Category: Economic development
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How National Monopolies Drain Rural Economies
Virginia’s rural communities suffer from huge disadvantages when competing for job-creating corporate investment. Low density makes it expensive to install high-bandwidth Internet service. The small size of rural communities makes it difficult to support the amenities that skilled, educated workers are looking for. And, most important, corporations prefer locating in metropolitan areas with “deep” labor…
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Creative (Class) Destruction
In the inaugural edition of the Bacon’s Rebellion newsletter (back before there were blogs), I reviewed Richard Florida’s book, “The Rise of the Creative Class.” I was certain his work would spark a revolution in how Americans understood economic development in the Knowledge Economy, and I became an early follower. The then-dominant paradigm of economic development focused…
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Plumbing the Depths of Economic-Development Stupidity
Sometimes I wonder if anyone in Richmond city government ever learns anything about anything. The city has experienced a string of failures over the decades, starting with the grandiose Sixth Street Marketplace that was supposed to revitalize downtown retail in the mid-1980s and came to an end in 2007 when most of the structure was unceremoniously torn…
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Stephen Moret: Aiming to Restore Virginia as Jobs Leader
Stephen Moret, the new director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) has been on the job long enough to tour the state, meet business leaders and regional economic development officials, and summarize impressions of his first 100 days. In a letter he broadcast widely through the economic development community, he articulated five aspirational goals and…
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Retirees, Restaurants and Boutiques
Julien Patterson and his wife Terri Wesselman spent two decades building their Chantilly-based company, Omniplex World Services, into a security and investigative services firm employing more than 3,500 and generating annual revenue of more than $100 million. After selling the company in 2012, they “retired,” dividing their time between Florida and Virginia’s Northern Neck. But…
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Ed Gillespie Tax Plan Checks All the Right Boxes
Republican Ed Gillespie has issued a blueprint for tax cuts that could define the terms of debate for Virginia’s 2017 gubernatorial campaign. It is a fiscally credible plan. It offers a well-articulated vision for how to jump-start Virginia’s economy. That’s not to say the plan is unassailable, but it is too big and bold to…
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Virginia Beach, Emerging World-Class Data Hub
Speaking of Virginia Beach…. Here’s a more promising approach to economic development than building arenas in the hope of wrangling big-name concerts and basketball tourneys for 30 years into the future. Reports the Virginian-Pilot: A Dutch company wants to create a new data center park to draw the likes of Snapchat, IBM and Uber. NxtVn will…
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Is Virginia Beach Arena Deal Good or Bad for Taxpayers?
Virginia Beach City Council has approved a financing plan to build a $220 million sports and entertainment center near the Oceanfront, reports the Virginian-Pilot. “Game on,” said Mayor Will Sessoms in announcing the deal. There is “a real possibility now” of hosting part of the NCAA basketball tournament. “Picture March Madness two years from now.…
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Autonomous Cars — a Cheap Economic Boost?
Who needs to build new roads or create tolled express lanes when the driverless car revolution is almost upon us? Clifford Winston and Quentin Karpilow suggest that autonomous cars will reduce traffic congestion by boosting highway throughput, creating a huge boost to economic productivity and output. In a new paper published by the Mercatus Center,…
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The Northam/Perriello Rural Poverty Plan
Both Democratic candidates for governor, Ralph Northam and Tom Perriello, have endorsed a statewide $15-per-hour minimum wage, a sign, says the Washington Post, of how much momentum the national “Fight for $15” is achieving. (Virginia hews to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which has not increased since 2009.) Perriello backed the $15 minimum…
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Feeling Pretty Good: C-ville and Lynchburg
When evaluating community well being, statisticians tend to focus on objective criteria such as average income, tax levels, educational achievement, life expectancy and the like. But there also are subjective criteria involving how people feel about things. Gallup Inc., the polling organization, has partnered with Healthways, a well being and wellness provider to employers, to…
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Axes Fall after People Express Loan Guarantee Blows Up
The executive director of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport has been placed on administrative leave in the wake of a scandal involving the use of $3.55 million in state funds to help make good on a loan guarantee made to People Express airline. The airport had backed the loan as part of a deal to get…
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Unplanned Obsolescence: Fairfax County’s Office Parks
There is some scary data hidden in Fairfax County’s budget numbers. Back in 1990, commercial/ industrial property comprised 26.7% of the county’s total real estate property tax base. Revenues from high office valuations gave the county leeway to keep the tax rate low — great for homeowners. But the commercial/ industrial share has declined since…
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Tech, Carilion Launch VTC Innovation Fund
Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic have teamed up to form a $15 million venture capital fund in the hope of accelerating the growth of biotech companies taking root around Blacksburg and Roanoke, reports the Roanoke Times. The VTC Innovation Fund aims to close seven to 10 deals over the next 10 years. By leveraging its money from…
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How Inova Hopes to Reinvent Health Care
Published this morning in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. As Republicans and Democrats brace for a battle royal over Obamacare and what might replace it, they would do well to pay heed to an important experiment south of the Potomac. In Congress the debate centers on who pays for health care and how costs can be shifted…