Green jobs, alternative energy, sustainability were at the forefront of most sessions at the recent IEDC conference in Atlanta. Here are some of the take home insights:
- With the state of the economy and the credit crunch most sectors are now in overcapacity except energy.
- The fundamentals behind attracting and fostering a clean tech sector are not that different from any other new industry:
- Understand current legislation impacting economic developers, businesses and community;
- Scarcity means profit (water, natural gas, etc.)
- Specialize (where you already have leverage and world class companies)
- Think about how you can position yourself in the energy supply chain (inputs, outputs) - analyze their needs (ex - new tools, manufacturing goods, services, etc.)
- Be careful of the hype - analyze carefully the trends and where it makes sense - remember the dot com and other bubbles.
- Beware the usual suspects - big players in this new industry are not so new: BP, Exxon, GE, Sun Microsystems, Google, etc.
- Look at the next frontier with new forms of energy coming from zero point energy and cold fusion (hydrogen).
- Communities like Denver (CO) for example have used climate change and sustainability issues to grow more jobs and foster new opportunities in emerging and growing industries like: alternative energy, green buildings, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, recycling, nanotech, etc. Here is a recent example as reported by CNN Money:
"Economic crisis aside, the demand for solar power will remain healthy in the long run, analysts say. But where will all these solar systems be installed?
How about the more than 540 million square feet of industrial rooftop space managed by ProLogis around the world?
The Denver, Colo., owner, manager and developer of real estate is actively seeking out electric utilities to lease out its rooftops as a way to earn extra income with no capital investment, while meeting the company's goal of contributing to global sustainability."
Here is an interesting report on green jobs (current and potential) in the major metropolitan areas in the US.
http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/GreenJobsReport.pdf
The annual conference of EDCO (Economic Developers Council of Ontario) will be most interesting this year (February 3-5 09 in Toronto):
http://www.edco.on.ca/conference/information.htm
SEEING THE BIG PICTURE AHEAD
Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky (1878-1947) wrote, "It is a mistake to think the times we are living in are like any other. These are extraordinary times." Ouspensky escaped from Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, during the Russian Civil War. Read More
Please reflect carefully when mainstream media is in the business of either making you feel good or scaring the … out of you. Lately all we hear is how we must " help " the financial sector, the auto industry, etc. It makes us feel good because "we are doing something". That's myth #1. Myth #2: we need more regulation, apparently, the boys on Wall Street got greedy, or it's the failure of the free market. Well here is the thing:
About myth #1: Too much credit (easy money) got us in this mess in the first place so more of the same poison won't cure the patient. Cleansing (yes bankruptcies) needs to occur to free up capital so competent people can take over from here (well until next time of course). The only thing that can save the jobs of auto workers is a profitable customer. Like Peter Drucker says, "it's very hard to recover from success…" And the Big Three could not quite do it. It was downhill for half a century. Even in the biggest auto market on the planet (USA) titled in their favor - they squandered their money and missed their targets consistently. The UK tried to rescue British Leyland (Mini Austin) in the 70s and it did not work. It just cost taxpayers money - $16B - 2 years later the shop was closed.
About Myth #2: About more regulation, greed and the free markets that don't work. The thing with greed is that, left alone, it is usually balanced with fear (for those who want a better engineered human being fully equipped with no greed - I don't know where to refer you). If you remove fear with regulations (the government) such as - very low interest policy, repealing Glass-Steagall Act (that was under Clinton not Bush - so much for that theory) in 99 allowing depository and investment banks to consolidate, government sponsored Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, the New Community Reinvestment Act that was changed in the 90s that forced banks to loan to low income household, etc - you get the mess we are in. This is regulation in action. So I am not saying "no regulation" but the mess is certainly not caused by free markets because we did not have them (and still don't). Thinking for yourself will be mandatory in this new millennium - question things or you will be taken to the brink.
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Economic Development
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