By Mila D'Antonio, Managing Editor
1 to 1 Weekly
Marketers face a tough reality: Traditional channels are under assault.
That was the stage Harley Manning set at the recent Forrester Marketing Forum. To fight back, marketing's new imperative must be engagement, said the Forrester vice president and research director.
"Marketing got marginalized as 'make it pretty people,'" he said. "How do we get back to marketing with a capital M?"
The answer is by engaging with customers more often and through multiple channels. At the forum, the topic of engagement took center stage as analysts and business leaders offered advice and examples of how to effectively create desirable interactions with consumers, given all the new marketing channels.
Brian Haven, a senior analyst at Forrester, suggests that companies identify where discovery and evaluation happen outside the marketing channels and determine the context of use. This is where integration with sales, service, and other customer-facing channels is imperative. Firms should facilitate conversations by encouraging advocates and word-of-mouth activities both with the company and externally. Finally, reward these brand ambassadors.
A new program within Nike's Jordan brand aims to do all of these things. Emmanuel Brown, Nike's director of digital and content, discussed the brand's Jordan Breakfast Club. With Jordan Breakfast Club, consumers can sign up on the site and customize individual workout programs that they can download to their iPods. On the site, they can report their progress and their peers have the option of assessing the workouts by rating their strengths and weaknesses.
The program has resulted in 20,000 engaged influencers and an expanded 10-city summer Jordan Breakfast Club tour. "It's not hard to become part of the culture," Brown said. "It's a small nucleus of people who influence the masses. Our footwear team listens to consumers...it's like a having a focus group."
Cathy Halligan, CMO of Walmart.com, says her company is also engaging its customers in new ways. One vehicle is the retailer's online ratings and reviews. Recent research revealed that 75 percent of customers are going to its website, so Wal-Mart decided to leverage the site better as a loyalty resource. Customers who visit Walmart.com can rate products using a 1 to 5 scale. These reviews have created transparency and have given Wal-Mart valuable information about how to enhance product offerings. "We're getting better at using information to make decisions," Halligan says. "If you ask your customers a lot and then listen, you get a lot more information than one would think."
Finally, FedEx discussed its efforts to engage its B2B customers. Mark Columbo, senior vice president of digital access marketing at FedEx Services, considers satisfaction the lowest form of engagement. His goal is to go beyond just satisfaction.
Instead, the company's mission is to create customer advocates whose word-of-mouth rings loud and clear. "Intense loyalty really comes out of innovation and the customer experience," he explained.
For example, FedEx offers customized solutions aimed at how its B2B customers prefer to conduct business, rather than use standard products and processes. The company then measures customer-stated attitudes and conducts real-time, moments-of-truth surveys. As Columbo explained, "Experience is how you feel about yourself transacting with that company."
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Cleveland+ creators now take aim at site selectors
Crain's Cleveland Business
BYLINE: JOHN BOOTH
Site selectors. It's their job to advise companies on what cities or regions would make good spots for, say, a new distribution center or polymer plant. They're the influencers. And they're in the crosshairs of the Cleveland+ economic development campaign.
"Most large projects, (those that would bring) 50-plus jobs, end up in the hands of a site-selection consultant,'' said Carin Rockind, vice president of marketing and communications for regional economic development group Team NEO. "There are only a couple thousand in the country, and really only a few hundred that do most of the work. We know who they are, and we just have to start building (deeper) relationships with them.''
The roughly $1 million economic development campaign will start with some direct marketing to site selectors under the new Cleveland+ banner. It will hit them with a message that defines the region as including Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown and all points between. Establishing that collective identity, Ms. Rockind said, has been a problem in the past.
In researching the area's image, Ms. Rockind noted, "We couldn't find a site selector (from outside the region) who could name two cities in Northeast Ohio. The first message is going to be that all these communities are working together now.''
Mailings to site selectors will include monthly newsletters listing things such as new properties for sale, updates on changes in tax incentive offerings, or news about the work force. Larger quarterly promotional packets will be sent out as well.
Furthering the concept of Northeast Ohio as a collective region rather than separate cites and counties, the Cleveland+ campaign includes a web site, ww.clevelandplusbusiness.com, that will give site selectors a single place to do some of their homework. Information such as profiles of the work force and of businesses in a given area will be in the Cleveland+ database.
Don Schjeldahl, vice president and director of facilities location for Cleveland-based Austin Co., an engineering and construction firm that offers site selection services for clients, said the availability of such information is important, but it's also "just the price of entry'' in terms of competing for business against other regions.
"That's one of the big challenges in Northeast Ohio, where you've got this great big geography that has all these local and parochial interests,'' Mr. Schjeldahl said. "It's really hard to bring all that together to a standard that will satisfy the kinds of people that need the information.''
