High Performance Community Strategies
building competitive & livable communities
Delore Zimmerman
Today
 A brief history of economic development
 The High Performance Community
strategy approach
 Building communities of aspiration
Buildings of the Present Will Have Vanquished to Give
Place to Stupendous Structures
___________
HEIGHT OF SIXTY STORIES POSSIBLE
Architectural Limitations of This Century Will No Longer
Be Recognized As Obstacles
CEMETERIES WILL BE CONVERTED INTO PARKS
 Prospecting
 Industrial Parks
 Financing and Incentives
 Long-Range Planning
Economic development is all about
incentives. Everything else is rhetoric.
 Growth-oriented small business
 Competitive advantage
 Industry targets, networks, clusters
 Equity Investment
 Strategic planning
The golden age of entrepreneurship
meets the new geography of the Internet.
 Innovation
 Workforce development
 Networking - Clustering
 Globalization
 Wealth creation
Innovation makes the world go around.
The global talent wars hit full stride.
lifestyle
settlements
mobility
food
Social
health
Economy
Environment
production
technology
consumption
& waste
energy
Network-Centric
Global economy
work flows to nodes of
technology and talent in the
global economy
trade flows between valueadded regional and global
enterprise networks that are
equipped with infrastructure
financial and human capital
flows to where it’s wanted
and stays where it’s treated
well
High-Performance Communities
• Places where the private, public and civic
sectors are enabled to be fast, flexible,
focused, customized, connected, networked
and global
NETWORKS
fast
focused
customized
flexible
connected
networked
global
A High Performance
Community or Region
1. Is connected via telecom & transport & transit
2. Nourishes entrepreneurs
3. Grows from within focusing on higher-skill, highervalue opportunities
4. Focuses on industry sectors/clusters that build on
local competitive advantages
5. Networks vigorously with business and government
from outside the region
6. Has a global outlook
7. Mobilizes local leadership & collaborates regionally
HPC Operating Principles
A community like an individual has a
work to do.
Communities don’t act, the parts do.
Success comes from seizing momentum
and aligning actions with trends that
work in your favor
Prosperity is increasingly determined by
the power of connections elsewhere
A compelling story commits people to the
possibilities
Invest in
Infrastructure
1. Broadband telecom
infrastructure
2. Specialized facilities
3. Transportation
facilitating mobility of
people and products
4. Water and energy
Infrastructure is a Driver of Economic Progress
Public Service
Interoperability
Transactional
Innovation
Water
Connectivity ->
telecom
Export processing
zones
Mobility ->
transit, transport,
shipping
Logistics centers
Specialized
facilities -> R&D
labs, tech parks,
skills training
centers
Waste treatment
Roads
Open space
Distribution ->
water and energy
Multi-modal
shipping
Advanced
services for
connectivity,
energy,
environmental
Facilities ………………………………………. Infrasystems
Build and cultivate the skills and energies of people,
both as entrepreneurs and workers.
The growth of a region now depends on
the decisions of individual entrepreneurs,
investors, creative workers to locate there.
To them the world is a vast
smorgasbord in which various locales
compete for their affections and attention.
Quality of life and lifestyle factors can attract new people
to an area - but opportunity is the prime ingredient.
Joel Kotkin
Entrepreneur
Community
Business
Interests & Relationships
Business
Opportunities & Access
Geographical
Preferences
Quality of Life
Preferences
Entrepreneurial
Capabilities & Resources
Quality of
Life
Resources
& Infrastructure
Entrepreneur Development Approaches
• Fertile soil policy
 Business environment that facilitates any kind
of growth
• Small business development
 Management, technical and financial support
 Incubation support and facilities
 Focus on one or more growth-oriented
businesses
• Business ecosystem
 Build specialized services, resources and
infrastructure for target industry
Greenwood, Mississippi
Viking Conquers the
Kitchen Landscape
• Fred & Margaret Carl and small group of friends
 Built a global brand – superior product quality processes
 Aligned strategy with cooking and food trends
• Boutique downtown --> part of Fred Carl’s dream
 Restoration of historic buildings
 Focus on southern hospitality and cuisine
 Use history & tradition  Cotton Capital of the World
• Community, state, federal leaders support  WE
Downshifting Boomers Start Companies
% of age group that started company in 2005
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
20-34
35-44
45-54
Source: Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity
55-64
65+
Networks
Reinvention of:
 business
models
 skills
 workflow
 planning
 procurement
In a network economy
competitiveness and prosperity are
increasingly determined by the
power of your connections.
