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Ed Morrison · Milwaukee starts organizing a food cluster
December 4th, 2011
Milwaukee has led states in the Great Lakes in recognizing the growing market potential of fresh water technologies. The Milwaukee Water Council is now a global leader in this regional innovation cluster.
Now Milwaukee is focusing on another major opportunity: regional food systems.
IBM chose Milwaukee as one of 24 “high-potential” cities around the world to receive expertise at no cost to improve quality of life in the areas of water, energy, health care, transportation, communication or social services. In each city, IBM teams set out to synchronize and analyze efforts among sectors and agencies. The goal is to establish a new architecture to anticipate problems and spot opportunities.
In the case of Milwaukee, the IBM team spotted the opportunity for food development.
Last week, the Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin held an important event to further the development of this cluster. Here’s an update.
You can get an overview on how Milwaukee is building its clusters in this excellent article from John Schmid from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Ed Morrison · Ohio: The Next Fracking Frontier
December 4th, 2011
Fracking is short for horizontal hydraulic fracturing, and Ohio is the next ground zero for the rapidly expanding natural-gas drilling method…
Kasich, Koch and Big-Industry Bucks: Why Ohio Is the Next Fracking Frontier
Related articles
- Buffalo to Natural Gas Industry: Frack You (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
- On Our Radar: A New Fracking Frontier (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Fracking our Marcellus Shale (latimermville.wordpress.com)
Ed Morrison · Colorado’s new innovation network
December 3rd, 2011
Colorado’s governor has launched a new initiative — Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) — to build the networks to accelerate innovation in the state.
Although hatched at the state’s Department of Economic Development, the initiative will spin out to the Colorado Plug and Play incubator in the Denver Tech Center. The initiative will be privately led and support development of the state’s clusters.
You can review the Colorado Blueprint here.
Ed Morrison · Are incubators a good investment?
December 3rd, 2011
A new report from the Economic Development Administration places these types of public investment higher that other forms of infrastructure investment. Incubators generate 20 times more jobs than community infrastructure projects, like road or water projects. Effective incubator projects work for two reasons.
First, they fill a hole in the local real estate market. For reasons that have to do with cost structures, commercial markets tend to underserve the needs of smaller companies.
Second, effective incubators support their companies with networks of resources. Entrepreneurs create value from assets they do not own. They need networks to find, align, and leverage these assets quickly. The Youngstown Business Incubator is an excellent example.
Here’s the EDA report.
Ed Morrison · New York sorts through its regional strategies
December 3rd, 2011
New York’s ten regions made their presentations last week. At stake: state funding of $200 million in grants and tax credits. The top four regions get $40 million each. The remaining 6 split $40 million ($6.7 million each).
It’s a competition closely modeled after the Bush Administration’s Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. Here’s the background.
You can thumb through the five year strategic plans for the ten regions:
You can view each of the presentations from Innovation Trail, the collaboration of public broadcasting from Upstate New York. Each presentation is about an hour. View here.
Next Thursday, the governor is holding another high profile media event to announce the outcome of the competition.
Ed Morrison · Rockford moves to transform its schools
December 2nd, 2011
Yesterday, Rockford launched its Readiness Rocks: 5 initiatives designed to transform its school system.
Rockford schools will be using Strategic Doing to forge the collaborations needed to implement these initiatives. They include: extending the school day; creating better learning environments; pre-school for all; a Rockford Promise to invest in college for high school graduates; and innovations for career and college readiness. You can read more about the proposals here.
Ed Morrison · Lessons of regional leadership: An early look at Julia Taylor and the Greater Milwaukee Committee
November 30th, 2011
The lessons of regional leadership are somewhat different from the typical leadership lessons you might read in a management book. Not much has been written about regional leadership — how civic leaders can develop and manage complex projects in the open, loosely joined networks of our civic economy.
My Purdue colleague Scott Hutcheson has started an important conversation within the Purdue Center for Regional Development on the topic. He starts by looking closely at a valuable case study: How Julia Taylor and the Greater Milwaukee Committee has begun to change the development dynamics in Milwaukee and seven counties of Southeast Wisconsin — the Milwaukee 7 region. Scott then applies insights from the academic literature on organizational change and leadership.
Some important proof points on the power of the GMC approach to leadership: In only a few years, Milwaukee has vaulted to a global leadership position in fresh water technologies, a large and growing market, with the Milwaukee Water Council.
As I read through Scott’s analysis of Julia’s work, here’s how I would characterize the guidance Julia provides.
1. Influence builds as leadership develops the habit of translating ideas into action quickly
2. Influence builds as members of the network share recognition for their accomplishments
3. Influence builds as members of the network gain a sense of alignment and connection
4. Influence builds as members gain an appreciation of the power of networks to move quickly in a strategic direction
5. The Metcalfe curve matters: As a network becomes larger, more sophisticated and more capable, new opportunities for co-creating shared value emerge
6. Influence builds as leaders make clear their personal agenda and what’s in it for them
7. Lean into the sharp points of potential opposition: Invite potential opponents to appoint members to an advisory team
8. Use this advisory team to overcome political obstacles to regional collaboration; rely on them early and often
9. To build trust, start small and build off early gestures of good will
10. Press on, regardless, to build leadership networks with strong cores and porous boundaries
More will follow as we distill what is going on in Milwaukee and how these lessons can be shared with other regions. It’s a fascinating start to what is likely to be an important new field of study: Team leadership in regional economies.
Ed Morrison · Maryland estimated the economic impact of the arts
November 22nd, 2011
Ed Morrison · Central NY’s regional strategy
November 20th, 2011
Central New York civic leaders have produced an extensive strategy document in response to the governor’s call for regional strategies across New York. Central NY — one of ten regions in the state — is competing for funding.
By the measure of this strategy, the governor’s approach has been able to galvanize strong strategic thinking within these regions.
By the measure of this strategy, the governor’s approach has been able to galvanize strong strategic thinking within these regions.
Ed Morrison · Illinois Innovation Index
November 20th, 2011
Researchers in Illinois have compiled the Illinois Innovation Index as a series of monthly publications. The Index is designed to promote the use of innovation and entrepreneurial metrics in the Chicago metro and throughout Illinois.
You can read more about the Index here.
You can visit the web site here.
Here is the latest issue.
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