Direct mail and an abundance of data may induce site selectors to take interest in a region, but there's also the matter of showing a place off during what's called a familiarization tour. These are usually held once a year, and while making effective presentations and having the right business leaders on hand to make a case for an area are important, there also must be a way to make the trip stand out.
Familiarization tours in Tennessee, for instance, have included walks down the red carpet at the Country Music Awards.
This year, Ms. Rockind said, the Cleveland+ movement for the first time will offer site selectors two familiarization tours, each with a different theme to its glitz-and-glamour angle.
Akron promoters, she said, have worked with Team NEO for a few years to put together a tour centered around the Bridgestone World Golf Championships at Firestone Country Club. This year, the golf tournament happens to be the same August weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inductee dinner in Canton, so a familiarization tour combining both events in one package is in the works.
For site selectors who can't make that one, or whose interests are less sports-oriented, a second tour is in the making.
"The folks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been wonderful, and they've offered to us some backstage, unique opportunities for the site selectors we bring into town,'' Ms. Rockind said. One approach to that tour might be to pair a behind-the-scenes Rock Hall visit with prime seats or backstage passes to a concert.
Austin Co.'s Mr. Schjeldahl said there's a "a certain indulgence about (familiarization tours) that's a little annoying'' for site selectors. Nonetheless, Mr. Schjeldahl said, "There's no better way to tell your story than to get someone to come there and tell your story in a controlled setting.''
Mr. Schjeldahl said he takes about one familiarization tour per year from a field of several dozen, and that's about par for the course in the industry.
BYLINE: JOHN BOOTH
Site selectors. It's their job to advise companies on what cities or regions would make good spots for, say, a new distribution center or polymer plant. They're the influencers. And they're in the crosshairs of the Cleveland+ economic development campaign.
"Most large projects, (those that would bring) 50-plus jobs, end up in the hands of a site-selection consultant,'' said Carin Rockind, vice president of marketing and communications for regional economic development group Team NEO. "There are only a couple thousand in the country, and really only a few hundred that do most of the work. We know who they are, and we just have to start building (deeper) relationships with them.''
The roughly $1 million economic development campaign will start with some direct marketing to site selectors under the new Cleveland+ banner. It will hit them with a message that defines the region as including Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown and all points between. Establishing that collective identity, Ms. Rockind said, has been a problem in the past.
In researching the area's image, Ms. Rockind noted, "We couldn't find a site selector (from outside the region) who could name two cities in Northeast Ohio. The first message is going to be that all these communities are working together now.''
Mailings to site selectors will include monthly newsletters listing things such as new properties for sale, updates on changes in tax incentive offerings, or news about the work force. Larger quarterly promotional packets will be sent out as well.
Furthering the concept of Northeast Ohio as a collective region rather than separate cites and counties, the Cleveland+ campaign includes a web site, ww.clevelandplusbusiness.com, that will give site selectors a single place to do some of their homework. Information such as profiles of the work force and of businesses in a given area will be in the Cleveland+ database.
Don Schjeldahl, vice president and director of facilities location for Cleveland-based Austin Co., an engineering and construction firm that offers site selection services for clients, said the availability of such information is important, but it's also "just the price of entry'' in terms of competing for business against other regions.
"That's one of the big challenges in Northeast Ohio, where you've got this great big geography that has all these local and parochial interests,'' Mr. Schjeldahl said. "It's really hard to bring all that together to a standard that will satisfy the kinds of people that need the information.''
Direct mail and an abundance of data may induce site selectors to take interest in a region, but there's also the matter of showing a place off during what's called a familiarization tour. These are usually held once a year, and while making effective presentations and having the right business leaders on hand to make a case for an area are important, there also must be a way to make the trip stand out.
Familiarization tours in Tennessee, for instance, have included walks down the red carpet at the Country Music Awards.
This year, Ms. Rockind said, the Cleveland+ movement for the first time will offer site selectors two familiarization tours, each with a different theme to its glitz-and-glamour angle.
Akron promoters, she said, have worked with Team NEO for a few years to put together a tour centered around the Bridgestone World Golf Championships at Firestone Country Club. This year, the golf tournament happens to be the same August weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inductee dinner in Canton, so a familiarization tour combining both events in one package is in the works.
For site selectors who can't make that one, or whose interests are less sports-oriented, a second tour is in the making.
"The folks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been wonderful, and they've offered to us some backstage, unique opportunities for the site selectors we bring into town,'' Ms. Rockind said. One approach to that tour might be to pair a behind-the-scenes Rock Hall visit with prime seats or backstage passes to a concert.