“Networks are possibility factories.”
Kevin Kelly, WIRED
FLOWS
Metro
Economies
People
Information
Trade
Technology
Capital
Rural:
Remote &
Urbanized
Person to Person• Firm to Firm • Network to Network • Commu nity to Commu nity
•Flows
The Dynamics
Rural-Urban
Linkages •
in theofNetwork
Economy
Powering Up Networks in Your Region
High Performance Action Summits SM
“Temporary economic agglomerations”
 Accelerate your development strategy by
showcasing your best technology-based
capabilities
 Engage regional universities and colleges
 Build connections with outside collaborators,
funders and investors in business and government
 Engage key players in defining a strategy and
action plan for building promising trade and
technology opportunities
Focus on industry clusters that
build on local competitive advantages
What our community makes and does
Current
Skills Mix
Current
Industry Mix
Emerging
Know-How
Emerging
Technology
Future Forms Future Forms
Of Work
Of Enterprise
What our community could make & do
Mobilize the “triple helix”
Education
Government
Business
R&D
Innovation
Education
Skills Training
Workforce Development
Red River Valley – North Dakota & Minnesota
• Hands on, purpose-driven leadership
• Science & tech “triple helix” working
– University, Industry, government
– Specialized research, training, facilities
• Human capital (Brain Belt)
– Quality people
– Education is highly valued
– Higher ed, k-12 engaged
• Dynamic regional business sector
– Outward oriented and globally savvy
– Demonstration effect of Great Plains ->
Microsoft
A Short History of Technology:
Red River Valley Corridor
Food processing
Biotech Services
Crop &
Livestock
Science
Crop
Farming &
Animal
Husbandry
Genomics
Digital imaging
Agri-business
Management
& Finance
Business solutions
software/systems
Nanotechnology
Machinery
&
Equipment
Electronics
Polymers & coatings
Wireless technology
1870’s
1950’s
2000
Rural HPCs
Requires Extra Steps
 Establish connections with metro
markets/capabilities
 Build on linkages to traditional rural
industries, e.g. M&E
 Repurpose assets and resources,
e.g. agri-energy
 Create collaborative networks of
companies, colleges, universities &
government
 Focus support on outward-oriented,
tech-savvy firms
FAMILY
B
A
L
A
N
C
E
High Performance Communities
of Aspiration
………………
Resolve
Resourcefulness
Relationships
Terroir
Seize opportunity now
Not houses finely roofed
Nor the stones of walls well built
Nor canals nor dockyards
make the city
But men able to use their opportunity
Alcaeus 600 BC Greece
“Good things come to those who
wait, but only the things left over
by those who hustle.”
Abraham Lincoln
Become a possibility factory!
High Throughput – Combinatorial
“If you want to have good ideas you
must have many ideas.”
Linus Pauling
Quantum chemist & biochemist
Nobel Prize Winner (2 times)
“The difficulty lies, not in the
new ideas, but in escaping from
the old ones.”
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory (1936)
Find Opportunities at the
Crossroads of Industries
For Example
Information
Technology
Precision
Agriculture
• Instrumentation
• Data Services
• Application Services
Machinery
& Equipment
Electronics
Agriculture
Production
Mobilize strategic leadership
coalitions on multiple fronts
Emulate The Success of Others
“ The future is already here. It’s
just not equally distributed yet.”
William Gibson
author, coined term cyberspace
Make people a priority
• People are sophisticated, decision-makers
about place today
–
–
–
–
–
–
Quality jobs
Amenities & aesthetics
Recreation and leisure
Affordability
Safety
Quality schools and health care
Tell a compelling story that commits
people to the possibilities
“I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’ll see it when I believe it.”
www.newgeography.com