Brewed Fresh Daily

My colleague at Purdue, Scott Hutcheson, has written “an essential guide, recipes included, to the foremost sources of local foods in Indiana.”

What’s Hot: ‘Home Grown Indiana’

Visit the web site here.

Meanwhile in Lexington, KY, a new study focuses on consumer attitudes toward local food.

Local Food Study Highlights Universal Concerns

Here’s an update from the web site Save National City Bank.

Kudos to Dan Moore for showing some business leadership. For background, read his PD OP-ED here.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership seems invisible on this one. It’s self-absorbed leadership seems too busy with an obsession to save Tower City with the Med Mart scheme.

Why doesn’t the business leadership mobilize, as they did with Cleveland-DFAS?

(Tip of the hat to Terri Martin.)

Jay Miller at Crain’s told us about the failed efforts to start a Med Mart in Birmingham.

Promoters of Cleveland’s medical merchandise mart proposal believe they have a winner on their hands, but the early-1990s failure of a similar venture in Birmingham, Ala., and comments from national medical marketers suggest the local project isn’t a slam dunk.

In 1992, Birmingham opened the Medical Forum, a 10-story building created to help raise the southern city’s profile as a prominent medical center. But the concept of using most of the building as a one-stop shop for medical equipment makers to display their wares quickly was abandoned, and the building now is used as traditional office space.

“The medical industry proved to be totally different than what we expected,” said Jack Fields, who at the time was charged with filling the new building for the Birmingham-Jefferson (County) Convention Center.

“We found that buying decisions were not made by the medical professionals but by purchasing agents,” said Mr. Fields, who now is executive director of Birmingham’s convention center complex.

Now Roldo uncovers the failed efforts for a Med mart in Baltimore.

By 1997 it was forgotten dream in Baltimore. Nothing ever happened to the wonderful $600-million idea born in 1991.

“They could never make the project work,” said Heywood Sanders, Professor of Urban Studies in the Department of Political Science at Trinity University at San Antonio.

Read more.

Seems to me, we need a business plan from Sam Miller, Albert Ratner, Tim Hagan or Joe Roman, the prime promoters of this untested idea to rescue Tower City.

(That follows the logic of Congress, which recently told the automakers to come up with a plan before we invest public money: Congress wants business plan from automakers.)

Markets don’t lie, and past experience tells us that a passive Med Mart (aka medical showroom) will not work.

Where is there any evidence supporting this idea? (Aside from web sites, artist drawings, press releases and salesman’s puff from Fred Nance.)

At the same time, developers in NY are preparing to test a far more sophisticated model of a multi-functional medical facility.

World Product Centre facilities will include state-of-the-art permanent showrooms, conference and educational facilities, media centers and traditional office space. The building will also feature a Consumer Health Pavilion open to the general public, including students, tourists and other healthcare consumers. The Pavilion will offer guided tours, interactive forums, and a wealth of information supporting health literacy, prevention and wellness, and those considering careers in healthcare. Hewlett Packard (HP), the world’s largest technology company, is designing a vendor-neutral technology infrastructure that will, as Tom Tillar, HP Principal for WPC, describes, “support one of the smartest and technologically advanced buildings ever developed.”

Current plans call for over 120,000 square feet of education and conference space that includes a two-story, 499-seat, fully digitized auditorium. Medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare associations, and WPC itself will offer events of all kinds, including accredited professional and medical education courses. ”

How will the proposed Cleveland Med Mart stack up to this multi-functional facility? Will Cleveland be building a Medical Mart that will be out of date the day it opens?

It’s hard to say without a business plan.

Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs: An Underestimated American Resource

In Northern Colorado, civic leaders have come together to develop strategies to find pathways out of poverty. It appears to be the kind of persistent effort from which Cleveland could learn.

One interesting insight: if 300 people had been helped to receive high school diplomas, 570 fewer people would be living in poverty. (That’s pretty good leverage.)

Pathways Past Poverty: Preliminary goals

Pathways Past Poverty

Over in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo’s Promise celebrates its anniversary and business/school alliances with companies (like Eaton) taking part.

KALAMAZOO PROMISE WEEK: Business-school alliance works; Developing homegrown talent a plus after graduation

Credit Crisis in 30 slides

Well we did it. We pulled off our first Ignite Columbus event this evening at the Columbus Robotics Society in Grandview. To say it was awesome would be an understatement. We had about 45 folks show, 15 presenters present a wide range of exciting ideas intermixed between pizza, robots, the chumby, spiked cider and cold drinks. Conversation and chatter ran wild as people met for the first time twitter or no twitter. I saw a lot of new faces, new to social media, new to this evolving scene and a few old friendly faces from Startup Weekend.

The rules of Ignite are pretty simple, there are none- other than 20 slides, 15 seconds a slide, 5 minutes for your skinny, your big idea. Get up, present!

Ignite Columbus

Slide presentations available on SlideShare

Probably a more worthy focus for leadership than the convention center/Med Mart:

[W]e can defeat this takeover with local and state leadership galvanizing all levels of our community behind a “Save NCB” effort – including demonstrations and educational visits to Congress explaining the wastefulness and inequities of this shotgun wedding.

Should we allow National City to just fade away after 163 years, like a leaf blowing away in the wind? No way!

The Plain Dealer can do a great job explaining the lousy economics of the National City takeover and its overwhelming consequences for Cleveland. We must keep the heat on.

Cleveland shouldn’t give up on saving National City Bank

Carla Rautenberg adds this background from the Washington Post.

Wow. That was fast.

Business Week gives the Democrats a 2010 headline, and the right wing of the GOP continues to stumble toward political irrelevance.

GOP to Detroit: Drop Dead

From Julie Michael Smith at the YBI.

You can see a report on this seminar from Toledo here.

WHAT: RETOOLING FOR OHIO’S ADVANCED ENERGY MARKET STRATEGIES AND FUNDING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ADVANCED ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES

Presentation by the Ohio Department of Development Energy Office

WHERE: KENT STATE TRUMBULL CAMPUS
Workforce Development and Continuing Education Building
4314 Mahoning Avenue – Room 211
Warren, OH 44483

WHEN: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008
9:00 A.M. TO NOON

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Businesses who want to learn about energy efficiency.
Businesses interested in manufacturing and supply chain development opportunities in advanced energy markets.
Economic Development organizations and government entities looking to explore strategies and initiatives they can utilize to assist Ohio companies.

AGENDA TOPICS:
Review of Bipartisan Economic Stimulus Package
Overview of the $1.57 billion jobs stimulus package that aims to create new jobs while laying the foundation for future economic prosperity.

Review of Federal Energy Programs
Representative from Congressman Ryan’s office will review several programs offered by the U. S. Dept. of Energy designed to encourage businesses to invest in alternative energy projects. From reducing the costs associated with installing green energy projects to investing in research to identify new product lines.

Review of Programs offered by the Ohio Department of Development Energy Office
Industrial Efficiency EnVinta Program
Wind Industry in Ohio and Supply Chain
Solar Industry in Ohio and Supply Chain
Biomass and BioFuels in Ohio
Renewable Deployment for Commercial and Industrial

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Representatives from the Ohio Dept. of Development Energy Office, ODOD Regional Economic Development office and the Office of Congressman Tim Ryan

THE SEMINAR IS FREE BUT PLEASE REGISTER BY NOVEMBER 12 TO: SUE.WATSON@DEVELOPMENT.OHIO.GOV OR 330-797-6301.