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_____________________________________________________________________________
Regional Community Development News – June 10, 2009 [regions_work]
A
compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and
regional development.
Published
on line since November 11, 2003.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Contents
Top
Regional Community stories … 1. – 9.
U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State
or multi-State – news articles …10.01 - .41
Other Regional Community News for Our
Local Planet … 11.01 - .25
Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .11
Announcements and Regional Links … 13.01 - .05
Financial Crisis …14.01 - .02
Custom search: region, regions, regional
communities … 15.
_________________________________________________________________________
Top
Regional Community stories
1. Coosa
Valley Regional Development Center is “best-kept secret,” director
says - Rome News Tribune -
Calling the
The RDC has three broad
purposes: providing planning services for the region, workforce development and
services for the aging, Steiner said.
It has paid for
retraining for laid-off employees and summer youth jobs programs, using
federal, state and local funds. Steiner said for every dollar the RDC receives
from local governments, it receives $48 from the state and federal governments.
He illustrated job
training with the sport of hockey. “You don’t want to be where the
puck is, you want to be where it’s going. We try
to drive (job-seekers) to where jobs are going to be.”
Two primary fields for
the future are health care and the auto industry. Volkswagen’s
construction of a manufacturing plant in
…
The 10-county Coosa
Valley RDC [http://www.cvrdc.org/ ] and the five-county North Georgia RDC [http://www.ngrdc.org/] are scheduled to merge in July. With a combined
population of 823,770, the merged organization’s area will be the second
largest in the state, behind only the metro
2. Wired65
promotes regional focus in Southern Indiana - Evening News and Tribune -
Southern Indiana and the
Wired65 [http://www.wired65.org/] an initiative of the U.S. Department of Labor, presented findings from a
Talent Innovation and Place report along with the HIRE education forum, to
build a sustainable economic region that includes seven Indiana counties and 19
in Kentucky. The report is designed to put the region on track to succeed
economically. The “65” portion of the title references Interstate
65 and the communities stretched along the north-south freeway.
The areas that need to be addressed, according
to the report, are the pipeline — referring to the area’s
early-educational system through college; preparing for 21st century jobs by
transitioning from a manufacturing to a service based economy; and creating a
talent magnet to draw and keep skilled people in the region.
“While Wired 65’s approach is not
necessarily unique,” Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said, “it is
enthusiastically tackling a complicated issue that will greatly affect the
future of not just all of [
“It’s going to affect the future
of two states,” he said.
Beshear and other area leaders spoke about the
initiative at a press conference at the Brown Williamson Club at Papa
John’s Cardinal Stadium on Tuesday.
“Part of the answer,” Beshear said
of the region’s economic future, “is ... ignore
government-designated boundaries and work together on mutual interests.”
“If my friend Mitch Daniels, governor of
…
A tuition reciprocity agreement between the
metro
…
Wired65 Region Map: http://www.wired65.org/Images/ki-map_blue_red.jpg
RCs
Lincoln Trail Area Development District (All) http://www.ltadd.org/
Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency(All) http://www.kipda.org/
Northern Kentucky Area Development District
(Carroll) http://www.nkadd.org/NKADD/
Lake Cumberland Area Development District
(Adair, Green, Taylor)
http://lcadd.org/manager/index.php
RCs
River Hills Economic Development District
(All) http://www.riverhills.cc/
Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission
(Crawford) http://www.ind15rpc.org/
Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning
Commission (
http://www.newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/local_story_154133207.html?keyword=topstory
3.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
announced Thursday his participation in the Mid-Atlantic Governors’
Agreement on Ocean Conservation, a partnership among the Governors of New York,
New Jersey,
The new regional partnership will protect and
improve the health of ocean and coastal resources through improved coordination
and minimized jurisdictional barriers, ensuring the resources contribute to our
economic vitality and high quality of life well into the future.
“Our coastal waters
are a vital part of our history and economy in
By participating in the
Agreement on Ocean Conservation, the governors agree to establish mechanisms
for greater coordination on regional ocean issues and to develop and implement
shared actions to advance the partnership’s four stated priorities:
- Collaborate on a
regional approach to support the sustainable development of renewable energy in
offshore areas.
- Prepare the
region’s coastal communities for the impacts of climate change on ocean
and coastal resources.
- Promote improvements in
the region’s coastal water quality as a necessary focal point for
regional action.
