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In this issue...
- Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
- Finalists Announced for EDA Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2006
- �Global Gateways� to Be Featured in the Next Edition of Economic Development America
- Economic Development Today Telecast Recap: �Community Economic Development to Support Growth�
- Preserve America Presidential Award Winners Announced
- Cast Your Nominations for The Phoenix Awards
How to subscribe: To subscribe yourself or a colleague to EDA Update, send an email with contact information, including email address, to Jason Christian at jchristian@iedconline.org.
Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
New jobs figures released on May 15 show that 138,000 jobs were created in April. The economy has created about 2 million jobs over the past 12 months and more than 5.2 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate is 4.7 percent, lower than the average of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Other highlights include:
- Strong GDP growth. GDP grew at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year. This follows economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005, the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.
- Productivity increased at a strong annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter.
- Hourly compensation rose at a 5.7 percent rate in the first quarter, more than twice as much as in the previous quarter.
- The Conference Board Index of Consumer Confidence increased in April to its highest level in almost four years.
- Industrial production increased 0.6 percent in March and rose 4.5 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter.
- Consumer spending rose 0.6 percent and personal income rose 0.5 percent in March.
- Over the past 12 months, employment increased in 48 states. In March, four states set record low unemployment rates.
Finalists Announced for EDA Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2006
On May 15, 2006, EDA was pleased to announce the twenty Finalists for the EDA Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2006 (Awards 2006). Nominations for Awards 2006 that received the three highest evaluations in their respective category qualified as Finalists.
Sandy K. Baruah, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, will announce the winners of EDA�s Awards 2006 on May 30, 2006. Following the Assistant Secretary�s announcement, the names of the winning nominations will be posted to EDA�s web site.
Awards 2006 will be presented in award ceremonies held in the winners� respective communities. Members of each winner�s congressional delegation will be invited to join senior EDA officials in the Award presentations.
The Finalists in each category are listed below alphabetically.
In the category of Urban or Suburban Economic Development the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they utilize innovative, market-based strategies to improve urban or suburban economic development. The three Finalists follow:
- Industrial Development Authority, City of Los Angeles, California
Specific Program: Empowerment Zone Bond
Los Angeles, California
- San Antonio Economic Development Foundation
San Antonio, Texas
- Tinley Park Economic Development
Tinley Park, Illinois
In the category of Rural Economic Development the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they utilize innovative, market-based strategies to improve rural economic development results. The three Finalists follow:
- Missouri Biotechnology Association
Specific Program: Rural Biotechnology Initiative Project Number 11-302
Jefferson City, Missouri
- Ravalli County Economic Development Authority
Hamilton, Montana
- Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation
Yuba City, California
In the category of Enhancing Regional Competitiveness the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they enhance regional competitiveness and support long-term development of the regional economy. The three Finalists follow:
- Catalyst Connection
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Lane County Community and Economic Development
Specific Program: Community and Economic Development
Eugene, Oregon
- Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA)
Weslaco, Texas
In the category of Economic Adjustment Strategies the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they help communities plan and implement economic adjustment strategies in response to sudden and sever economic dislocations. The three Finalists follow:
- The City of Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
- Greater Norfolk Economic Development Foundation, Inc.
Norfolk, Nebraska
- Lincoln Trail Area Development District
Specific Program: One Knox Policy Council
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
In the category of Technology-led Economic Development the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they support technology-led economic development and reflect the important role of linking universities and industries and technology transfers. The three Finalists follow:
- North Country Council, Inc. and Grafton County Economic Development Council
Specific Program: Dartmouth Regional Technology Center
Bethlehem, New Hampshire
- North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park, Inc.
Fargo, North Dakota
- University of Florida, Office of Technology Licensing
Specific Program: EDA University Center Program
Gainesville, Florida
In the category of Community and Faith-Based Social Entrepreneurship the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they advance community and faith-based social entrepreneurship in redevelopment strategies for areas of chronic, economic distress. The two Finalists follow:
- Saint Patrick Center
St. Louis, Missouri
- Southeast Tennessee Development District
Specific Program: Southeast Tennessee Religious Heritage Trail
Chattanooga, Tennessee
In the category of Innovation the nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they incorporate innovative strategies for maximum results. The three Finalists follow:
- Business Innovation Factory
Providence, Rhode Island
- ConnectKentucky
Specific Program: Prescription for Innovation
Bowling Green, Kentucky
- Paulding County Board of Commissioners
Specific Program: New and competitive solution for urban and economic development as part of the world economy
Dallas, Georgia
�Global Gateways� to Be Featured in the Next Edition of Economic Development America
Expect the Spring 2006 edition of Economic Development America magazine to appear in your mailbox in June. The Summer edition will profile the winners of EDA�s Excellence in Economic Development 2006 Awards.
Story ideas are welcomed for future editions of the magazine. For more information, contact editor Louise Anderson at landerson@iedconline.org. Past issues of Economic Development America magazine are available at www.eda.gov/NewsEvents/Edevinfocoalition.xml.
