In the News

MetroCompare in the News:

 

Area Development Magazine- January, 2012. Refocused Economic Development: Less ... - Area Development….  The interstate competition for jobs has proven to be a distraction from more promising economic development strategies such as focusing more resources on the needs of distressed workers and communities. Better alignment between federal and state policies would make the strategies outlined in this article that much more effective and help to leverage scarce public resources better.

 

Chicago Daily Herald- October, 2011. Despite its financial problems, states still want Sears.  Incentives serve a political as well as an economic development purpose.  Regardless of whether the incentive is an effective economic development tool, simply offering the incentive provides a very public mechanism for political leadership to demonstrate their engagement in high profile business projects.

 

New Jersey Biz- May, 2011.  Taking aim at job creation as Ft. Monmouth closes | NJBIZ | Find ... Dan Levine discusses why public officials have a very narrow window of opportunity to recruit companies to Fort Monmouth after the base shuts down operations later this year.

 

Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government- March, 2011.  Dan Levine led a Kennedy School seminar entitled “State Economic Development & Fiscal Federalism:  Mapping a New Direction”.  In an era of fiscally broke states and a retrenching federal government, how might economic development resources be better leveraged and aligned?  Please contact Dan if you are interested in receiving a synopsis of this presentation.

 

Las Vegas Review-Journal- March, 2011. Summerlin's new tech center brings optimism.  Las Vegas has established a new business incubator to encourage start-up companies focused on meeting the technology demands of the hospitality industry.  Dan Levine notes that incubators that leverage core community strengths (like the hospitality industry in Las Vegas) tend to be the most successful.

India Knowledge at Wharton- February, 2011.  Putting Business before Sentiment: India's Latest Investment Rush .... The State of Gujarat is positioned to attract more foreign direct investment than almost any other region in India. Part of its success results from the determination of the state’s political leadership to build “knowledge partnerships” between business and universities; a strategy that Dan Levine notes has proven effective in U.S. communities as well.  Dan also comments on other lessons that are transferable between comparable regions in the US and the State of Gujarat.

 

Site Selection Magazine- November, 2010.  Incentives and the Interstate Competition for Jobs. Incentives have become hugely expensive and proven themselves largely ineffective during the current economic slowdown.  Yet because states must compete with one another, the incentive programs keep getting richer and richer (a classic zero sum game).  This article proposes that revisiting the federal tax treatment of state incentives is one way to slow down the interstate competition for jobs.  Almost all states face the twin problems of structural fiscal imbalance and slow economic growth.  With so many new faces recently elected to statehouses across the country this might be the right time for the states to collectively decide to try new and vastly more promising approaches to economic development. 

 

New Jersey Biz- September, 2010.  Think-tank puts business-attraction program in its crosshairs | nj . Like many states, some New Jersey policymakers are concerned about the increasing cost and apparently diminishing effectiveness of some state incentive programs.  Sometimes though incentives do matter most, when they seem to matter the least.

 

Journal of MultiState Taxation- June, 2010.  How State Budget Woes Might Affect Your Business.  Spending cuts at the state level inevitably mean that local spending will be commensurately reduced or property taxes will rise. Employee dissatisfaction with their home community and resulting recruitment and retention difficulties, may accelerate a company’s need and willingness to move to a lower-cost location.

 

New Jersey Biz- April, 2010 Pharma plans new strategies to keep jobs, investments in N.J

Major pharmaceutical companies are implementing new research and development strategies that will result in their outsourcing more than 50% or research and development to third parties.  This creates unique opportunities for research universities and extreme challenges for those locations currently hosting large R&D facilities.

 

Area Development Magazine- January, 2010 24th Annual Corporate Survey Analysis by Daniel Levine ...  One surprise in this year’s survey was that an equal number of respondents opened facilities as shut them down during the past year….. Because most of the increased profit reported by S&P companies during the past year has resulted from cost cutting (especially reducing employment), companies are sitting on vast quantities of surplus property.  Unless top line revenue growth resumes in earnest (and new hires start filling vacant space), tight commercial real estate financing will remain a top concern throughout 2010.

 

Business Expansion Journal- January, 2010.  What's Ahead? Site Selection Outlook For 2010-2015 | Business ...  Recovery is a bit of a misnomer in this situation. Our economy has undergone a structured but orderly decline as governments, companies and households deleveraged themselves from positions of excessive debt. I do not expect to see the same level of cyclical bounce that one expects during a typical “recovery.” Consequently, during 2010 and beyond, there will be tremendous opportunities for companies to restructure and consolidate operations in locations where they can capture some of the cost-savings opportunities that result from the surplus labor and real estate now abundant in most markets.

 

New Jersey Biz- November, 2009.  Corner Office: Daniel Levine . http://www.allbusiness.com/trade-development/economic-development/13535313-1.html

Today’s economy demands new economic development strategies.  In New Jersey, successful economic development will require that the state more effectively target new foreign direct investment and promote university-business research partnerships. 

 

University Economic Development Association-October, 2009.  Corporate Relocation – How companies choose one location over ...  Dan Levine’s presentation to the annual summit of the UEDA.  How do companies choose one location over another and what roles do universities play in the process?

 

Area Development Magazine- September, 2009. Keeping Jobs At Home: Strategies That Work Weak labor and real estate markets, slow top line revenue growth at most companies and much less foreign direct investment means fewer corporate projects during this coming year.  What can states do to leverage corporate relationships and what can companies do to more effectively partner with public institutions in their communities? This article explores a few strategies that work.

 

Site Selection Magazine- July, 2009.  Cases Studies in Cooperation.  How Universities and private industry can maximize their proximity and their job-creation potential.  From technology transfer to the outsourcing of corporate research and development; learn how innovative universities are positioning their communities for growth.

 

Dallas Business Journal- June, 2009.  Observation regarding the strength of the Dallas/Fort Worth Region for recruitment of financial services companies; particularly as recession winds down.