- Coordinate protection
of important habitats and sensitive and unique offshore areas on a regional
scale.
The primary mechanism of
coordination will be the newly formed Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the
Ocean, composed of the governors of the five participating states. Each
governor will also designate a representative to serve on an Executive
Committee that will report back to their respective Governors on implementation
of regional plans and progress towards the partnership’s goals.
...
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/46955507.html
4. Editorial:
A long time coming -
Greensboro News Record -
The FedEx hub at
…
"I am very excited about the hub opening," Don Kirkman,
president of the Piedmont Triad Partnership [http://www.piedmonttriadnc.com/ ], reflected. …
It was the biggest economic development dream of its era. PTIA won a
fierce competition among several airports vying to host FedEx's mid-Atlantic
air-cargo hub. The Memphis-based company promised to invest $300 million in the
facility and eventually employ as many as 1,500 workers.
More importantly, boosters said, it would drive a transformation of the
Triad area's economy.
John D. Kasarda, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler School of
Business and an aviation industry expert, outlined this vision based on his
concept of an "aerotropolis."
In effect, it's an industrial-commercial zone built around the airport and
composed of businesses whose commerce and products depend on rapid
transportation and precision logistics. The FedEx hub would be a key engine
powering this development.
With FedEx, a network of interstate highways and other assets,
"We're now going to officially declare ourselves an aerotropolis,"
said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance.
"We can make that claim."
…
The regulatory and legal delays were "disappointing and
frustrating," Kirkman said, "particularly as
we saw the economy decline."
The Triad's unemployment rate was less than 3 percent in 1998. Now it's
more than 10 percent.
… FedEx is a critical addition to the Triad's "supporting
infrastructure," Lynch said. It can play a role in facilitating the
development of several industry clusters: logistics and transportation,
aviation, advanced manufacturing and life sciences.
…
"Success won't be measured in months but in years and even
decades," Kirkman said.
But, after 11 years already, it's a welcome sign of success to come.
RCs:
Piedmont Triad Council of Governments http://www.ptcog.org/
Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments http://www.nwpcog.dst.nc.us/
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/05/28/article/editorial_a_long_time_coming
5. Cities
think globally, act locally on public transit - OKC.Biz -
Evolution to a sprawling metropolitan area
comes with its headaches, not the least of which is public transit. And while
many metro areas choose to address the issue of getting people from point A to
point B only when it has become a problem,
That was the thinking behind the formation of
a steering committee that will advocate, guide and direct a regional transit
dialogue to examine alternative modes of surface transportation systems for the
The questions the committee will be asked to
answer are numerous: How much will it cost? Where will the money come from? How
should the system be laid out? What modes of transportation should be
implemented?
The answers to these questions will likely be
decided by a regional transit authority, yet to be established.
While
…
One thing Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has
always pointed out is that the city was built around the automobile. He says
it’s time that line of thinking yields to greener, more cost-efficient
alternatives.
“I think it reflects the evolving issue
of this region and thinking more of a region, as opposed to just thinking of
individual municipalities in our own worlds,” Cornett says.
“Transit seems to be a good place for us to start the regional concept,
especially if we start looking at rail entities and a more regionalized bus
system.
…
http://okc.biz/article/05-26-2009/Cities_think_globally_act_locally_on_public_transit.aspx
6. Look within
for regional economic development leaders, panelists say - Crain's Detroit Business - MI,
Business, philanthropic and civic leaders on Wednesday sent a united
message: Don't rely on elected leadership to lead economic development.
It was an underpinning of the opening session at the Detroit Regional
Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference, where panelists from west
But at the same time, there were calls to move urgently in Michigan's
economic crisis, with Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation in Troy,
saying that Detroit has “huge opportunity” in the aftermath of auto
industry turmoil and restructuring — a period in which the resources of
the federal government will be focused on the city and state.
“We have a two-year window where
He said such efforts as the New Economy Initiative for Southeast
Michigan, funded by contributions from 10 local and national foundations,
represent a major step “to try and help recalibrate the
…
Still, the state and the region have major problems to resolve. John
Rakolta Jr., chairman and CEO of the Detroit-based Walbridge Aldinger Co.
construction firm, cited the state's deep budget problems and business tax
structure, as well as an entitlement mentality and racial tensions as key
obstacles.
“We are the single most segregated community in the
… one effort in Kalamazoo, where the organization Southwest
Michigan First has catalyzed private-sector support and financing around a
vision that has cut across political borders and helped grow the region.
“If we can't do that as a state, we're going nowhere,” …
RC: SEMCOG http://www.semcog.org/
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090531/SUB01/305319947/1069#
7.
Cr Blumel represents
the Sunshine Coast Council [ http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au
]
on the Sunshine Coast Area Consultative Committee—an entity which will
translate into the new Sunshine Coast RDA organisation from mid-2009.
Cr Blumel met with the
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern
Australia, Gary Gray, in March this year to advocate for the
“Mr Gray listened
very thoughtfully to my arguments and his immediate response was that he
thought I had made a good case for the
“Planning and
advocacy will be a lot easier if the
“We can develop
one integrated set of data, maps, planning process, infrastructure priority
list and so on.
“The aim is for
the Sunshine Coast RDA committee to give us a stronger voice in Commonwealth
Government programs.”
A memorandum of
understanding, signed by the Commonwealth and
The RDA’s role is
to provide advice and to work with all levels of government to address regional
issues and promote regional development.
In a media release
issued yesterday, Mr Gray said the RDA would operate throughout the country to
tap local knowledge and help people living in regional areas learn more about
the Commonwealth Government's ongoing funding of local community
infrastructure.
…
8. Political
Legitimacy in the
If the media coverage, discussion, demonstrations, marches and various
other public protests are anything to go by then a great number of
While the
But first, a word or two about imaginary politics; throughout our lives
and through a mixture of willpower and circumstance, we work ourselves into a
sense of belonging wherever that may be and whoever that may be with. …
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0905/S00262.htm
9. REGION: Official warns against wimpy
solar goal - North County
Times - Californian -
The way county Supervisor Dianne Jacob sees it, regional leaders were on
track to set a wimpy goal for homegrown sun power.
So she objected strongly when the
That draft said the region should use energy more efficiently, modernize
its electric grid and boost reliance on green power to the point that sun, wind
and other clean sources account for half of local electricity by 2030.
But the plan focuses far more on large, remote commercial solar and wind
farms than on the small panels people put on their roofs.
"There is no reason why the
SANDAG's draft policy suggested boosting the amount of sun power
generated by residential rooftop panels from 50 megawatts today to 210
megawatts by 2020 and 249 megawatts by 2030.
A megawatt is the standard yardstick for measuring large amounts of
electricity, and most of the time it is enough to keep the lights on in 650
homes. However, on summer days, the 3.4 million people in San Diego Gas &
Electric Co.'s service area use up to 5,000 megawatts. And that annual peak use
is projected to grow to 6,218 megawatts by 2030.
For the moment, rooftop solar panels are capable of supplying just 1
percent of the region's power on hot days. Under the proposed blueprint, that
proportion would grow to a modest 4 percent by 2030.
With interest in rooftop solar panels soaring in one of the nation's
sunniest regions, Jacob figures
…
10.
U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.
Bold
font words are Google search terms. Bold italic
words considered worth noting. In this and section 11, links to websites of
organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an
organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional
council in the
.01 Bay
Area submits proposal for stimulus funds
San Francisco Chronicle
- CA,
Stem cell research, job training programs, water
recycling efforts, high-speed rail and transit-oriented developments should get
top priority in the competition for federal stimulus funds, Bay Area officials
have agreed. The region is one of 12 in
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/06/BACS181PNR.DTL
.02 100
years as boundary waters partners
Crossing the 5,500-mile border between the
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/niagaracounty/story/691168.html?imw=Y
The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 created the
International Joint Commission (IJC) to prevent and resolve boundary waters
disputes between
.03 Regional
Talent Network unveils employment web site
Crain's
There’s a new tool available to help anyone
looking for work or workers in
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090527/FREE/905279943
.04 Internet
Use Triples in Decade, Census Bureau Reports
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 62
percent of households reported using Internet access in the home in 2007, an
increase from 18 percent in 1997, the first year the bureau collected data on
Internet use. Sixty-four percent of individuals 18 and over used the Internet
from any location in 2007, while only 22 percent did so in 1997. Among
households using the Internet in 2007, 82 percent reported using a high-speed
connection, and 17 percent used a dial-up connection. ...
