I.T. Still a Viable Target Industry

Some of our readers wondered, after the last newsletter, if growth in business services (the statistical category that includes programming, information technology and computer services) will continue after the bursting of the dot.com bubble.

Metro areas in the US sustained job growth in business services of 29 percent between 1997 & the summer of 2002. By contrast, overall jobs grew by 7 percent during the period. About two-thirds of the 2.5 million new jobs in business services are related to computers and software development (See chart). Manufacturing, by contrast, lost 1.75 million jobs during the same period.



Business services are not immune to recessions, however. Jobs in the sector dropped by half a million since their peak in July 2000.

Ninety percent of the nation's metros sustained some growth in business services (See map). Oakland California, the site of IEDC's next national conference, had the fastest growth at 96,000 new jobs. Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago round out the Top-5 in absolute growth.

A dozen communities achieved growth rates exceeding 130 percent. Communities like Boise, Hattiesburg, Jacksonville, NC and Yakima, Washington sustained rapid growth in business services(See the chart).




Software and computing are valid technology targets for many communities-- without the tremendous barriers to entry that one finds with technologies like semiconductors. This sector will be far more dispersed than manufacturing and therefore should be included in many target industry programs.

Peter Drucker, in his latest book Managing in the New Society, observes that the Information Revolution has just begun to spawn new industries. Drucker contends that the Information Revolution still has 50 years or more of growth-about the same place today as the industrial revolution in 1820.

 



Speaking of Technology

Ed Bee will address the South Carolina Economic Development Association in October on our most recent technology research, published in the Spring 2002 IEDC Journal. You can review the article at our redesigned web site: www.taimerica.com. We have developed a half-day training session that introduces the subject of technology led economic development to community practitioners. Contact Ed for details.

Also on the web is a link to the acrobat version of our polymer cluster study for the Mississippi Technology Alliance.


Taimerica provides innovative solutions to the location questions of states, communities and businesses worldwide. Our work includes strategic plans, technology assessments, organizational redesigns and marketing plans and strategies. If you are looking for novel but practical solutions to your location needs, contact us at:

(985) 845-1934
ebee@taimerica.com



See You in Oakland

We'll be in Oakland for the IEDC annual conference next week.
Look us up at the Oakland Marriott.