have a couple of the best business development project managers in the country working for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and SBDC. I’m talking about Ryan Mooney, vice president of business development, and Jeff Seifried, manager of regional development. They’re doing things most people think “just happen” (as one well-known Chamber executive has been known to say).

Our target audience is pretty diverse, but the primary audience is national site selection consultants and advisory firms who represent outstanding clients considering new locations. Mooney and Seifried work daily to market to this audience through a variety of means. Out-of-market, face-to-face meetings on the East coast. West coast. North. South. Corporate visitations to headquarters operations of Springfield-based business and industry, just to say thanks – and offer assistance where it’s needed. Conferences, trade shows, internet marketing such as periodic email updates to consultants and newsletters regarding new project announcements or opportunities for business. They often go it alone. Other times they’ll partner with state officials from the Missouri Partnership.

This year alone, our guys will be in Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta multiple times. Also in Los Angeles, Columbus, Phoenix, Moline, Minneapolis and places in between. Perhaps even Stockholm, Sweden. It’s business as usual.

The Springfield region is a great place to be an economic developer because we have amazing things to sell. And it’s working! North, South, East and West.

Next time you see Ryan Mooney and Jeff Seifried, tell them you appreciate the work they do.

~ Greg Williams, Senior Vice President, Economic Development

Brain Drain: The Missing Link and What’s to Come

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:21:04 GMT

The first-ever Mentor Match Day at Missouri State University was held recently and I had the pleasure of visiting with several students about my career ladder and current job responsibilities. It was an informal event and I enjoyed participating. After sharing a 15-minute overview of our economic development program, a senior from St. Louis asked the question:

“When I graduate next year, what opportunities are there for me to start my career in Springfield?”

This issue is top of mind right now. We’re doing business in a new economy, and a new job market. We know that.

So, we’ve hired Market Street Services, Inc. of Atlanta, GA to help us develop new targeted industries which will employ the next generation and, most importantly, strive to reduce the “brain drain” our market has experienced for far too long.

More than 43,000 college students call Springfield “home” and once they’ve lived here a while and get accustomed to the quality of life this region offers, many want to stay. Unfortunately, many are forced to find employment elsewhere, in larger markets, because the Springfield region just doesn’t offer an over abundance of management-level opportunities for recent college graduates.

Our industrial development and back office recruitment efforts have been highly successful over the past two decades. Existing business and industry have expanded and created new job opportunities in this same period. And we celebrate that. But there’s a missing link.

We’ve got to be more effective in reaching out to firms that will employ Springfield’s talented new college graduates. Doing so will go a long way in reducing “brain drain” while increasing per capita income and business investment.

The targeted industry analysis conducted by Market Street Services will provide a clear understanding of the region’s existing strengths and future opportunity areas related to our workforce talent. The results of this analysis will be released at the 7th Annual Economic Outlook Conference on October 28th.

When this is all said and done, we’ll be a lot closer to having an answer to the question.

~ Greg Williams, Senior Vice President, Economic Development

The Real Definition of Economic Development

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:20:36 GMT

The personal impact of the work we do in economic development rarely gets noticed. Probably because we get too caught up in defining economic development with demographics, statistics and success measures like jobs and investment.

But when the success story moves beyond the news release, the media attention and web posting on any given project, it’s cool to learn what impact that deal has on someone’s life, their family and overall well-being.

My favorite personal story is of a young lady named Sarah. She’d been a stay-at-home mom until her husband’s work accident forced her to return to the workforce. Sarah and her family needed income, quick. And they needed health benefits and opportunity for professional growth. Sarah and her family found what they needed at a Springfield company the SBDC and its public partners attracted to the community.

She’s never met any of us. And probably never will. But the work our economic development partnership did on that deal made all the difference in the world to Sarah and her family. She said, “The quality of my family’s life is the most important thing to me and this company has allowed me to provide a great life for them!”

The Springfield region is often recognized by national publications and state agencies as a leader in job creation, an area with quality growth and great opportunities in business. That’s all great.

But what’s most rewarding is to drive by an office building or a manufacturing plant and know that the work our public/private partnership in economic development did to get them here is benefiting a mom or a dad, or a sister or brother, who is working inside those four walls to support a family. To me, that’s the real definition of economic development.

~ Greg Williams, Senior Vice President, Economic Development