In Louisville, aging care becomes key area of economic growth

Louisville Kentucky - a city generally associated with the Kentucky Derby - also hosts the largest concentration of nursing-home and extended-care companies in the nation.

The long-term-care industry has helped spark a turnaround in the city and is a result of industry clustering.  , to one of the buzz phrases in urban economic development: clustering. Humana has its headquarters in Louisville and as its influence grew, the health-insurance giant created spinoffs and attracted like-minded businesses. More here
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Petersburg looking to boost tourism, economic growth with new city logo, branding

Petersburg, Alaska spent $75,000 to develop a new "brand" anchored by the slogan "Little Norway. Big Adventure." More here.

Calgary Economic Development announces new brand

"Be Part of the Energy" is the new brand of Calgary Economic Development. The campaign is aimed at positioning the city as an emerging international cosmopolitan center. .

“It’s (the brand) a call to action. It’s a call to action for attracting investments. It’s a call to action to attract people. It’s a call to action to engage our community. It’s a call to action to create partnerships and to get collaboration,” said Bruce Graham, president and chief executive of Calgary Economic Development. More here.

Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation Unveils 'Metro Denver E-Force'

A new twist on the Ambassador program.  The Metro Denver EDC unveils a new campaign designed to mobilize the region's most passionate business leaders and help position why Metro Denver is a top place for innovative companies and people.More here.

Indiana Steps Up Economic Turf War With Neighboring Illinois

It's counterproductive.

Indiana Commerce Secretary Dan Hasler spoke to about 125 site-selection consultants and commercial and industrial real estate agents attending the first Opportunity Indiana Summit, held in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont.

"It's not that we're trying to poach companies, but if they're going to move, let's keep them in the Midwest," said Hasler, who is also the chief executive of the state's economic development corporation. More here.

Flagler economic advisory group crafting 'image'

By AARON LONDON, Staff writer
Daytona Beach News Journal

Flagler County's economic development group met recently to discuss the county's economic development website as well as a request for proposals for a marketing consultant.

Director of Economic Opportunity Helga van Eckert, said these topics are of fundamental importance for the county's economic development effort.

"It's our image that we're talking about, the same way the mission statement and the vision statement are the guidelines for how we are going to function moving forward," she said. "They really do help to lay the foundation and set the tone for wherever we go moving forward."

Van Eckert said the marketing plan will be a significant piece of the overall strategy and having an outside consultant work with county staff is key.

"While we understand what we want to say and we know what we want to accomplish, getting the word out and presenting it so that it gets the attention it deserves and that it's actually heard is best done with the assistance of a professional," she said. "We're going to be intimately involved with every aspect of it."  More here.

Jets put Winnipeg on map with investors

The Winnipeg Jets hockey team is not an official arm of Economic Development Winnipeg  (EDW), but the new NHL franchise is opening doors for the city's economic development agency.

Economic Development Winnipeg is the agency responsible for promoting and marketing the city for business and investors and promoting tourism.

The EDW's Bill Morrissey said in the Winnepeg Free Press that when approaching a businesses to encourage investment in Winnipeg, the presence of the Jets has led to a few more businesses to listen to his pitch.

"The visibility Winnipeg has received as a result of the Jets is very definitely making a difference in name recognition," Morrissey said. "Increasingly, we are having the opportunity to have the discussion (about the relative merits of doing business in Winnipeg). And when they listen to it, they are impressed." More here.

With fewer financial resources, industrial marketers forced to get creative

With fewer financial resources coming from state coffers, Kentucky counties are having to rely more and more on regional economic panels to attract industrial development. More here.

Whirlpool property marketing push moves forward

Officials with the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce have begun sending site location consultants “building profile” info about Whirlpool’s soon-to-be closed plant in Fort Smith.

The plant closure, expected by mid-2012, will mark the end of more than 45 years of Whirlpool operations in Fort Smith. The closure also will result in the loss of 1,000 existing jobs. However, Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant employed more than 4,500 in early 2006.

Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle has been hired to promote and sell the about 2 million square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space that has a replacement cost of about $111.6 million. More here.

Meet here, move here? Orlando makes pitch to companies at trade shows

The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission is working closely with Visit Orlando, the agency responsible for persuading companies to host meetings there, to explore the possibilities that may exist at the point where the conventions industry and economic development intersect.

"When it comes to our backyard, it's a cheap date," said Rick Weddle, the EDC's president and chief executive officer. More here.

Strategies help solar companies hang on as industry tightens

Like other regions of the country, the Great Lakes Bay Region -- which encompasses Midland, Saginaw, Bay City and surrounding areas of Michigan -- saw its share of solar departures in the past year.

Despite these departures, area economic development officials -- and officials at solar companies such as Hemlock Semiconductor Group, Dow Solar Solutions, Dow Chemical Co. and Dow Corning Corp. -- still say solar has a future. Read about it here.

Scoring Starbucks plant for Augusta a product of relationships, hard work

As shift to site selection consultant marketing leads to a new Starbucks manufacturing facility in Augusta, GA. Read about the strategy and the win here.