Austin Co.'s Mr. Schjeldahl said there's a "a certain indulgence about (familiarization tours) that's a little annoying'' for site selectors. Nonetheless, Mr. Schjeldahl said, "There's no better way to tell your story than to get someone to come there and tell your story in a controlled setting.''
Mr. Schjeldahl said he takes about one familiarization tour per year from a field of several dozen, and that's about par for the course in the industry.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Economic Alliance set to market region as 'Performance USA'
Published 05/01/2008 By Sharon Caskey Hayes
North Carolina has Research Triangle.
California has Silicon Valley.
Now the Tri-Cities has Performance USA.
The Regional Alliance for Economic Development, a marketing effort covering 10 counties across the region, launched a new initiative Thursday that identifies the area as Performance USA.
Alliance CEO Andy Burke and Newt Raff, alliance chair-elect, unveiled the plan at a news event at Kingsport’s MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
“When I got here, we were really not very well-known in the marketplace. Our job has been to create an identity and to help people understand not only where we are but who we are and what we’re all about,” Burke said. “That’s part of this mission.”
Burke said the new identity was developed after a two-year process involving marketing experts and community members from every city and town in the region. Through the process the alliance identified the region’s assets, which include Bristol Motor Speedway, Barter Theatre and the International Storytelling Center.
“We kept coming back to one word about this region, and that was performance,” Burke said. “We as a region excel in performing.”
He emphasized that the new identity is not meant to re-brand the region. He said the Tri-Cities will continue to be called the Tri-Cities, and each town and city will retain their unique names and characters.
He said Performance USA is designed to unify the region in marketing materials and efforts targeted to site consultants, corporate real estate executives, and others considering locating businesses in the area.
“We think it’s a direct and easy way to begin to think about us,” Burke said. More here.
North Carolina has Research Triangle.
California has Silicon Valley.
Now the Tri-Cities has Performance USA.
The Regional Alliance for Economic Development, a marketing effort covering 10 counties across the region, launched a new initiative Thursday that identifies the area as Performance USA.
Alliance CEO Andy Burke and Newt Raff, alliance chair-elect, unveiled the plan at a news event at Kingsport’s MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
“When I got here, we were really not very well-known in the marketplace. Our job has been to create an identity and to help people understand not only where we are but who we are and what we’re all about,” Burke said. “That’s part of this mission.”
Burke said the new identity was developed after a two-year process involving marketing experts and community members from every city and town in the region. Through the process the alliance identified the region’s assets, which include Bristol Motor Speedway, Barter Theatre and the International Storytelling Center.
“We kept coming back to one word about this region, and that was performance,” Burke said. “We as a region excel in performing.”
He emphasized that the new identity is not meant to re-brand the region. He said the Tri-Cities will continue to be called the Tri-Cities, and each town and city will retain their unique names and characters.
He said Performance USA is designed to unify the region in marketing materials and efforts targeted to site consultants, corporate real estate executives, and others considering locating businesses in the area.
“We think it’s a direct and easy way to begin to think about us,” Burke said. More here.
What Is a Megaregion?
What Is a Megaregion?
by Richard Florida
Adapted from “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life” by Richard Florida.
Cities have always been the natural economic units of the world. But in the past several decades, what we once thought of as separate cities — with central cores surrounded by rural villages, or later by suburbs — have grown into "megaregions" composed of two or more cities, like the Boston-New York-Washington corridor. Megaregions are more than just bigger versions of a city. As a city is composed of separate neighborhoods, and as a metropolitan region is made up of a central city and its suburbs, a megaregion represents the new, natural economic unit that emerges as cities (and their suburbs and exurbs) not only grow upward and become more dense, they grow outward and into one another.
Today, megaregions range in size from 10 to 50 million people — and in some cases, in the developing world, even more. They produce hundreds of billions — and sometimes trillions — of dollars in economic output. They harness human creativity on a massive scale, and they are the source of the lion’s share of the world’s scientific achievement and technological innovations.
The megaregions of today perform functions that are somewhat similar to those of the great cities of the past — massing together talent, productivity, innovation, and markets. But they do so on a far larger scale. Furthermore, while cities in the past were part of national systems, globalization has exposed them to worldwide competition. As the distribution of economic activity has gone global, the city-system has also become global — meaning that cities compete now on a global terrain. This means that bigger and more competitive economic units — megaregions — are required to survive and prosper.
Population is not tantamount to economic growth. Unlike megacities, which are termed as such simply for the size of their populations, megaregions are by definition places with large markets, significant economic capacity, substantial innovation, and highly skilled talent, as well as large overall populations.