Reports and 2007 Detailed Tables: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/communication_industries/013849.html
.05 Critics Call
New York Times -
Shirley Sicilian, the general counsel of the
Multistate Tax Commission [http://www.mtc.gov/], an intergovernmental state tax agency, said that “states
increasingly want to make sure that income that’s earned in their state
is actually taxed in their state, particularly in a bad fiscal situation like
now.” At the center of the dispute are legal entities known as
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30delaware.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
.06 Critics:
Cuomo merger bill misses target
Lower Hudson Journal
news - West Harrison, NY, USA
... plan could result in
changes "around the edges," but voters won't likely opt to eliminate
their own villages, towns or police departments because they identify with
them, said Anthony Cupaiuolo, professor emeritus of public administration at
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009905310342
.07
New York Times -
In 1898, modern
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/nyregion/31bmergeny.html?_r=1
.08 Consolidation
would cut expenses, raise revenues, committee says
The Daily News Online -
A three-tiered system, reduced expenses and
increased state revenues would be part of one
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/articles/2009/06/01/news/doc4a248f7b79dc4276049049.txt
.09 Crafting the Next Generation of
Smart Growth Policies
Planetizen.com
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy spent two
years looking at smart growth policies in a number of states to see how well
they've achieved their goals. Gregory K. Ingram, President of the Institute,
explains the results. ...
http://www.planetizen.com/node/39103
.10 The
Fund Makes Plans to Continue Regional Economic Competitiveness Work to 2013
FutureFundNEO.org -
Formed in 2004, the Fund for Our Economic Future is
a charitable collaboration of organizations and individuals that uses
grantmaking, research and civic engagement to strengthen the 16-county
region’s economic competitiveness. In its third phase, the Fund intends
to continue working with its partners in the public and private sectors to
implement Advance Northeast Ohio, the region’s
economic action plan focused on four priorities:
*
Business growth and attraction
* Talent
development
* Racial
and economic inclusion
*
Government collaboration and efficiency
…
.11 Mackinac
Policy Conference: What you might have missed
MLive.com -
The Detroit Regional
Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference ... chamber invited executives from west
http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/oakland/index.ssf/2009/05/what_you_might_have_missed_at.html
.12 Metro
leaders extending fists, not helping hands, in hard times
Patterson accuses his
http://www.freep.com/article/20090531/COL06/905310538/
.13
NPR -
.14 Geotourism: Take a bow, Central
Cascades
OregonLive.com
Geotourism has arrived in our region
compliments of the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable
Destinations. While it promotes an emerging travel trend, it is based on an old
idea -- simply that the appeal of a travel destination is rooted in its local
culture, its natural beauty and its authentic attractions. In a word, it's the
area's essence. ... We should all be thankful that the Central Cascades will
soon be the National Geographic's 14th geotourism region, and will in that way
be promoted as one of the world's special travel destinations. ...
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/geotourism_take_a_bow_central.html
.15 Shedding
the Training Wheels:
OffCite -
Design.Architecture.Houston
Peter Wang, a League of American Bicyclists
instructor and cycling advocate, points to county-wide problems that extend
beyond the Bikeway Plan. “At the Houston-Galveston level, we need a regional bikeway plan that every local government
uses,” he said in an interview. He added, “In some parts of the
county, we are losing cyclable roads.” He also called for a better
intermodal network whereby cyclists could access routes by public
transportation. Bicycle racks on buses have proven successful, but METRO has
not placed racks on its light rail trains.
http://offcite.org/2009/05/30/shedding-the-training-wheels-houston-bikeway-plan-phase-two
.16 Stimulus
Dollars At Home: Regional Officials Roll Out Huge Wish List
Yankton Daily Press -
The calendar said January, but Greg Henderson and
Lynne Keller Forbes thought it was Christmastime. The two executive directors
— Henderson of Planning and Development District III in Yankton, Forbes
of the Southeastern Council of Governments
(SECOG) in Sioux Falls — asked their members for a “wish
list” of projects for the proposed federal stimulus program. Neither
director was prepared for the response. ...
http://www.yankton.net/articles/2009/06/08/community/doc4a2ca1ea62585455758734.txt
.17 Livestock
yard gets plenty of financial help
The Mountaineer -
A regional livestock
yard designed to serve producers from a 19-county area is one step closer to
reality. ... Western North Carolina Communities, is
spearheading the project on behalf of livestock producers and family farmers in
the region, much as it helped formed the N.C. Arboretum and
.18 Place
matters most, especially to young professionals
Fort Worth
Star Telegram -
The larger mega-region,
which includes
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