CDF in Tupelo named in Top Ten economic development organizations.

Site Selection magazine has named the Community Development Foundation, headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, to its 2007 list of Top Ten economic development groups in the United States.  The selection is based on the following criteria:

total capital investment;
investment per capita;
total jobs created;
jobs created per capita;
the contributions of the local or regional economic development organization toward the attainment of these numbers;
overall economic vitality;
depth and breadth of economic strength;
diversity of industry;
ability to generate breakthrough deals;
and the ability to provide verifiable documentation for all projects. 

Best and Worst States for Legal Climate

The Institute for Legal Reform just issued its 2008 Lawsuit Report.

The best states, according to the report are Delaware, Nebraska, Maine, Indiana and Utah.  Listed as worst are West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Illinois. 

VW narrows search to Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee.

According to an online article of the Greenville News, the German automaker said Wednesday (April 24) it had narrowed its search for a U.S. plant location to the states of Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee.

Here’s the link to the article:

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/BUSINESS/804240309/1001/NEWS01

Prefab houses

I love browsing through my replicated Sears catalogue that contains plans and order forms for house kits that Sears sold at one time.  The idea worked at the time.  People bought the materials in kit form and built their own houses.  These houses are all over the country.  There is even an organization, The Sears House Project, that helps to locate and preserve Sears Houses.

The pre-fabricated house idea seems to be a good one, but it has never really caught on. Allison Arieff, co-author of Prefab, stated in a recent Chicago Tribune interview that, “Modern prefab can begin to make a dent in the tragic vernacular homogeneity that plagues this country.”  (I think I know what that means.)

For more information about “affordable modernist factory-built residential architecture” check out fabprefab.com, a Web site by architect Michael Sylvester. Check out the section showing houses made from shipping containers.

Generic Mission Statement

Our mission is to exceed the expectations of our customers, inspire and reward our employees, and provide superior financial results to our investors.

Hmm.  Compare to:

Georgia Pacific - 

To create unique value for our customers with:

	A wide range of competitively priced bleached paperboard products that consistently meet their needs for manufacturing folding carton, food service and other value-added products;
•	Industry-leading sales, logistics, administrative and technical support that allow them to run their operations more efficiently and profitably and;
•	A proactive, customer-oriented, market-driven service focus — making it easy for them to do business with us.     Google -  Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

 

Valuing nature’s services? What’s that about?

In a list in a previous post there is the subject of “Valuing nature’s services.”  Someone wanted to know what that was about.  I too was intrigued when I heard this, so I inquired of the speaker for more information.  It seems that this refers to things that nature itself provides to humanity - clean and water, for example.  I’ve also been doing some research on the subject.  You can read more in my next column in the Mississippi Business Journal.

Speakers offer lists.

Interesting lists from a couple of speakers at a conference I am attending.

Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and one of the more accurate political analysts, listed his four “North Stars” of presidential elections.  He says that all presidential elections come down to one or more of these:
War & Peace
Economy
Scandal
Hot button social issues

Brian Dabson, CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) listed five “Global Forces Impacting Rural America.  They are:

Climate change
Globalizing Economies
Shifting populations
Energy
Valuing nature’s services 

Jackson Hilton Hotel steps up when the community had a need.

Spring came in like a lion to my town this weekend and gave us a hard right jab:   22 injured, 40,000-plus without power and lots of property damage.  You can check out a photo slide show at the Clarion-Ledger Web site (click here) or the video at WLBT (click here).

Sometimes in these situations, local hotels and motels will jack up rates.  I recall several instances of lodging facilities being charged for price-gouging after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  Last night I heard something so interesting that I had to confirm it.  I was told that the Jackson Hilton, was offering rooms for $50 a night to Jackson residents who were displaced by the storm .  These rooms normally go for more than $150 a night!  So this morning I called and asked the front desk clerk if that was the case.  “Yes, that is true,” she said, and then paused.  “But we’re all sold out.”

Hats off to the Jackson Hilton for stepping up when the community had a need.

1:15 p.m. Sign Update - Thank you Charlie!

Kudos to the Charlie Ross campaign.  At 1:15 p.m. it was observed that the campaign signs were removed.

Now about that Domino’s sign.

Domino’s and Charlie: Please remove your signs.

I am fortunate to live in a neighborhood where neighbors not only care about each other, but also about the appearance of the area. A local architect who feels the same way even formed a partnership and bought an eyesore of a house on the corner of a busy intersection and turned the lot into green space. Click here to read an article about the project.

So I wasn’t too happy this morning when I noticed that a brightly colored, commercial sign peddling pizza had appeared on the property. It was not the only sign on the property. A local political candidate’s sign appeared on Monday, the day before election day. I concede that the candidate, who is a well-respected person, probably was not aware that overzealous campaign workers were surely the ones who placed the signs there. Anyway, so much for beautiful, neighborhood green space.

Oh, in case you are wondering, I called the owner and verified that the signs were placed there without permission.