A megaregion must meet three key criteria. First, it must be a contiguous, lighted area with more than one major city center. Second, it must have a population of 5 million or more. Finally, it must produce more than $100 billion in goods and services. By that definition, there are some 40 megaregions in the world. If we take the largest megas in terms of population:
by Richard Florida
Adapted from “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life” by Richard Florida.
Cities have always been the natural economic units of the world. But in the past several decades, what we once thought of as separate cities — with central cores surrounded by rural villages, or later by suburbs — have grown into "megaregions" composed of two or more cities, like the Boston-New York-Washington corridor. Megaregions are more than just bigger versions of a city. As a city is composed of separate neighborhoods, and as a metropolitan region is made up of a central city and its suburbs, a megaregion represents the new, natural economic unit that emerges as cities (and their suburbs and exurbs) not only grow upward and become more dense, they grow outward and into one another.
Today, megaregions range in size from 10 to 50 million people — and in some cases, in the developing world, even more. They produce hundreds of billions — and sometimes trillions — of dollars in economic output. They harness human creativity on a massive scale, and they are the source of the lion’s share of the world’s scientific achievement and technological innovations.
The megaregions of today perform functions that are somewhat similar to those of the great cities of the past — massing together talent, productivity, innovation, and markets. But they do so on a far larger scale. Furthermore, while cities in the past were part of national systems, globalization has exposed them to worldwide competition. As the distribution of economic activity has gone global, the city-system has also become global — meaning that cities compete now on a global terrain. This means that bigger and more competitive economic units — megaregions — are required to survive and prosper.
Population is not tantamount to economic growth. Unlike megacities, which are termed as such simply for the size of their populations, megaregions are by definition places with large markets, significant economic capacity, substantial innovation, and highly skilled talent, as well as large overall populations.
A megaregion must meet three key criteria. First, it must be a contiguous, lighted area with more than one major city center. Second, it must have a population of 5 million or more. Finally, it must produce more than $100 billion in goods and services. By that definition, there are some 40 megaregions in the world. If we take the largest megas in terms of population:
Friday, May 02, 2008
The sounds of success: Warren, Simpson outpace both state, nation in industrial employment growth
By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News, acetawayo@bgdailynews.com
A regional outlook, proximity to Interstate 65 and an educated work force are among the factors that have helped drive economic development in Warren and Simpson counties. But challenges loom in both a slumping national economy and an ever-growing need for educated workers.
In past years, economic development has been a complicated process in both Simpson and Warren counties, but the results have paid off - industrial employment growth in both counties outpaces that growth in Kentucky and the nation. In fact, recent jobs announcements have put the Franklin-Simpson area at the top of the commonwealth’s job creation heap for 2008. More here.
A regional outlook, proximity to Interstate 65 and an educated work force are among the factors that have helped drive economic development in Warren and Simpson counties. But challenges loom in both a slumping national economy and an ever-growing need for educated workers.
In past years, economic development has been a complicated process in both Simpson and Warren counties, but the results have paid off - industrial employment growth in both counties outpaces that growth in Kentucky and the nation. In fact, recent jobs announcements have put the Franklin-Simpson area at the top of the commonwealth’s job creation heap for 2008. More here.
Latest in Corporate Location Strategy
Corenet Michigan Chapter invited Dennis Donovan, principle of Wadley-Donovan-Gutshaw Consulting, to Livonia, MI to present on the Latest in Corporate Location Strategy. With Dennis’ permission to report, below are a few of my “take-aways” from his course:
Current Relocation & Expansion Activity:
- Levels: Down 10-15% in 2008, expected to rebound in 2009
- Most Active Industries: Bio/Pharma, Medical, Scientific Instruments, Food Processing, Distribution, Back Office, Call Centers, Shared Services, and Data Centers
- Most Activity by Region: Concentrated in the Atlantic Sunbelt (Virginia to Florida), Texas, and Inter-Mountain (Idaho to Arizona) regions because of infrastructure improvements, human capital, and business climate
Global Strategies: 18% of expansion/relocation activity in the US is foreign investment
Factors Influencing Relocation & Expansion Decisions (in priority order):
- Labor Market – present and future – supply cost, and quality
- Most locations are branch location
- 60% of the jobs required are entry level
- 20% of the jobs required are skilled
- Favorable labor ratios
- 3:1 for employment surplus
- 200:1 for particular occupation
- 200:1 for total population
- Logistics/Transportation
- 10% of projects require rail transportation
- Backhauling presents the biggest opportunities
- Electric Power – capacity, generation, and reliability
- Available Buildings
- 70% of clients seeking existing building
- For call centers: 3% employment in market is saturated
- Risk of Natural Disasters
- Incentives
- Tax Credits preferred
Attracting Talent in High-Tech Firms (in priority order):
- Compensation
- Benefits
- HR Practices
- Career Advancement
- Training
- Achievement Recognition
- Company Reputation
- Internal Work Environment
- Onsite Amenities
- Challenge of Job
- Risk – socio, political, and financial
- Cost of Benefits
- US roughly 25%, other countries greater than 50% of compensation
- Cost of Extraction (layoffs, closures)
- Infrastructure
- Safety
For more information regarding Dennis’ presentation, you can visit the CoreNet website (www.corenetglobal.org) and click on the Michigan Chapter.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Top 10 “Megaregions”
by Richard Florida
Adapted from “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life” by Richard Florida.
