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Have a vision? Need some capital? Read this story…

A view of Downtown Saranac Lake from the city's website

Talk about taking action- I read this article in the New York Times (well, actually I read it on Twitter from my phone) and it exemplified a small community taking control of its destiny. It identified a gap, proposed a solution, took on the challenge and made it happen. The small mountain community of Saranac Lake realized residents needed a local place to buy everyday goods and went to work.

I preface that I know Saranac Lake rather well as I worked as a reporter at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and the Lake Placid News during summer 2001 while attending SUNY Plattsburgh (the same town which the article refers to as the land of the big boxes).

I think this initiative demonstrates two elements that are more important than ever right now given current economic conditions: 1) it is important for communities to believe and embrace their vision of the future and, 2) if there is a will, there is a way. Saranac Lake said no to Wal-Mart as the residents said they would prefer to drive the 50 miles to shop at big box stores. This is not a knock on Wal-Mart as many communities welcome the large retailer, but some prefer to keep the store outside city limits.

The residents also tackled another challenge — fundraising in a tough economy. Granted they had help from the real Mr. Big (all you SATC fans understand this reference) but the article indicates raising the necessary capital ($600,000) to open a local department store was difficult. The lack of available funds sidelined similar projects and initiatives in other cities.

Many of our clients inquire about fundraising because everyone could use an extra financial boost right now. Nonprofits, economic development organizations and other associations have asked how to go about fundraising given everyone is financially strapped. I say it starts with the value proposition. Why are you fundraising? What will you do with the resources? What is the vision? If you can get people behind your value proposition, similar to the residents in Saranac Lake, you can have a successful campaign. Without that support and belief, any fundraising efforts will be difficult. Then you have to figure out the necessary tools.

You have to hand it to the residents of idyllic Saranac Lake — they raised the money and opened their locally owned department store on Main Street. They had a vision, tackled fundraising challenges and achieved what the community said it wanted in downtown. I hope that there is enough local support to sustain the store and to provide a small return to those shareholders. I look forward to buying some moose pajamas when I return to the area next May. (You have to love mountain towns….)— Victoria Hirschberg, TPMA senior project consultant

Victoria@tpma-inc.com

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By admin – November 16, 2011

Skills Matching for Better Workforce Development Outcomes

Historically, workforce development has focused on subjective occupation matching, without regard to methodical and ongoing analysis of labor market trends at the skills level. For example, an unemployed machinist may go to a OneStop office and ask, “What should I do next?” Without really analyzing local and national trends, the OneStop career counselor might say, “My experience is that electronic maintenance and repair occupations are always in demand, they pay well, and you have some related experience and training. Here is a contact at the local college that can help you get trained.”

Fast forward to today. There is an explosion of labor market information available electronically. Now, we can break down each occupation to the knowledge, skills and abilities (“KSAs”) required to perform that job well. Because each KSA is given a standard title and code, and we have electronic access to more than a decade of occupational demand data, we can provide that same unemployed machinist with the following data:

• All of the occupations that most closely match the KSAs and educational requirements to machinist
• Of the universe of closely matching occupations, which ones are in greatest demand locally and nationally, and pay the best wages
• The education and or/certification requirements for those growing and better occupations closely related to the machinist position, and
• Local employers which have posted the greatest number of jobs recently that are related to machinist

This kind of analysis is also available on an organizational or community scale. Let’s say that a local manufacturer announces it is going to lay off 500 workers. We can take that staffing pattern, and create career pathways, a list of employers with the most recent job postings, and a list of education and training inputs that are necessary to fill the KSA void between the eliminated occupations and those that are in greater demand. We can also create ideal career pathways for each program area of study for educational institutions.

TPMA can serve your rapid response or career counseling team with this kind of insight in a comprehensive way. We can develop customized career pathways for your local workforce.

Matt Waldo is Vice President of Research and Analysis at TPMA.  Contact Matt at mwaldo@tpma-inc.com. To connect with Matt on LinkedIn, click here.

Posted in Career Pathways, Workforce Development.

