NCDS Recent News

MICHIGAN STRATEGIC FUND, CONSUMERS ENERGY FOUNDATION, JACKSON ORGANIZATIONS GIVE $300,000 TO LEAN ROCKET LAB BUSINESS INCUBATOR

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Resources Available for Next Generation of Start-up Businesses in Jackson JACKSON, Mich., March 26, 2019 /3BL Media/ – The Lean Rocket Lab announced today that it is receiving $300,000 in support from the Michigan Strategic Fund, the Consumers Energy Foundation and local organizations to help nurture the next generation of businesses in Jackson. The Lean Rocket Lab opened in downtown Jackson at 133 W. Michigan Ave. late last year and is providing working space and resources to support start-up companies. The business accelerator is receiving $150,000 from the Michigan Strategic Fund, $100,000 from the Consumers Energy Foundation and another $50,000 from Jackson organizations...

WDC REACHES BEYOND PREVIOUS CAPITAL CAMPAIGN GOALS TO ACCELERATE WATERTOWN’S GROWTH

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Watertown Development Company (WDC) has reached $3.5 million in pledges for its capital campaign goal, the largest total its ever achieved. Launched September 2018 with the assistance from National Community Development Services out of Atlanta, GA, GROW Watertown is a five-year campaign for collaborative investment to accelerate and secure Watertown’s economic growth. The success of the campaign means WDC will be better positioned to promote the area to businesses and entrepreneurs across the country and beyond while also helping companies already rooted in the community thrive. Continue to full article

Generation YouTube Gets Some Love (of Manufacturing)

Thursday, January 31, 2019

The manufacturing industry has drastically changed in recent years, yet the public’s perception has not. Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), part of the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Extension Partnership (PA MEP) and the MEP National Network, found a solution. After talking to stakeholders throughout Pennsylvania, MRC confirmed what it suspected: manufacturing’s image needed to be addressed and change begun with students before they enter high school. But MRC still struggled with how to reach the younger generation and get them interested in manufacturing careers. In 2013, MRC decided to create a student video contest that would help to change perceptions and attitudes in Pennsylvania about the...

The Future of Work Begins with a City’s Youngest Residents

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

As city leaders across the country develop strategies to prepare residents for changing job trends, here is one strategy you might not have considered: early childhood education. While young children may seem a far cry from our workforce, there are several reasons why any city leader preparing for the future of work in their communities should be thinking about early childhood. Read full article.

General Colin Powell's Leadership Precepts: Entrepreneurs Should Lead, Not Manage

Monday, January 28, 2019

“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” US General, Colin Powell Pete Lamson, CEO of JazzHR, knows the difference between leading and managing. He draws his inspirations from several sources, most notably General Colin Powell. Read full article.

Inclusive and Diverse Economic Development, a New Era

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Inclusive economic development, which is made up of community-based strategies, aims to improve economic opportunity for all, with a specific focus on: disadvantaged populations. IEDC has conducted research and produced two papers on the topic: “Revitalizing Neighborhoods, Empowering Residents” and “Opportunities for All: Strategies for Inclusive Economic Development”. Both papers are available for members to download, and for non-members to purchase at the bookstore. Inclusive economic development is becoming more prominent as we study the economy of our cities and how to level the playing field. This is why IEDC chose it as the theme for the 2018 Annual Conference. More specifically,...

No Trepidation: Advocacy is Storytelling and Fundraising (Interview with Kelly Siefkin, CFRE)

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Continue to full article to view video transcript.

How Your School Affects Where You Live

Monday, January 14, 2019

Where do graduates move after college? Ivy League grads move to the big cities. Community college grads stay close to home. But what about everyone else? Your choice of college affects not only your academic career, but also where you live after graduation. We recently partnered with The Wall Street Journal to publish research on which U.S. cities draw the most college graduates. Hint: the big cities tend to dominate, but not always. Now we want to consider some new questions. Where are the graduates of each school moving? How far do they tend to migrate from their alma mater? Does the type of institution...

Measuring the Role of Social Networks in Entrepreneurship

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Social networks and social networking are often mentioned in discussions about innovation and entrepreneurship. But these terms can have widely varying definitions and, at present, there is no clear way to measure social networks in the context of entrepreneurship. Consequently, there is no quantitative way to determine the relationship between social networks and entrepreneurial success. A team of researchers from NC State is setting out to change that, with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Jeff Pollack, Jon Carr and Tim Michaelis – all faculty in NC State’s Poole College of Management – are serving as co-principal investigators on a two-year project...

National League of Cities Announces $100 Million in Partnerships to Support Entrepreneurship, STEM Education and Innovation in Communities Across America

Tuesday, January 08, 2019

The National League of Cities (NLC) is announcing $100 million in local partnerships to expand America’s innovation economy. These investments come at a critical time when there is a growing need for resources to create startups and train the next generation of science and engineering talent in communities across America. Currently, 80 percent of venture capital goes to just five metropolitan areas, and computer science is not offered in 75 percent of American high schools. Cities must lead on the nation’s most pressing issues in the absence of federal leadership. Over the past year, NLC, with support from Schmidt Futures, has worked with...

Is Your New Economy Workforce Hiding Where You Least Expect It?

Friday, January 04, 2019

To get a complete picture of a location’s workforce, site selectors need to look beyond costs to educational attributes and quality of life among other factors. Workforce is critically important in every industry these days. In an exceptionally tight labor market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a community that can deliver the talent growing companies require. Deeper digging can help you find the workforce you need today and the one you may need tomorrow. The following are tips on how to create a complete picture of the site you’re considering and its surrounding labor pool. Labor cost is often a top...

The robots are coming to school: Now what?

Wednesday, January 02, 2019

While the iconic HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey may not yet be a fixture in our homes, many of us have intelligent assistants, such as Alexa or Google Home, that help us manage our daily lives. And that technology is quickly becoming commonplace in schools, as well. Some argue that intelligent assistants will be one of the most disruptive technologies in the near future. What impact will these assistants have on education, and what challenges and opportunities do they pose for educators, practitioners, and researchers? As an innovation leader on the “what, why, and how” of robots and learning, these are questions...

Akron incubator hopes to cultivate food entrepreneurship

Monday, December 31, 2018

Entrepreneurs who want to start or grow a food business will be able to utilize a certified commercial kitchen in Akron as soon as renovations are complete at a former church on East Market Street that is now owned by The Well Community Development Corp. The 100-year-old building is already being used by The Well for multiple initiatives designed to help bolster the surrounding Middlebury neighborhood, including the Compass Coffee shop. The organization has spent the past six months securing the funding to rehab the building's kitchen to become Akron Food Works, an incubator for food entrepreneurs of all stripes: small catering businesses, food...

Superstar cities have a big advantage in attracting high-paying jobs

Thursday, December 27, 2018

How can the understudies best prepare themselves for a lucky break? In the end, Amazon disappointed everyone. A year ago the e-commerce giant said it would open a second headquarters, and solicited bids from cities keen on the 50,000 new jobs and $5bn in investment it would bring. The gambit might have produced a fascinating experiment in urban development, and a departure from the concentration of top tech firms in a few favored places. It did not. Though local governments wooed the firm with juicy incentives, no city nabbed the promised co-headquarters. On November 13th Amazon said it would split its new...

RURAL INNOVATION INITIATIVE

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

In partnership with our sister organization, RISI, we’re helping rural communities realize their vision for creating digital economy jobs and kickstarting their economies. Rural America has struggled to bounce back from the recession. Entrepreneurship has been on the decline for the last decade, and the trend is hitting rural communities particularly hard. The Rural Innovation Initiative will help communities change that story. This new project will work to bridge the opportunity gap in rural America by helping communities build the capacity to create resilient, innovation-based jobs. For rural places that have already begun working on building new entrepreneurship capacity in their communities, the Rural Innovation...

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