The core of the U.S. economy is made up of roughly a dozen megaregions that stretch into Canada and, in some cases, Mexico. They generate the great bulk of America’s output, and are increasingly becoming magnets for top talent and jobs.
1. Bos-Wash
Where: Stretches some 500 miles down the East Coast of the U.S. from Boston, through New York, to Washington
Population: 54.3 million
Economy: $2.2 trillion
Leading sectors: Finance, media, biotech
Key creative-class jobs: Computer engineer, fashion designer, investment dealer, lawyer
The Bos-Wash corridor is the world’s second-largest megaregion in terms of economic output — only Greater Tokyo is bigger. Today, it is home to more than 18 percent of all Americans, and its economy is bigger than that of France or the United Kingdom — and it’s more than double the size of India’s or Canada’s. Though broadly based, its economy has considerable specialization and strengths. New York is highly specialized in finance and business services, as well as arts and culture. Boston is known for its biotech industries and education resources.
The region will prevail as one of the most resilient megas. Not only does it contain the seat of U.S. government and banking, it boasts two of the top tech clusters in the world — the Dulles Corridor near Washington, D.C., and Route 128 outside of Boston. In her study of high-tech industry in Silicon Valley and around Route 128, the University of California’s Annalee Saxenian found the superior performance of such clusters turned on the adaptive capabilities of the region’s well-developed networks of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technologists, and newly minted university talent. Those trends tend to scale in a super-linear fashion.
2. Chi-Pitts
Where: It runs from Pittsburgh and Cleveland through Detroit, Chicago, and Minneapolis
Population: 46 million
Economy: $1.6 trillion
Leading sectors: Manufacturing, transportation, commercial real estate, retail
Key creative-class jobs: Industrial and mechanical engineers, logistics and supply chain managers
The Chi-Pitts megaregion is anchored by America’s “second city,” Chicago, whose economy is larger than Sweden’s. Chicago’s lakefront renaissance — its incredible 20th-century architecture and marvelous refurbished neighborhoods — illustrates how older communities can highlight their own brand of aesthetics. Much of this is due to the efforts of Mayor Richard Daley, who has reached out beyond landmarks like the new Millennium Park and improved lakefront to bolster many of the city’s neighborhoods by refurbishing smaller community parks and gardens, planting trees, installing public art, and adding hand-painted benches and flower beds.
Those visual characteristics are some of the ties that bind talent to affluent communities. In 2000, more than two-thirds of the residents of downtown Chicago held college degrees — levels that are more typically seen in wealthy suburbs.
But this urban core likely will prosper at the expense of many older industrial cities, suburbs, and outlying rural areas in the Chi-Pitts megaregion. The Clevelands and Pittsburghs of the world will find themselves increasingly squeezed between twin pincers as top business functions gravitate to larger regions like Chicago, and production shifts to centers like Shanghai, China.
3. Char-lanta
Where: It runs from Raleigh-Durham, N.C., through Charlotte, N.C., to Atlanta
Population: 22 million
Economy: $730 billion
Leading sectors: Finance, biotech, telecom manufacturing
Key creative-class jobs: Computer systems designer, systems analyst, chief scientist, bioprocessing technician
Think of this mega as a tripod: The regional headquarters center and talent magnet of Atlanta is the main leg, and the other two are made up of the regional financial center in Charlotte and a regional tech center in the North Carolina Research Triangle. Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, and Charlotte have the highest concentration of young residents (between the ages of 25 and 34) in the United States, and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill ranks No. 1 in the country for having the largest percentage of young people with a bachelor’s degree or higher education (45 percent). Looking forward, one can already imagine Chat-lanta and Bos-Wash forming a super-megaregion along the eastern seaboard of the United States, with the territory anchored by New York in the north and Atlanta in the south. More here.
Adapted from “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life” by Richard Florida.
The core of the U.S. economy is made up of roughly a dozen megaregions that stretch into Canada and, in some cases, Mexico. They generate the great bulk of America’s output, and are increasingly becoming magnets for top talent and jobs.
