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Home > Articles By Issue > December 2005

13th Annual Business Facilities Economic Development Awards: Best Programs

For well over a decade, Business Facilities magazine has been recognizing those communities and individuals who have been leaders in the arena of economic development. This year for the Economic Development Awards (EDa), we decided to try something a little different: We divided the awards into three primary categories—Best Programs, Biggest Deals, and Editors’ Choice. For the Best Programs category we had our esteemed panel of judges—comprised of 12 nationally and internationally regarded location consultants drawn from the ranks of our editorial advisory board—review and rank each entry for the Best Programs category. Members of the economic development community were judged on the innovation of their development programs, the effectiveness of those programs, and their ability to create a pro-business environment.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all of this year’s winners. They were an impressive and innovative group, and stand out as role models for other communities seeking to maximize their economic development efforts.

ND’s Ambassador Program garners business for the state and earns a first-place ranking in the EDas.

Ranked as the number one program by 75% of our judges, the winning program this year is the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s Ambassador Program. This program exemplifies what can happen when an area comes up with creative ways to exploit its existing strengths. This relationship-based economic development program builds on one of North Dakota’s key strengths—its loyal university alumni base.

The North Dakota Department of Commerce works closely with the state university alumni association in order to identify alumni who live in one of the five targeted U.S. cities or who work in one of the five targeted industries, and then uses the alumni as a vehicle for generating economic development leads and ideas for the state. The alumni are invited to annual business gatherings in their respective cities where they are educated about North Dakota’s business environment. If they show interest in volunteering to promote North Dakota and help develop its economy, they are then invited to become ambassadors and go through a training session to equip them with the right tools to promote the state.

“At first blush, there doesn’t seem to be anything innovative about another ‘ambassador program,’ but the state of North Dakota has added an innovative and effective twist, giving the concept a fresh, new life,” says judge Del Birch. “The difference? This Ambassador Program is highly targeted and specific—targeted, in fact, to the nth degree. Program planners should be commended for identifying key metrics that go above and beyond the standard number-of-jobs-created measure of success. The impact of this modest yet effective program is measured in personal income, state tax revenue, and contribution to gross state product. The Ambassador Program has already generated a superb return on investment–one that any private sector company would envy. Best of all, it appears the momentum is just beginning. The Ambassador Program is spawning a venture capital fund that will undoubtedly play a key role in making sure that the state’s promotional efforts continue to generate an even higher return on investment for North Dakota.”

Highlighting the success of this program since its inception in 2001 are six completed business relocations, around 150 new jobs created, 10 projects currently in the works, and a multi-million dollar venture capital fund that is being developed. Among some of the businesses that decided to make North Dakota their home are Direct Response Technologies (a direct marketing technology firm), Datatic Corporation (a business-trend tracking software company), AWM Staffing (a medical staffing service provider), and, the most recent edition, Hensley Aircraft (designer and manufacturer of aircraft parts).

“The North Dakota Department of Commerce’s Ambassador Program has demonstrated targeted innovativeness by leveraging talented and ambitious North Dakota alumni to help develop the state,” says judge Philip Anderson. “This unique approach has yielded impressive results and underlines the importance of carefully researching and exploiting an area’s less obvious strengths.”

Wyoming’s project, the Business Ready Communities Grant and Loan program, made its way into the second place slot this year. This relatively new program was created during Wyoming’s 2003 legislative session and has already yielded impressive results. Since grants were first issued in April 2004, the state has provided money for 17 Business Committed grants, 23 Community Readiness grants, and five Community Enhancement grants to various municipalities. As a result, this program, with a commitment of more than $86 million in grants and loans, has already generated more than 1,140 jobs for the state. Some applications of these grants include purchase of land, building, or facilities; telecommunications infrastructure; airports; sewer and water projects; roads; landscaping; and recreational facilities.

“The Wyoming Business Council’s Business Ready Communities Grant & Loan Program demonstrates how government money can effectively be invested to improve infrastructure, attract new companies and enhance existing ones, and create jobs,” says judge Philip Anderson. “The council shrewdly formulated an economic development plan that overcame innate limitations (population, telecommunications, infrastructure, etc.) to produce significant results.”

Projects that stand to reap the benefits of this program fall into three categories: The Business Committed Project (where a community has a business that is committed to expanding or relocating in the community if certain infrastructure will be built), the Community Readiness Project (where a community wants to build infrastructure to create a more pro-business climate), and Community Enhancement Projects (the objective of these being to enrich a communities aesthetics or quality of life).

“The Wyoming program’s three classifications is a very innovative approach,” says judge Mark Sweeney. “I find it especially strong in that it explicitly recognizes ‘aesthetics’ and quality of life assets as viable economic development expenditure items. These quality of life factors are very important to most companies, and especially important for smaller, more rural communities.”

The Bronze award recipient this year is Spokane Area Economic Development Council for its trend-setting project—the SpokaneHotZone. This permanent, outdoor wireless initiative launched in September of 2004 provides connectivity for businesses, citizens, and visitors in a more than 100-block area in downtown Spokane. The council’s initial $70,000 investment in equipment has leveraged over $400,000 of in-kind support for this project.

“The cooperative efforts of the working partners and the in-kind contributions have leveraged the program into an attention-grabber, which keeps Spokane on the site-search radar screen,” says judge Jan Dickinson.

“Spokane’s initiative is on economic development’s cutting edge,” says judge Don C. Schjeldahl. “Connectivity, a central tenet of globalization and business formation in the future, is well served by public wireless networks.”

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