Support

As part of the JUMPSmart Maui launch festivities, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa and other program partners demonstrate the charging of Nissan LEAF vehicles. Photo courtesy of the Maui Economic Development Board.

Maui County, Hawaii-In addition to leveraging the Haleakala Volcano to host several research complexes, MEDB supports Maui’s space industry via the Maui Research and Technology Center and the Maui Research and Technology Park. The park houses and supports companies involved in fields like space surveillance and situational awareness. MEDB also hosts the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies conference that brings hundreds of scientists and researchers in every year.

Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-The county has leveraged its proximity to Interstate 20, the port of Savannah and the Augusta Regional Airport and ensured it has available industrial sites. It attracted a Starbucks manufacturing facility to the Augusta Corporate Park via a $200 million industrial bond. The plant, which will open in 2014, will create 140 jobs and has already been instrumental in attracting new businesses. Since Starbucks agreed to come to the county, Augusta-Richmond has also landed Rockwood Color Pigment and Services, which will bring an estimated 80 to 100 jobs.

Prince George County, Va.-In 2006, Prince George County took the lead in assembling 1,000 acres to host the CrossPointe Centre facility for Rolls-Royce, beating out several other states. On the local level, the county has partnered with Service Center Metals to get tax credits, real estate property investment credits and grants to help establish a re-melt plant to reuse aluminum scrap. This project will bring 20 new jobs and $17.5 million in investments in its first phase and 15 new jobs and another $17.5 million investment in the second.

Leaders in King County, Wash. apply a regional approach linking economic and workforce development.

King County, Wash.-King County has endorsed a regional approach to economic and workforce development. To that end, in 2011 the King County Aerospace Alliance was formed to ensure the competitiveness of the aerospace industry, which directly supports 84,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region alone. The Alliance has worked with industry and Washington State University in job training. In 2012 the Workforce Development Council of Seattle and King County provided over $1 million to train 209 students in aerospace manufacturing, composite technology and aircraft assembly, with 139 of these students ending up employed in the county.

Brookings County played an integral role in securing federal and state funding for the development fo the SDSU Innovation Campus. Photo courtesy of South Dakoa State University.

Brookings County, S.D.-In 2004, leaders from Brookings County, the City of Brookings, South Dakota State Agencies, Brookings Economic Development Corporation, South Dakota State University (SDSU) and the private sector established SDSU Growth Partnership, the purpose of which was to drive knowledge- and innovation-based economic growth in the county. The partnership initially focused on the county’s first research park.

The Facebook data center in Rutherford County. Photo courtesy of Rutherford County.

Rutherford County, N.C.-The county lost manufacturing jobs in the late 1990s, particularly in textiles and furniture. The county capitalized on existing infrastructure assets, including affordable electricity, fiber optic Internet and an expansive water and sewer system to attract future employers. In 2010, the county persuaded Facebook to invest over $900 million in two data centers. These require a massive and reliable energy source along with a large supply of water, and the county had both. Data centers also require a dependable fiber-optic network, something the county created with a grant from the state-created Golden LEAF foundation.

Catanese Classic Seafood is a small, family-owned business that received a Western Reserve Fund Loan to create 30 new jobs and retain over 60 jobs in Cuyahoga County. Photo courtesy of Western Reserve Fund.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio-The county has created a $100 million Economic Development Fund, also known as the Western Reserve Fund, drawing on sales tax revenue and collaborations with non-profits, philanthropies and banks for its initial revenue. As businesses that receive loans grow, they will repay these loans and thus contribute funds for other businesses. The county will also dedicate any savings from its efficiency campaign to further augment the fund. As of March 2013, $30 million, mostly in loans, had been awarded. One beneficiary, AmTrust Financial, was moved to expand into Cleveland and create 800 jobs in the process.

The Garrett Information Enterprise Center, a technology-based business incubator. Photo courtesy of GIEC Coordinator Mike Tumbarello.

Garrett County, Md.-Established in 2002, the Garrett Information Enterprise Center is a technology-based business incubator on the Garrett College Campus. It currently provides low-cost rental space to 11 start-ups, including technology businesses, government service contractors and non-profit organizations. The center also provides counseling, coaching and course opportunities. In 2012, the center served nearly 100 entrepreneurs. In 2013 the GIEC established the Garrett Center for Entrepreneurship intended to offer programmatic and technical support to local entrepreneurs.