1. Bos-Wash
Where: Stretches some 500 miles down the East Coast of the U.S. from Boston, through New York, to Washington
Population: 54.3 million
Economy: $2.2 trillion
Leading sectors: Finance, media, biotech
Key creative-class jobs: Computer engineer, fashion designer, investment dealer, lawyer
The Bos-Wash corridor is the world’s second-largest megaregion in terms of economic output — only Greater Tokyo is bigger. Today, it is home to more than 18 percent of all Americans, and its economy is bigger than that of France or the United Kingdom — and it’s more than double the size of India’s or Canada’s. Though broadly based, its economy has considerable specialization and strengths. New York is highly specialized in finance and business services, as well as arts and culture. Boston is known for its biotech industries and education resources.
The region will prevail as one of the most resilient megas. Not only does it contain the seat of U.S. government and banking, it boasts two of the top tech clusters in the world — the Dulles Corridor near Washington, D.C., and Route 128 outside of Boston. In her study of high-tech industry in Silicon Valley and around Route 128, the University of California’s Annalee Saxenian found the superior performance of such clusters turned on the adaptive capabilities of the region’s well-developed networks of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technologists, and newly minted university talent. Those trends tend to scale in a super-linear fashion.
2. Chi-Pitts
Where: It runs from Pittsburgh and Cleveland through Detroit, Chicago, and Minneapolis
Population: 46 million
Economy: $1.6 trillion
Leading sectors: Manufacturing, transportation, commercial real estate, retail
Key creative-class jobs: Industrial and mechanical engineers, logistics and supply chain managers
The Chi-Pitts megaregion is anchored by America’s “second city,” Chicago, whose economy is larger than Sweden’s. Chicago’s lakefront renaissance — its incredible 20th-century architecture and marvelous refurbished neighborhoods — illustrates how older communities can highlight their own brand of aesthetics. Much of this is due to the efforts of Mayor Richard Daley, who has reached out beyond landmarks like the new Millennium Park and improved lakefront to bolster many of the city’s neighborhoods by refurbishing smaller community parks and gardens, planting trees, installing public art, and adding hand-painted benches and flower beds.
Those visual characteristics are some of the ties that bind talent to affluent communities. In 2000, more than two-thirds of the residents of downtown Chicago held college degrees — levels that are more typically seen in wealthy suburbs.
But this urban core likely will prosper at the expense of many older industrial cities, suburbs, and outlying rural areas in the Chi-Pitts megaregion. The Clevelands and Pittsburghs of the world will find themselves increasingly squeezed between twin pincers as top business functions gravitate to larger regions like Chicago, and production shifts to centers like Shanghai, China.
3. Char-lanta
Where: It runs from Raleigh-Durham, N.C., through Charlotte, N.C., to Atlanta
Population: 22 million
Economy: $730 billion
Leading sectors: Finance, biotech, telecom manufacturing
Key creative-class jobs: Computer systems designer, systems analyst, chief scientist, bioprocessing technician
Think of this mega as a tripod: The regional headquarters center and talent magnet of Atlanta is the main leg, and the other two are made up of the regional financial center in Charlotte and a regional tech center in the North Carolina Research Triangle. Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, and Charlotte have the highest concentration of young residents (between the ages of 25 and 34) in the United States, and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill ranks No. 1 in the country for having the largest percentage of young people with a bachelor’s degree or higher education (45 percent). Looking forward, one can already imagine Chat-lanta and Bos-Wash forming a super-megaregion along the eastern seaboard of the United States, with the territory anchored by New York in the north and Atlanta in the south. More here.
The Four Things a Service Business Must Get Right
All successful firms must design a compelling offering and manage the workforce to deliver it at an attractive price. But service firms must do even more: deal with the frustrating fact that their customers can wreak havoc on service quality and costs.
For example, a customer dithering at a fast-food counter slows things down for everyone else waiting in line. An architect's client struggling to clarify how a new facility will be used drags out the design process.
To tackle this challenge, Frei advises aligning four key elements of your business:
For example, a customer dithering at a fast-food counter slows things down for everyone else waiting in line. An architect's client struggling to clarify how a new facility will be used drags out the design process.
To tackle this challenge, Frei advises aligning four key elements of your business:
- What your service offering consists of
- How you fund the excellence you want to provide
- How you manage employees to deliver quality service
- What you do to help customers enhance--not erode--service
Analysts: Southern states favorite in bid for VW plant
WASHINGTON - Tennessee and Alabama should be favored over Michigan to land a new Volkswagen assembly plant, analysts said Thursday, based on the auto industry's ongoing migration into the Sun Belt and concerns about labor's heavy influence in Michigan.
