Growth:
Growing the Economy,
Growing Businesses
Scott Hutcheson, Ph.D.
Purdue Center for Regional Development
The predominant economic development sales
pitch has been
cheap taxes
cheap land
cheap labor
cheap utilities
4
Average number of Indiana industrial recruitment
“projects” annually with a promise of at least 100
jobs from 2007-2011
IEDC Economic Incentives and Compliance Report for July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2011
5
Average number of Indiana industrial recruitment
“projects” annually with a promise of at least 100
jobs from 2007-2011
IEDC Economic Incentives and Compliance Report for July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2011
6
Average number of Indiana industrial recruitment
“projects” annually with a promise of at least 100
jobs from 2007-2011
…and Indiana’s one of the
“best” in the U.S.
IEDC Economic Incentives and Compliance Report for July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2011
7
Niche: Existing Business Base
Stage Four: 500+ Employees
Stage Three: 100-499 Employees
Stage Two: 10-99 Employees
Stage One: 1-9 employees
Stage Four: 500+ Employees
Stage Three: 100-499 Employees
Stage Two: 10-99 Employees
Stage One: 1-9 employees
Second Stage Companies
• 10-99 employees
• Revenue of $750,000 to $10 million
• Local owned/controlled
• Privately-held businesses
• Dealing with growth issues instead of
survival issues
• Intent to grow
Northwest Indiana 2nd Stage Firms 2012
Porter
LaPorte
Lake
Starke
Jasper
Pulaski
Newton
Northwest Indiana 2nd Stage Jobs 2012
Porter
LaPorte
Lake
Starke
Jasper
Pulaski
Newton
What Do Second Stage Companies Need?
• Information
• Infrastructure
• Connections
Gibbons, C. (2010). Economic gardening.
Economic Development Journal 9.3:5.
Indiana Business Growth Network
• Help in articulating and realigning with their
core business strategy
• Market intelligence & GIS to answer
important questions
• Guidance on search engine optimization
and effective use of social media
• Leadership & management team
• development to make sure people are
• slotted right
Our Certified IBGN Team
Purdue Center for Regional Development
Hoosier Heartland Small Business Development Center
Parrish Library of Management & Economics
Erik Deckers, co-author of No Bull-&%$# Social Media
Indiana Business Growth Network
IBGN partners with local and regional economic & business
development groups to offer a business growth-focused economic
development strategy to their community or region.
Some of the ways we can assist companies include:
• Identifying qualified sales leads by sorting extensive databases
• Mapping geographic areas to facilitate targeted marketing
efforts
• Reviewing strategies related to commodity and/or niche
markets
• Examining social media utilization to connect with customers
• Deploying search engine optimization to expose a targeted
website to more customers
$250K with of databases
& analytic tools
Case Study #1
Manufacturer of diesel-powered pumps & equipment for the construction industry
12 employees
$3 million in revenue annually
Strategic Questions
• Do we have the right business model?
• Where do we stand in comparison to our competitors?
• Are we fully optimizing our website & social media?
• How does the water table differ in different parts of our region?
Strategic Information Provided
• Detailed analysis on competitor’s market share and types of products offered
• Search engine optimization recommendations including better ways for international
customers to find them
• GIS analysis of water tables in target markets
Strategic Decisions Made
• Repositioned bidding strategy
• Added SEO to website
• Revised market strategy based on water table information (different geographies require
different pump features
Results
• Added 5 new positions.
Case Study #2
Provider of outsourced technology management
16 employees
$4 million in revenue annually
Strategic Questions
• What firms are about our size but serve a national client base?
• If we were to expand beyond our region what other areas make sense?
• How can we better use social media?
Strategic Information Provided
• Identification of and information about peer firms that serve national client base
• Profiles of six additional regions that seem to be a good fit for firm’s services
• Recommendations for a blog-based social media strategy
Strategic Decisions Made
• Retooled website
• Began a blog and associated social media strategy
• Began marketing to three additional regions
Results
• Expanded to three additional regions
• Added 1 new positions.
Results
Source:http://www.growfl.com/downloads/201308%20GrowFL%20Performance%20Analysis%20VERSION
%202%20FINAL.pdf
The IBGN Process
• Companies access IBGN through their LEDO, REDO,
Chamber, etc.
• Fill out a Company Profile, sign mutual NDA
• Schedule call with IBGN Team Leader (1 hour)
• Schedule Call with IBGN Team (1hour)
– Identify 4-5 growth-related questions that need answered
– Team does 30 hours worth of work
• Information and communication occurs on a secure
website
• Company is contacted 6 months and 12 months
afterward
For More Information or to
Connect
Scott Hutcheson, Ph.D.
Purdue Center for Regional Development
Purdue Extension
Purdue University
203 Martin Jischke Drive
765-479-7704 (mobile)
hutcheson@purdue.edu
www.linkedin.com/in/scotthutcheson/
www.twitter.com/jshutch64
www.facebook.com/scott.hutcheson
http://www.slideshare.net/jshutch/