PROJECT ROUND-UP
TIP Strategies has an excellent reputation. Over 50% of our clients are repeat business
or come from direct referral. We work across the country to help communities, regions, and states build on
their assets, challenge old ways of thinking, and encourage viable options for sustainable economic success.
Just look at what we're working on now...
TIP recently held the kick-off meeting for Growing Vermont's Next Generation Workforce, a project commissioned by the Vermont Department of Economic Development to explore the implications of demographic shifts occurring in Vermont and in the nation. TIP and our partners Next Generation Consulting and the Vermont State Data Center, are addressing the project in three phases. In the first phase, the team will document the current and projected age structure of the state, along with migration patterns and key economic factors. Subsequent phases will profile target demographic groups and the factors that drive their location decisions and offer specific strategies for the retention and attraction of young workers.
TIP Strategies is creating an economic development strategic plan for the City of Puyallup, Washington. The plan will identify priorities for the city to create a sustainable and diverse economy. TIP Strategies will begin the project by conducting a market-based assessment of the community's unique economic strengths and weaknesses. The analysis will focus on factors defining the area's competitiveness such as talent, education, business climate, quality of place, housing, and industry clusters. Door Number 3, a nationally recognized advertising and branding agency, is partnering with TIP on the project to provide branding and marketing expertise. Final deliverables will include a target industry analysis, set of strategies for the city to use as an action plan for economic development, and an implementation plan for strategies.
TIP recently completed an Economic Opportunity Analysis for the Jackson County Business Development Corporation (JCBDC) in Illinois. A keystone of the plan was leveraging Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIUC). Strategies to support this initiative included: the attraction and retention of students graduates and alumni, development of an entrepreneurial climate, technology transfer from the university to private industry with a focus on alternative energy and advanced materials, positioning Southern Illinois Airport as a business destination, redevelopment of downtown to encourage stronger physical linkages with the university campus area, and promotion of outdoor recreation opportunities.
TIP Strategies and our partner Diana McIver & Associates, Inc. are preparing a housing needs assessment for the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission (Texas). The work entails analysis of the community's housing stock including the age, cost, location, occupancy rates, and rent burden associated with living in the area. Gillespie County leadership has a keen interest in the economic vitality of the area and worries that the community's ability to attract businesses and talent is affected by a perception of a shortage of attainable housing. TIP and Diana McIver & Associates are researching this perception and providing the data to allow the county to plan for the future.
As labor markets tighten across the country, communities are recognizing the talent pool that military installations represent. TIP is currently managing a number of Department of Defense funded projects in communities adjacent to Fort Hood (Killeen, TX), Naval Air Station Pensacola (Escambia County, FL), Eglin Air Force Base (Okaloosa/Walton Counties, FL), Randolph Air Force Base (San Antonio, TX), and Fort Chaffee (Fort Smith, AR). These projects address a wide variety of issues. These include the potential for leveraging the defense contractor industry, assessing unique workforce assets related to military retirees and their spouses, discovering options for higher education, and determining opportunities for land development.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
TIP staff members regularly present to economic development organizations, communities and at national and
international conferences on a host of issues surrounding economic development. Please contact
Catherine Turissini if you would like to have TIP Strategies as
part of your next event.
Join us for the TIP sponsored welcome reception at the Texas Economic Development Council's summer meeting in Tyler on July 19 at the Holiday Inn Select.
Jon Roberts is presenting on Regional Economic Development to the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) on July 27.
TIP Strategies is a sponsor of the Texas Leadership Institute's 2006 course schedule. Jeff Erramouspe, Sean Garretson, and Karen Beard will teach upcoming classes on Targeted Marketing, Due Diligence & Financing, and Downtowns & Big Boxes: Retail Strategies for a Balanced Approach. To sign up for a course or review the class offerings, visit the Texas Leadership Institute.
TIP is sponsoring the 2006 TEDC Annual Conference, September 27-29 in Houston.
We hope to see you at the International Economic Development Council's annual conference, Roadmap for the Knowledge-Driven Economy in NYC September 17-20th. Jon Roberts will be a panel member for the Beyond Clusters: New Ways for Targeting Economic Growth session on Monday, September 18, 2006 from 9:15 — 10:30 a.m.
WHAT WE'RE READING @ TIP
The staff at TIP Strategies often has spur of the moment conversations about what we're reading...often leading
to a mad dash to be next in line for the newest books we've ordered for the office library. Here are a few of our
latest recommended reads:
Flight Capital: The Alarming Exodus of America's Best and Brightest David Heenan — Equal parts historian, business reporter, and story-teller, Hennan delves into the international knowledge economy.
Thousands of immigrants who flocked to the U.S. for their education are being courted by their homeland governments to return and apply their talent to help build stronger foreign economies. Specific examples from Ireland, India, China, and Iceland among others will have readers second guessing the force America once held in attracting and retaining international talent. The first chapter will have you hooked with these surprising statistics:
Half of the Americans who shared Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry in the past seven years were born elsewhere. Nearly 40 percent of MIT graduate students are from abroad. More than half of all Ph.D.s working here are foreign-born, as are 45 percent of physicists, computer scientists, and mathematicians. One-third of all current physics teachers and one-fourth of all women doctors immigrated to this country.
The War for Talent Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, Beth Axelrod — A strategic overview of the correlation between talent and business performance. Through years of surveys, interviews, and analysis, these McKinsey consultants write a compelling read with examples of how to turn your business into a talent powerhouse.
Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson, Robert Morison — With emphasis on three workforce cohorts: mature (55+), midcareer (35-54), and young workers (18-34), Workforce Crisis offers specific steps for achieving a diverse employment base, by both experience and age standards. Each chapter ends with a bulleted checklist of actions that maximize talented staff retention and recruitment.