Volkswagen confirmed that it was considering the three states for a potential plant, offering a crown jewel of economic development that could help the states expand their auto industry presence.
Lured by incentive packages, an eager work force and a lack of unions, several Southern states have attracted automotive plants during the past two decades.
Three auto companies have already landed in Alabama. Daimler AG builds sport utility vehicles in Vance, Honda Motor Co. produces minivans and SUVs in Lincoln and Hyundai Motor Co. brought its first U.S. assembly plant to Montgomery, where it builds the Sonata passenger car and the Santa Fe SUV.
Tennessee is the home of Nissan Motor Co.'s North American headquarters near Nashville and has plants in Smyrna and Decherd. The state also has a General Motors Corp. assembly plant in Spring Hill.
Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Alabama is the likely front-runner followed by Tennessee. He said Alabama may have an edge because Mercedes-Benz has had a successful run in the state and "there's a German supply base that's already pretty well-established."
But he noted that Tennessee has come close to bringing an auto plant to a 1,600-acre site in Chattanooga in recent years. The region was a contender for a Toyota Motor Corp. plant that is being built near Tupelo, Miss., and a Kia Motors Corp. plant that went to West Point, Ga.
Michigan, meanwhile, could be undercut by the long-standing dominance of the United Auto Workers in the state. VW executives have been evaluating potential sites at a time when GM has faced a local strike at a plant near Lansing, Mich., and threats of strikes elsewhere.
Industry analysts have speculated that the strike threats are part of a UAW strategy to urge GM to pressure supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. into ending a long contract dispute.
"That's the big risk of coming to Michigan or anywhere in the north. You've got the UAW which is very strong and a lot of companies have wanted to avoid that," said Aaron Bragman, an automotive analyst with Global Insight Inc.
The UAW's attempts at organizing North American plants run by Toyota, Honda and others have been unsuccessful.
Michigan would have a considerable edge in its availability of skilled workers, thanks to the recent rounds of buyouts from the Detroit Three. And given the state's economic problems, it would be highly motivated to land another assembly plant, said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the Edmunds.com automotive Web site.
Anwyl said the most recent contract negotiations and concessions accepted by the UAW with GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC "probably takes some of the sting out of being a unionized plant - not completely, but it wouldn't be as bad as it would have been, say, five or 10 years ago."
Others noted that Volkswagen recently moved its North American headquarters from metropolitan Detroit to Herndon, Va., outside of Washington, citing the need to be closer to its East Coast customer base. Bringing an assembly plant to Michigan would seem to run counter to their rationale for making the move, they said.
A big question mark surrounds the incentive packages being developed by the states to woo Volkswagen. State economic development officials have declined to detail their efforts for the plant, which would be slated to carry a maximum capacity of 250,000 vehicles a year.
Volkswagen has not yet committed to building a new plant in the U.S., but the move is expected. With the euro currency reaching record highs against the U.S. dollar, goods exported from Germany are more expensive in the United States.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company has said it wants to expand in the U.S., where it has a small slice of the market. Volkswagen executives have said they want to triple U.S. sales by 2018 to 1 million.
Currently, Volkswagen's only assembly plant in North America is in Puebla, Mexico, where it builds the Jetta and New Beetle.
"Given Volkswagen's plans for international expansion, a big chunk of that is supposed to come from the United States, and there's no way they can build enough in Puebla or import enough at a profit to do it, so I think a new plant is guaranteed," Bragman said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Volkswagen confirmed that it was considering the three states for a potential plant, offering a crown jewel of economic development that could help the states expand their auto industry presence.
Lured by incentive packages, an eager work force and a lack of unions, several Southern states have attracted automotive plants during the past two decades.
Three auto companies have already landed in Alabama. Daimler AG builds sport utility vehicles in Vance, Honda Motor Co. produces minivans and SUVs in Lincoln and Hyundai Motor Co. brought its first U.S. assembly plant to Montgomery, where it builds the Sonata passenger car and the Santa Fe SUV.
Tennessee is the home of Nissan Motor Co.'s North American headquarters near Nashville and has plants in Smyrna and Decherd. The state also has a General Motors Corp. assembly plant in Spring Hill.
Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Alabama is the likely front-runner followed by Tennessee. He said Alabama may have an edge because Mercedes-Benz has had a successful run in the state and "there's a German supply base that's already pretty well-established."
But he noted that Tennessee has come close to bringing an auto plant to a 1,600-acre site in Chattanooga in recent years. The region was a contender for a Toyota Motor Corp. plant that is being built near Tupelo, Miss., and a Kia Motors Corp. plant that went to West Point, Ga.
