Vol. 4 No. 1 November 2006

In this issue...

• EDA Regional Economic Development Symposia Planned for 2007
• Job Creation Continues - More Than 6.8 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
• IEDC and NARC to Continue Collaborating on EDA Information Dissemination in 2007
• Recent Economic Development Today Telecast, "Regional Economic Development in Florida," Now Online; December Program to Feature "Building Businesses on the Border"
• Look for Fall Edition of Economic Development America Soon; Winter 2007 Edition to Focus on "Starting, Growing and Keeping Your Region's Businesses"
• EDA Recognized for Support of IEDC's Gulf Coast Volunteer Program
• EDA Staff Available for Speaking Engagements

How to subscribe: To subscribe yourself or a colleague to EDA Update, send an email with contact information, including email address, to Jason Christian at jchristian@iedconline.org.

EDA Regional Economic Development Symposia Planned for 2007

Mark your calendar! In conjunction with its regional offices, EDA, IEDC and NARC will hold six Regional Economic Development Symposia in 2007.

The symposia will focus on regional strategies, policies and best practices to create jobs and economic opportunity. Speakers will include regional and national leaders from the private and public sectors. The program will include case studies of successful regional approaches to economic development, a session on innovation and entrepreneurship and region-specific training related to EDA.

• Tuesday, March 13, 2007: Philadelphia Regional Symposium in Philadelphia
• Thursday, April 12, 2007: Austin Regional Symposium in San Antonio
• Wednesday, May 16, 2007: Seattle Regional Symposium in Long Beach, CA
• Thursday, June 14, 2007: Atlanta Regional Symposium in Atlanta.
• Wednesday, September 26, 2007: Combined Denver/Chicago Regional Symposium in Kansas City, Mo.

For more information, please contact Dana Rothstein (drothstein@iedconline.org, 202-942-9470) or Richard Heffernan (rheffernan@iedconline.org, 202-942-9471).

Job Creation Continues - More Than 6.8 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003

On November 3, the government released new jobs figures - 92,000 jobs were created in October. The unemployment rate decreased to 4.4 percent, the lowest rate since May 2001. Payrolls have now increased 470,000 over the past 3 months and more than 1.9 million over the past 12 months. Since August 2003, more than 6.8 million jobs have been created - more jobs than all the other major industrialized countries combined. Our economy has now added jobs for 38 straight months.

IEDC and NARC to Continue Collaborating on EDA Information Dissemination in 2007

For a fourth year, the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) have been selected by EDA to provide information about economic development practices and programs to practitioners who serve distressed communities throughout the United States. During FY 2007, NARC and IEDC will produce six Economic Development Today telecasts; a monthly e-newsletter, EDA Update; a quarterly magazine, Economic Development America; and in a new effort this year, six regional symposia.

Themes currently planned for the Economic Development Today telecast series include:

• Building Businesses on the Border
• Innovation as a Key to Regional Success: Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture (with a CEO Roundtable)
• Performance Metrics: What is Your Economic Development Return on Investment
• Faith-Based Initiatives
• Place-Based Initiatives: Tripling the Bottom Line.
• Sixth telecast topic to be determined

Themes for Economic Development America magazine in 2007 include:

• Starting, Growing and Keeping Your Region's Businesses
• Data-Driven Economic Development
• EDA Excellence in Economic Development 2007 Award Winners
• Keeping Neighborhoods and Hometowns Strong

NARC and IEDC also will organize a series of Regional Economic Development Roundtables in six different locations to share strategies, policies and best practices in economic development.

To provide input on the telecasts or roundtables, contact Peggy Tadej at NARC, 202-986-1032, ext. 224, or tadej@narc.org. If you would like to comment on the proposed themes for Economic Development America, or contribute an article, contact editor Louise Anderson at 828-350-8844, or landerson@iedconline.org.

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) helps economic development professionals improve the quality of life in their communities by providing research, advisory services, conferences, professional development and certification, publications, legislative tracking and more. The National Association of Regional Councils is a non-profit membership organization and public interest group whose mission is to improve the quality of life for American communities by promoting regional approaches and cooperation in addressing community challenges such as economic development.

Recent Economic Development Today Telecast, "Regional Economic Development in Florida," Now Online; December Program to Feature "Building Businesses on the Border"

On October 5, the Economic Development Today telecast series featured a program on regional economic development in Florida. Governor Jeb Bush and leaders from the private and public sectors discussed how Florida regions are collaborating across political boundaries to meet the challenges of economic development in the 21st century. The telecast focused on the Miami and Tampa/Clearwater regions in the South Central Florida "mega region." Panelists discussed a range of topics, including infrastructure issues; linkages to the global economy; workforce development; and faith-based initiatives. To view the telecast, go to the EDA Web site. To view a summary article, go to the NARC Web site.

