Alabama Airbus Plant Shows Fierce Competition Among States

The state of Georgia has placed a large focus on recruiting aerospace investment.  The Peach State already hosts more than 500 industry-related companies employing more than 85,000 workers,  according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

State officials there are wondering what's next for them as other states in the Southeast see the potential benefits of investment by the aerospace industry, which often brings both high-paying jobs and multi-million dollar facilities.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley recently announced Airbus' planned construction of the $600 million aircraft manufacturing and service facility in Mobile, Ala.

The Airbus facility at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile will be the company’s first U.S.-based production facility and is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs when it reaches full capacity, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce.

To secure the Airbus deal the state provided incentives valued at more than $158 million over the next five years from local and state development agencies as well as the Mobile Airport Authority. Airbus will also be receiving services valued at more than $51 million over a several-year period through the Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) program. More here.

NM Partnership focuses on building aerospace, defense and tech

Dennis Domrzalski 

Reporter- New Mexico Business Weekly

New Mexico’s economic development marketing arm will focus on trying to lure a host of companies to the state in the coming year, including aerospace, defense and technology commercialization firms, the organization’s president said.

The New Mexico Partnership will also seek out energy and natural resources and logistics, distribution and transportation companies, Partnership President Steve Vierck said. More here.

California Governor signs measure to aid and attract companies

California is beefing up its economic development marketing efforts.  

 

The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz, is California's strongest effort to attract new companies and support existing businesses since the Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency was shuttered in 2003 under Gov. Gray Davis. 

According to a GO-Biz news release, there is a first time allocation of $3.75 million. That should provide about 28 employees focused on the attraction, retention and expansion of businesses, international trade, small-business assistance, permit streamlining and more. More here.

Iowa counties compete for development

Adjoining counties in Iowa find themselves in competition with each other to to land a proposed $1.3 billion fertilizer plant. More here.

Planning event focused on area’s untapped marketing potential

By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Out of the eight counties in Tammy Whaley’s territory, Rowan County is drawing more interest from companies than nearly any other, said the economic development manager for Duke Energy.

“Rowan County is one of the top most active counties,” said Whaley, who helps companies find places to expand or relocate.

Whaley’s assessment came as welcome news to business and nonprofit leaders gathered Wednesday for a strategic planning event hosted by RowanWorks Economic Development.

But to help seal the deal and lure those potential job-creators and tax-base boosters, local organizations need to do a better job of marketing the Salisbury-Rowan area, participants said. More here.

Out-of-state firm to market cities

A South Carolina urban planning firm has been chosen to help two Maine communities with its marketing efforts. 

Arnett Muldrow & Associates, based in Greenville, S.C., will create a logo and an advertising message.

The firm was chosen because it has extensive experience in branding communities all across the United States.

Not everyone thought the decision to hire an out-of-state firm was a good one. A local marketing firm objected.  “We live and work here and we support other local businesses,” a representative said.  “Why wouldn’t they even consider a local company and bring us in to talk about the branding and what our thoughts are? There is talent here. You don’t have to go out of state.” More here.

Beaufort County staring at match point when it comes to economic development

Editorial by By JOE CROLEY

When life is fair, Beaufort County officials will take a lesson from the current tennis matches in Wimbledon as it applies to the ongoing economic development strategy for the county, it is game, set and match.

Game loss came after the failed purchase of the Beaufort Commerce Park drove the original organization, the Lowcountry Economic Network, into bankruptcy. As the saying goes timing is everything, even if the park was better located, say directly on Interstate 95, the real estate market was crashing and not many businesses were looking to relocate or invest a lot of money to do. However, being located off the interstate, with no viable rail transportation or for that matter lack of public transportation, it was a questionable purchase at best.

Set occurred after fooling no one by recreating themselves under a new name, the Lowcountry Economic Alliance; they attempted to continue their efforts with no discernible, measurable results but with a newly joined partner in Jasper County, thus qualifying for additional state funding as a multi-county organization pursuing Economic Development within a geographically defined region. More here.

Rock County groups hope to spur job growth with marketing plan

Rock County (WI) launched an “unprecedented level” of marketing and public relations aimed at creating local jobs last week

Money for the campaign comes from Rock 5.0. Implementation will be through the Rock County Development Alliance. Rock County 5.0 is a public-private organization designed to build economic development collaboration, communication and connections to benefit the county.

The Rock County Development Alliance partners with the cities of Janesville and Beloit, Rock County, Forward Janesville and Alliant Energy.

The marketing and public relations campaign will “get the word out” about Rock County to business and industry decision makers in the Chicago area. It will run through the summer and into early fall using print, digital media, billboards and bus wraps, for example. More here. 

City looking to market its image, brand to out-of-towners

The city of Milan needs a new brand, an image on which it can build campaigns to promote itself to the outside world, officials said.

But recognizing the city can't do it alone, one member of the City Council wants to reach out to other local groups to see if there is interest in a more broad-based effort. To that end, the council gave its blessing to Mayor Pro-Tem Michael Armitage to recruit others in making a new image for the city. More here.

Tri-County development needs 'dramatic change'

PEORIA - A broad coalition of business and government leaders will spend the next few months working out ways to implement a series of changes to the way economic development gets run in the Tri-County Area.

The changes include the launch of a regional economic development strategy; the wholesale reorganization of the Economic Development Council; an integration of economic and work-force development efforts; a simplification of the Heartland Partnership's governance; and a merging of work done by the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, the Illinois River Valley Council of Governments and overall economic development efforts. More here.

What’s in a name? Image is everything when it comes to slogans

Pleasing everyone: can be an insurmountable challenge when creating brands and taglines for towns.

After hiring  a consultant to develop a new slogan for their town, Highlands, North Carolina discovereda new tagline wasn’t something they either wanted or needed

The marketing consultant tried to convince Highlands’ leaders that the town had an upgraded image and needed a new slogan to match. Their recommendation — “Simply Stunning” — was rejected, however, in favor of no tagline at all.  More here