Taimerica cited for its role in Missouri reforms
“Moving Missouri to the Vanguard supplied us with the valuable research that we needed to craft our legislation and make our case with the Missouri Legislature. Following recommendations in the study, we succeeded in passing the most useful economic development legislation in Missouri’s recent history”, commented Ray McCarty, lobbyist for the Missouri Economic Development Council after the legislature enacted Taimerica’s recommendations on a 150-2 vote in the house and a unanimous vote in the senate! Taimerica knows how to craft economic development programs that work, and we know how to get them enacted into law. Missouri is our third consecutive success. We also developed recommendations recently to assist in the reorganization of statewide programs in Louisiana and Puerto Rico. Performance matters more than ever in economic development. Our seasoned team of economic development professionals is available to help position your community or state at the vanguard of economic development success. Give us a call to discuss your needs.

What’s Hot in the U.S. economy?
The national economy is growing again -- which creates opportunities for economic developers. The fastest growing sector, web search portals, include companies like Yahoo and Google. The results suggest that some opportunities are emerging for rural communities. Just one of the fastest growing sectors (ethyl alcohol production) was in manufacturing (see table below). . Ethyl alcohol production by consortiums of local investors, for use as a fuel additive, has been an effective source of new jobs in the rural Plains and Midwest states.

The fastest growing industries tend to be driven by increased consumer spending more than by expansion of our national production capacity. Six of the Top-10 are in personal services. Several are related to the boom (some would say bubble) in housing construction. Others are a reflection of a growing number of aging baby boomers. Anyone looking for a novel target industry? Other personal care services (NAICS 812199) includes companies that perform hair removal, hair replacement, body piercing, tattoos, massages and tanning and employment nearly doubled in the last 5 years. Investment advice is an interesting industry. It consists of companies that deliver financial advice only when the client is paying the fee. Who would have thought that this sector and motorcycle dealers would have doubled their employment in the last 5 years? These could be good retail targets for rural areas with a high number of retirees. Educational support services include companies that perform testing services. We suspect that a lot of growth in this industry stems from testing mandates under federal and state reforms.

The table demonstrates, once again, that it is time for developers to diversify beyond manufacturing.

Kolzow to Lead Tennessee Training Institute
Dr. Dave Kolzow has been appointed the Executive Director of a new statewide economic development training institute in Tennessee. Dave’s job is to train volunteers and economic development professionals to become more effective and accountable in their communities. Dr. Kolzow will continue his relationship with Taimerica as a Director and Senior Advisor. Dave pioneered the use of strategic planning in economic development and is the recognized guru of strategic planning, even by our competitors. He spent twenty-years improving his tools and techniques and is still at the cutting edge of this important element of economic development. We wish Dave well in his new role and are delighted that Taimerica will continue to have access to his knowledge of site selection and economic development.

More Projects
Taimerica’s practice continues to growth both spatially and in its range of products. Taimerica has been retained by Joplin and Neosho, MO to perform community assessments and target industry recommendations. We are finishing an organizational strategic plan for the Independence Economic Development Council in Missouri and have developed recommendations to the Rural Action Partnership at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for more effective rural economic development in Oklahoma. And we recently completed community assessments and target industry recommendations in 5 regions of Wyoming. No matter where you’re located, we will give you recommendations tailored to your needs and circumstances.

Target Industry Newsletters
Taimerica is introducing a subscription newsletter service that tracks your target industries on a monthly basis. Each newsletter gives a summary of significant industry trends, news about key players in the industry and announcements about site selection projects and decisions. We’re interested in seeing which targets are of interest to your program. We invite you to take a one question online survey to give us your views. The survey response will take less than a minute. Click on the link below. We’ll announce the launch date and subscription details in our next newsletter.

Click here to take survey

Contact Information
Taimerica has active associates in North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Idaho. Visit our redesigned web site to view resumes and to look at examples of recent projects. Feel free to contact any one of our four associates to discuss your needs: