As I write on Friday morning, April 19, we are taking the first small steps at recovering from the tragedy that has befallen our university. Feelings of overwhelming sadness and helplessness are now part of life for the Virginia Tech family and our community, and will be for a very long time.
President Steger noted that the one bright light in the darkness and horror of the last few days has been the strength and spirit so prevalent across campus. We have been bathed in a flood of support from people we know and from those who are just learning of our university. Your support has been so special and has helped us to feel not so alone … we feel the bounty of your gifts and thank you.
Our spirit can best be reflected in Nikki Giovanni’s closing words at the convocation on April 17, 2007:
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH.
Thank you for your caring and love. Many have asked how to help. One small suggestion: Take a moment in our honor and make a special effort to let someone know you care and are there for them. It will feel good for both of you.
Ted Settle
IN THIS ISSUE
Measuring Economic Development
- Why an OED Newsletter on Measuring Economic Development? by Ted Settle
Our society increasingly demands greater accountability and assessment of how public dollars are being spent on economic development and higher education. Likewise, economic development professionals are demonstrating a greater interest in wanting to know the effects of their contributions. Therefore, the theme of this newsletter is measuring economic development. Often this means quantification of these efforts to increase wealth, jobs, and improve the quality of life of citizens. However, since converting social conditions into numbers is not always simple or desirable, more qualitative methods are often required. For more, visit http://www.econdev.vt.edu/Newsletter/March%2007%20Newsletter/WhyOEDnews.html
- The Economic Impact of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority by Sibel Atasoy
Virginia Tech’s OED and Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics partnered to analyze the economic Impact of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) . Prior to joining OED, Sibel Atasoy, worked with Jeff Alwang and Bradford Mills at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics to complete an impact assessment of 18 years of investments over $80 million by the Authority to revitalize the economy of the Virginia Coalfield Region. To read more, visit http://www.econdev.vt.edu/Newsletter/March%2007%20Newsletter/VaCoalfield.html
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Assessing the Economic and Community Impact of a Coal-fired Power Plant on Wise County by Sibel Atasoy
In the spring of 2006 Wise County was selected as the site of a new coal-fired power plant by a consortium of power companies headed by Dominion Resources. The 500-600 mega-watt plant will represent an investment of some $1 billion in this economically challenged region of the Commonwealth. For more on the Wise County Power Plant, visit http://www.econdev.vt.edu/Newsletter/March%2007%20Newsletter/WiseCo.html
- “SO, WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?” The Office of Economic Development Impact Assessment Projects by John Provo
A substantial portion of the budget for the Office of Economic Development (OED) comes from an external funding agency, the US Economic Development Administration. As per the requirements of the EDA, we complete semi-annual reports compiling traditional measures of our work. This essentially involves cataloging and documenting our project activity---the “throughput” or “body counts” generated by our work. We were excited when the Vice Provost for Outreach and International Affairs first requested all units within the division complete “impact assessments” of their work. We viewed this as an opportunity to develop a richer approach that would go beyond simply documenting our activity and provide both tangible evidence and marketable stories about how our work impacts the communities we serve. See more on OED's Assessment Projects at http://www.econdev.vt.edu/Newsletter/March%2007%20Newsletter/Next.html
- New Techniques for Measuring Economic Development compiled by Chad Miller
Amy Worgan and Samuel Nunn of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in their 2002 Economic Development Quarterly article, “Exploring a Complicated Labyrinth: Some Tips on Using Patent Data to Measure Urban and Regional Innovation,” describe patent data that is easily available to researchers and presents a starting point for collecting, manipulating, and using patent data as a measure of innovative activity within a geographical region. To see more on techniques for measuring economic development, visit http://www.econdev.vt.edu/Newsletter/March%2007%20Newsletter/techniques.html
PARTNER PROFILE
The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AAEC) is one of the 12 academic departments in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The AAEC department provides students, public officials, and the private sector with the education and knowledge needed to make sound economic decisions about the production, processing and distribution of agricultural products, the development of rural communities, and the use of natural resources. The department has an integrated program of teaching, research, and Extension that focuses on these three themes.
The AAEC department offers a wide range of concentrations both at undergraduate and graduate levels to train students in economic theory and its applications. The research at the AAEC department is characterized by a high level of entrepreneurial activity among faculty and other departments to develop research proposals. In addition, the state-supported Rural Economic Analysis Program (REAP) supports research on state-level problems. The focus of the Extension program is to improve the economic decision making of agricultural business, industry and banking managers, policy makers and rural residents through the delivery of educational programs. The department also houses the Center for Economic Education that provides assistance to Virginia’s educators in teaching economics at the primary and secondary grade levels. To find out more about the Departmen of Agriculture and Applied Economics, visit http://www.aaec.vt.edu/aaec/
NEWS FROM THE WEB
In their report, Getting Our Money’s Worth? An Evaluation of the Economic Model Used for Awarding State Business Subsidies, the researchers conclude that North Carolina's offer to Dell was overly generous, with fiscal impacts three times higher than those of other projections. The researchers attribute the high fiscal impacts to weaknesses in the model North Carolina used to make its projections and a reliance upon excessive sales estimates provided by Dell. Following corrections to the model, the report estimates North Carolina will lose $72 million in revenue from the deal rather than gain $707 million, as the state predicted. The researchers suggest similar generous offers may be widespread, noting preliminary findings of 31 other projects in the state’s Job Development Investment Grants program.
In the Iowa State Auditor’s report on the Grow Iowa Values Fund, the state auditor of Iowa claimed that, of the 30,732 jobs the Iowa Department of Economic Development reported to have been pledged between July 2003 and June 2006, only 14,285 jobs were included in contracts signed between the department and the businesses receiving funds. Additionally, the auditor evaluated the effectiveness of the Grow Iowa Values Fund, stating that while contracts were signed to create 343 jobs and retain 52 existing jobs, as of June 2006 only 80 jobs were created and 28 existing jobs were retained. The difference may illustrate either unrealized employment or just a time lag between jobs pledged and jobs created. In response to the audit, the Iowa Department of Economic Development said that no wrongdoing had occurred, but that improvements can be made in the methodology the state uses to track and report employment figures which are subsidized by various funding mechanisms.
This site provides tourisme economic impact estimates including expenditures, payroll, employment, tax collections, and tax collections by locality, tax rates, and other useful economic impact of travel data.
Virginia Allies Impact Assessment Information
http://virginiaallies.org/research/impact.html
This sites describes and provides links to economic impact analysis tools including IMPLAN RIMS II multipliers, REMI Policy Insight model, and the Federal Reserve Fiscal Impact Tool. |