Economic Development Today Telecast Recap: �Community Economic Development to Support Growth�
On Wednesday, May 10, EDA conducted a telecast on �Community Economic Development to Support Growth� as part of the Economic Development Today series. The telecast focused on the impacts of growth on communities facing change under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act.
Over the next five years, more than a dozen military installations and their surrounding communities will experience growth ranging from 5,000 to over 20,000 personnel and their families as a result of BRAC 05, IGPBS and Transformation. The telecast featured interviews with three Department of Defense officials who provided insight into the implementation of BRAC 05.
Guests included:
- Brigadier General John Macdonald, commanding general of the U.S. Army Community and Family Development Center;
- Philip W. Grone, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Installations and Environment; and
- Patrick O�Brien, Director of the Office of Economic Adjustment under the Secretary of Defense.
The telecast also featured the �Communities Responding to Growth� presentation as taped from the OSD/Military Service/Community Conference � Responding to BRAC 05, held in Atlanta on May 2-5, 2006.
Brigadier General Macdonald spoke first about how his work at the U.S. Army Community and Family Development Center addresses the social welfare issues related to BRAC 05, such as readying schools for the influx of new students. The U.S. Army Community and Family Development Center has 167 missions that address the welfare of the soldier and his family.
Macdonald gave the example of El Paso, Texas, as a community that has been successful in accommodating the influx of school-age children as a result of BRAC. El Paso was able to achieve this success in a number of ways: Having a strong supporter in Congressmen Silvestre Reyes; passing bond issues to finance schools; and securing the construction of a teachers college at the University of Texas-El Paso to help meet the need for more than 1,000 teachers and school administrators in the area.
Philip Grone highlighted three examples where communities have handled growth successfully: the Naval Training Center in Orlando, Fla.; the reuse of the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colo., as a medical campus for the University of Colorado; and Fort Sheridan, located outside of Chicago, which was turned into a housing development.
Patrick O�Brien spoke about the economic impact that communities experience from an influx of thousands of people, which include the need for affordable housing; the strain on schools, roads, water and sewer services, and police and fire protection; the need for adequate medical service providers; and spouses looking for jobs. �People don�t have to reinvent the wheel on growth,� O�Brien stated; rather, they can use as models the communities that have already shown success in base realignment. For further information on OEA�s work with BRAC 05 and to access a list of grant opportunities, please visit www.oea.gov.
The telecast is available for viewing on the EDA website. If you have watched the telecast, please complete an evaluation form, available on the NARC website. Be sure to watch EDA Update for information on the next telecast.
Preserve America Presidential Award Winners Announced
The Preserve America Presidential Awards were created in 2003 to recognize outstanding contributions to America�s cultural and natural heritage. By their efforts, the award winners have drawn tourists to historic sites and towns, revitalized communities and natural spaces, and opened up new opportunities for learning. This year�s winners include:
Mission San Luis: This project has reconstructed the former Western capital of Spanish Florida in Tallahassee. The state of Florida, in partnership with local and private groups, successfully recreated nearly every detail of the mission. By their painstaking effort, they have helped Mission San Luis rise from the ashes to an educational, cultural and historical resource reflecting Florida�s beginnings.
The state of Maryland: Through a new program called Maryland Heritage Areas, the state is protecting areas of historical significance and increasing heritage tourism and educational opportunities. State and community leaders are investing in projects to highlight special parts of American history, including the location where Harriet Tubman�s Underground Railroad helped slaves escape to the North, and Fort McHenry, the site that inspired Francis Scott Key to write America�s National Anthem.
Tauck World Discovery: Since 2003, this company has been running an innovative volunteer program in Yellowstone National Park, in which tourists who come to appreciate the scenic landscape can also help keep those vistas beautiful by contributing a good day�s work. Since the program began, guests have donated almost 10,000 hours of labor on projects throughout the park.
Hampton Hotels: Under their �Save a Landmark� program, Hampton Hotels is helping communities rehabilitate roadside attractions along America�s great highways. Their efforts have helped preserve landmarks along Route 66, to restore the Jesse Owens Park in Alabama, and to refurbish one of the country�s classic theme parks in New Jersey.
Cast Your Nominations for The Phoenix Awards
The Phoenix Awards are the premier honors for achievement of excellence in brownfield redevelopment. Created in 1997, this prestigious award honors individuals and groups who are working to solve the critical environmental challenge of transforming abandoned industrial areas into productive new uses. The awards are open to any individual, group, company, organization, government body or agency. Criteria for The Phoenix Awards focus on the magnitude of the project, innovative techniques, solutions to regulatory issues, and impact upon the community. A panel of environmental professionals and business, academic and government leaders select the winners.
The 2006 Phoenix Awards deadline is Friday, June 30, 2006. For more information, visit the Phoenix Awards website today. Click here for a PDF of the Phoenix Award application, or here for a Microsoft Word version.
EDA Update is brought to you as a benefit of a partnership among the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), to provide information about economic development practices and programs to economic development practitioners who serve distressed communities throughout the United States. This partnership also provides six telecasts and a quarterly magazine. For more information, visit the EDA Web site.
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