EBD Task Force Best Practices Survey

Marge Bevers, Grantee Administrator FTZ #176Matt Gersper, President, Global Data Mining, LLC

History of the Economic & Business Development Task Force (EBD)

• Genesis: global trade conference borne of NAFTZ 2007 Annual Mtg.

• Problem Statement: many working to improve competitive advantage, often in same community.

• Goal: replicable model to share ‘Best Practices’

EBD Taskforce Mission

• Develop a collaborative and replicable best-practice model • Create economic wealth for local communities

• Increase revenues and profits for participating businesses within those communities.

EBD Activities

• EBP Task Force – comprised of NAFTZ members & non-members in economic development

• EBD conference calls - we hear about more local/regional/state initiatives:– Oklahoma City, OK… Milwaukee, WI… Akron, OH… Rockford,

IL… Hawaii…

• How do we capture info from those not on EBD Task Force?– Website– Survey of Grantees

Communication

• Website

– Electronic repository morphed into website as means to communicate best practices

– Protocol: • Only accessible to NAFTZ members• We invite ‘Best Practice” materials from grantees & other

members– Submit to James Constantine for approval. – He will send to Laurence Baer to load

– Contents– Looking for a volunteer to do a newsletter.

Best Practices – share activities across the NAFTZ network…

• Educational Workshops

• National and regional webinars

• Training & resource materials

• Speakers Bureau

• Network of ED and BD professionals

• “How To’s”

• Best Practices Survey

Survey Purpose

• To identify and develop broad strategies based on best practices by grantees.

• Results to be used to further refine website offerings

• Only aggregate results (no individual) results will be released or reported.

Participants

• Alliance Corridor, Inc. - #196• Eastern Distribution Center, Inc. - #24• El Paso International Airport - #68• Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone, Inc. - #15 and

#17• Indianapolis Airport Authority - #72• North Carolina Triangle J Council of Governments - #93• Port Authority of Greater Oklahoma City - #106• Port Canaveral Port Authority - #136

Participants

• Rockford, Illinois - #176• San Juan Foreign Trade Zone - #61• Savannah Foreign Trade Zone - #104• South Carolina State Ports Authority - #21 and #38• Southern California Logistics Airport Authority - #243• State of Hawaii - #9

• 14 Participating Grantees Representing 16 Foreign Trade Zones

Conclusions

(16 Zones responded)

• SMALL SAMPLE - 16 zones responded

• BOLD LEADERSHIP

• BUDGET - FTZs, like global trade, are underfunded

• EDUCATION - unanimous response that they provide some education and outreach, with 75% conducting seminars

Conclusions

(16 Zones responded)

• PARTNERSHIP - 100% have active partnerships; 75% work with government agencies

• ECONOMIC IMPACT - 81% of zones report local economy grew in 2008 while the national economy contracted

• BEST PRACTICES - these activist grantees have materials and are willing to share!

….. Imagine if all grantees nationwide were this active!

What is the range of your total FTZ budget (not including staff salaries)?

(16 Zones responded)

What % of this budget is devoted to marketing/business development?

(16 Zones responded)

If your local/regional economy grew during the past year, please rank the top 4 factors w. 1=top reason:

(13 Zones responded)

a.b.c.d.e.f.

If your local/regional economy did not grow during the past year, please rank the top 4 factors with 1=top reason:

(4 Zones responded)

a.b.c.d.e.f.

How does your organization focus on global competitiveness? (Check all appropriate answers)

(16 Zones responded)

Which government or quasi-government economic development offices serve as active partners to you? (Check all answers)

(16 Zones responded)

Describe your relationship with others engaged in economic development over the past year. (Check all appropriate answers)

(16 Zones responded)

Please specify the boards of other trade service providers on which members of your staff serve?

(16 Zones responded)

What steps have you taken to develop the untapped potential of small and medium sized enterprises? (Check all appropriate answers)

(14 Zones responded)

What percentage of new or expanded companies in your community have created jobs requiring a highly skilled workforce?

(15 Zones responded)

Has the FTZ program been a party to rehabilitating or reusing aging commercial centers?

(11 Zones responded)

Do you have any of the following to share as a Best Practice? Please send to us:

(10 Zones responded)

Script with survey resultsNow available on our new website!

What have you done in the past year that you consider a success and how do you measure that success?

Next Steps for EBD Task Force

• Solicit & load ‘best practice” samples on website along with resource materials

• Consider annual survey each fallWhat do you think about fall survey each year?

• Article on results?

• Recruit newsletter editor/writers

Call For Action

EDUCATION

ACTIVATIONJOBS

NAFTZ