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By admin – November 10, 2011

Indiana Life Science companies using social media for maximum ROI

A recent article from INside Indiana Business highlights several Indiana companies that have embraced social media. It discusses several Indianapolis companies such as Lilly that have utilized several social media tools like You Tube to reach customers and achieve maximum return on their marketing and customer service efforts.

The greatest thing about social media is it is free!

To read more about how Indiana companies are using social media, click here.

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By admin – November 2, 2011

Ask a Consultant- You have questions, we have answers!

Victoria presents about social media for economic development at the 2010 IEDC annual conference

This monnth the topic of choice was economic development marketing. Thomas P. Miller and Associates Senior Project Consultant Victoria Hirschberg answers some brief questions about the topic.

Is economic development marketing the same as advertising?
Often times people think that marketing is the same as advertising, which could be placing an advertisement online or in a print publication. While advertising represents a component of marketing, I believe marketing is about research, understanding your audience and strategy (which of course, could include some clever advertising). Each economic development organization or workforce entity serve different audiences and need to devise ways to reach those people. That is where marketing comes into the equation.

Do I need to use social media?
Ah- social media question. I am going to quickly say yes! And then follow that up with don’t start it if you’re not going to use it consistently. I tell clients social media is not a task, it’s a tool and a very important one in our society. There are thousands of CEOs on Linkedin, news sources on twitter and probably a large cross-section of your desired audience. It is important to have a content-based strategy in place and then have fun. Social media represents a fun, different way to communicate and engage.

How do I get started?
I tell people to dive in, but be sure you are not jumping off too fast. Take a moment to develop some key messages, figure out what tools you want to use and the best ways to leverage those networks. Are your links posted on your website’s homepage; do you have several photo albums posted; do you have capacity? Sometimes it’s hard to see the initial impact, but trust me, you will know when you see that effect.

If you want to ask some more questions or ask Victoria a questions, feel free to contact her via email @ victoria@tpma-inc.com

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By admin – October 21, 2011

IEDC recognizes TPMA study as best annual report

The International Economic Development Council awarded the Purdue Research Foundation its highest award of excellence for its Annual Report at the 2011 conference in Charlotte, NC. The foundation manages the Purdue Research Park network and worked with Thomas P. Miller and Associates to determine the park’s economic impact. The TPMA study found the impact on the state of Indiana at $1.3 billion.

For more information, click here

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By admin – October 3, 2011

Economic Development Today

Right now, every community is trying to win the race of competitiveness by attracting new companies and creating new jobs. This race is not easy right now- in fact, it is more of an exercise in endurance and creativity. Given that companies have made recent significant announcements — the opening of Regal Beloit in McAllen; Bosch expanding in South Carolina; Memphis granting more than $100 million in incentives for a new Electrolux manufacturing plant; and a new Mitsubishi turbine manufacturer in Savannah— it is now the time for communities to take a breath and test that endurance. This race is tough.

 

This is the time for all communities to take a mirror and hold it up to see what the real strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are to economic development. Are there available industrial buildings that meet a variety of standards and if no, what are the steps to address this? Does leadership support economic development and does everyone know the shared definition of economic development? Many communities have a different vision of what economic development actually means; some think it is any type of company and any job and other focus on higher skilled with higher wages. When the competition is fierce and companies want to move quickly, this definition becomes critical.

 

I have traveled to more than 15 communities in the past three months and I have observed that every place has its strengths, weaknesses and individual vision. Many lack a strategic plan tied to that vision, which makes it difficult for a community to rebound during these hard times. Some of these communities are home to large global manufacturers, but have zero support from elected officials. Other communities have lost their industrial bases and now solely rely on the government sector. Other communities have great interstate and port access, but have no workforce.

 

All communities are grappling right now with these quandaries. The ones that can face those hard realities and take strategic action will come out ahead in this competition. It includes a close look at everything: the product, the process, marketing, funding and target industries.

If you have a question, please contact me at Victoria@tpma-inc.com and let me know.

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By admin – August 18, 2011

Welcome to TPMA’s Blog

Welcome to Thomas P. Miller and Associates’s newest endeavor!  We’re glad you came to check us out.  If this is your first time hearing of us, please check us out at www.tpma-inc.com.

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By admin – August 17, 2011