Michigan, meanwhile, could be undercut by the long-standing dominance of the United Auto Workers in the state. VW executives have been evaluating potential sites at a time when GM has faced a local strike at a plant near Lansing, Mich., and threats of strikes elsewhere.
Industry analysts have speculated that the strike threats are part of a UAW strategy to urge GM to pressure supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. into ending a long contract dispute.
"That's the big risk of coming to Michigan or anywhere in the north. You've got the UAW which is very strong and a lot of companies have wanted to avoid that," said Aaron Bragman, an automotive analyst with Global Insight Inc.
The UAW's attempts at organizing North American plants run by Toyota, Honda and others have been unsuccessful.
Michigan would have a considerable edge in its availability of skilled workers, thanks to the recent rounds of buyouts from the Detroit Three. And given the state's economic problems, it would be highly motivated to land another assembly plant, said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the Edmunds.com automotive Web site.
Anwyl said the most recent contract negotiations and concessions accepted by the UAW with GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC "probably takes some of the sting out of being a unionized plant - not completely, but it wouldn't be as bad as it would have been, say, five or 10 years ago."
Others noted that Volkswagen recently moved its North American headquarters from metropolitan Detroit to Herndon, Va., outside of Washington, citing the need to be closer to its East Coast customer base. Bringing an assembly plant to Michigan would seem to run counter to their rationale for making the move, they said.
A big question mark surrounds the incentive packages being developed by the states to woo Volkswagen. State economic development officials have declined to detail their efforts for the plant, which would be slated to carry a maximum capacity of 250,000 vehicles a year.
Volkswagen has not yet committed to building a new plant in the U.S., but the move is expected. With the euro currency reaching record highs against the U.S. dollar, goods exported from Germany are more expensive in the United States.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company has said it wants to expand in the U.S., where it has a small slice of the market. Volkswagen executives have said they want to triple U.S. sales by 2018 to 1 million.
Currently, Volkswagen's only assembly plant in North America is in Puebla, Mexico, where it builds the Jetta and New Beetle.
"Given Volkswagen's plans for international expansion, a big chunk of that is supposed to come from the United States, and there's no way they can build enough in Puebla or import enough at a profit to do it, so I think a new plant is guaranteed," Bragman said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Study finds 18% of invited e-mail lands in junk folders
Story posted: April 23, 2008 - 12:24 pm EDT
BtoB Online
Emeryville, Calif.—One of every five permission-based e-mail messages sent to U.S.-based ISPs lands in the junk mail folder, according to an e-mail deliverability study by Lyris, an e-mail marketing and online marketing technology company.
The Lyris HQ ISP Deliverability Report Card for Q4 2007 was based on monitoring deliverability rates for 436,558 permission-based e-mail marketing messages sent from 69 different businesses to multiple accounts at 59 ISP domains between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
The ISP with the highest inbox delivery rate was AIM.com, with 93% of delivered messages landing in the inbox. RoadRunner SoCal was second at 92%. Hotmail was second from the bottom, with only 57% of its delivered messages reaching the inbox.
“These are messages that have been invited by the recipients, and yet so many of them still aren’t making it to the inbox,” said Blaine Mathieu, senior VP-marketing at Lyris, in a statement. “ISPs base much of their delivery decisions on a sender’s reputation, and that reputation is governed primarily by how often that sender’s recipients click the ‘Report as Spam’ button for its messages. Marketers can improve delivery by better managing their relationships with their subscribers to reduce those spam button clicks.”
—Carol Krol
BtoB Online
Emeryville, Calif.—One of every five permission-based e-mail messages sent to U.S.-based ISPs lands in the junk mail folder, according to an e-mail deliverability study by Lyris, an e-mail marketing and online marketing technology company.
The Lyris HQ ISP Deliverability Report Card for Q4 2007 was based on monitoring deliverability rates for 436,558 permission-based e-mail marketing messages sent from 69 different businesses to multiple accounts at 59 ISP domains between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
The ISP with the highest inbox delivery rate was AIM.com, with 93% of delivered messages landing in the inbox. RoadRunner SoCal was second at 92%. Hotmail was second from the bottom, with only 57% of its delivered messages reaching the inbox.
“These are messages that have been invited by the recipients, and yet so many of them still aren’t making it to the inbox,” said Blaine Mathieu, senior VP-marketing at Lyris, in a statement. “ISPs base much of their delivery decisions on a sender’s reputation, and that reputation is governed primarily by how often that sender’s recipients click the ‘Report as Spam’ button for its messages. Marketers can improve delivery by better managing their relationships with their subscribers to reduce those spam button clicks.”
—Carol Krol
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