The next telecast, "Building Business on the Border," will take place on Thursday, December 13, from 3:00-4:00 PM EST. This program will highlight leading regional strategies to promote innovation-led economic development along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

One of the featured initiatives is the Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory, an effort to support scientific and technological collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico. Panelists will discuss economic development strategies such as applied research, technology/ product development, advanced training, business planning, mentoring, incubation, technology commercialization and marketing. The telecast also will focus on the economic successes of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, as well as the CANAMEX alliance.

Access Information:

Ku-band, analog: Galaxy 11, transponder 20
Orbitol slot: 91 degrees west
Downlink frequency: 12100 Vertical

C-band, analog: Galaxy 16 (previously 4R), transponder 12
Orbitol slot: 99 degrees west
Downlink frequency: 3940 Vertical

DISH Network: Viewing via DISH Network requires a subscription to the basic service package. The Universityhouse Channel is 9411. For programming information, go to www.universityhouse.nau.edu and click on schedule. Universityhouse will air the telecast on DISH Network on December 13 at 12:00 PST, 1:00 MST, 2:00 CST, and 3:00 EST.

Local Cable Access: Check with your local cable TV stations to find out if viewing is available in your area.

For technical assistance questions on the telecast date, call 500-537-6865, ext. 5200, between 2:30-4:00 PM.

Click here to register for the telecast. For general telecast questions, contact Peggy Tadej at 202-986-1032 ext 224, or tadej@narc.org.

Look for Fall Edition of Economic Development America Soon; Winter 2007 Edition to Focus on "Starting, Growing and Keeping Your Region's Businesses"

We hope you enjoyed the Summer 2006 edition of Economic Development America, which featured profiles of the 2006 EDA Excellence in Economic Development Award winners. To view a PDF of this issue or other past issues, visit the EDA Web site.

The Fall edition of the magazine, themed "The Economic Developer's Toolkit," will be published in late November. Articles cover a range of topics of interest to economic developers - everything from business retention and expansion to financing, downtown development, performance measurement and more.

Article ideas for the Winter 2007 edition are being selected now. The issue's theme is "Starting, Growing and Keeping Your Region's Businesses." If you have any suggestions or stories you'd like to share about entrepreneurship or business retention and expansion, please contact editor Louise Anderson at landerson@iedconline.org or (828) 350-8855.

EDA Recognized for Support of IEDC's Gulf Coast Volunteer Program

In the Summer 2006 edition of Economic Development Journal, Joseph A. Marinucci, FM, the chairman of IEDC's Board of Directors during FY 2006, recognized the support that EDA has provided to IEDC's Economic Recovery Volunteer Program. Below is an excerpt from his letter to Journal readers:

[IEDC] launched the Economic Recovery Volunteer Program in December through the support of an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant. The program deploys skilled IEDC members to economic development organizations located in areas that suffered heavy damage from the hurricanes. The volunteer program's objective is to increase the post-disaster survival rate of small and medium sized businesses, provide professional assistance to economic development organizations, and support the long-term recovery and development of regional economies. Phase I went through June 2006.

Between December 2005 and June 2006, 52 volunteers from across the nation were sent to seven locations in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Volunteers contributed a collective 313 days of service, and the program generated a total of $164,450 in-kind funding through contributions from IEDC volunteers and IEDC staff time. Key volunteer activities and impacts included individual counseling to nearly 200 businesses; grant writing assistance resulting in grant proposals totaling $680 million for reinvestment projects in the New Orleans region; economic recovery strategic plans, programs, and proposals for local economies; and an off-site resource database and communications systems to ensure project continuity.

IEDC has recently been awarded a second grant from EDA to continue this successful program. In this second phase, we aim to expand the Volunteer Program and send another 100 volunteers to the Gulf Coast. You too can participate in this renewed effort. Go to the IEDC website to learn more. The organization's many initiatives have each served as a step towards Gulf Coast recovery. Today, IEDC continues to assist communities and organizations as they plan for and initiate the long-term rebuilding of their economies.

Joseph A. Marinucci, FM
IEDC Chair

EDA Staff Available for Speaking Engagements

Would you like to have an EDA representative address your economic development conference or event? EDA senior staff members are available for speaking engagements through 2007. For more information, contact Bryan Borlik, Lead Public Affairs Specialist, at bborlik@eda.doc.gov.

EDA Update is brought to you as a benefit of a partnership among the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), to provide information about economic development practices and programs to economic development practitioners who serve distressed communities throughout the United States. This partnership also provides six telecasts and a quarterly magazine. For more information, visit the EDA Web site.

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