It’s been a tough year for the suburbs. First, the housing bubble burst, and now, gas prices are shooting through the roof. A new white paper from CEOs for Cities predicts that things aren’t likely to get much better. The study, by Joe Cortright, suggests that the “new calculus of higher gas prices may have permanently reshaped urban housing markets.” Because of high transportation costs, Americans may have to abandon sprawling developments and move into housing closer to their jobs and major urban areas. This shift will help further promote the revitalization of urban areas, and also create new economic opportunities for regions with strong urban cores and desirable urban amenities.

Download the May 2008 CEOs for Cities White Paper, “Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs,” by Joe Cortright.

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Government agencies need to embrace new models of innovation, according to a new report sponsored by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The study presents a review of new innovation models—dubbed network-based collaborative innovation—that have been pioneered by leading firms such as Procter & Gamble, 3M, and others. This approach links organizations to outside networks (such as customers or other partners) with the purpose of generating a broader and more diverse set of ideas and possible solutions. In the process, the speed of innovation is increased. Many thorny public policy issues, including areas like environmental conservation and disaster response, could benefit from this model. Yet, government agencies are presently not well suited to this approach, which places a high premium on openness and a commitment to close collaboration. The report provides a series of detailed recommendations for internal reforms that will help create the appropriate organizational culture and structures within government agencies.

Download the 2008 IBM Center for the Business of Government-sponsored report, Transforming Government through Collaborative Innovation, by Satish Nambisan.

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The annual Washington Technology listing of the nation’s top government information technology (IT) contractors has been released. As in the past, the listing is heavy with household names like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, this year’s top three firms. The latest listing includes an interesting retrospective comparing this year’s list to the first in 1994. At that time, the top three players were AT&T, EDS/Hughes, and Unisys. Many of 1994’s top performers opted to leave the business, or were swallowed in various merger deals over the past decade. Not surprisingly, few small businesses make the rankings. Only six small firms make the top 100, with Alaska’s Arctic Slope Regional Corporation coming in at the 35th spot with 2007 contracts valued at nearly $610 million. Like the brethren in biotech, government IT contractors also face an uncertain near-term future, with expected cuts in defense budgets and the prospects of a new President and Congress in 2009.

The Top 100 Federal Information Technology Contractors listing appears in the May 12, 2008 issue of Washington Technology.

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

A new study sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) assesses the impact of the ARC’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. This effort, which operated between 1997 and 2004, was the first Federal program that explicitly sought to invest in and support local entrepreneurship development efforts. Overall, the program invested $47 million into various projects, and these investments had a positive impact in terms of creating new jobs, attracting other new investments, and stimulating new business creation. While the report details these results, it also provides a number of suggestions and guidelines for how policy makers should measure these programs in the future. Briefly, traditional economic development measures, such as new job creation, do a poor job of depicting the effects of entrepreneurship programs. Instead, a more nuanced and diverse set of measures is needed. These new metrics would capture traditional impacts, but also assess the impact of entrepreneurship investments on community attitudes, business operations, and overall regional economic prosperity.

Download the Executive Summary of 2008 Appalachian Regional Commission report, “Creating an Entrepreneurial Appalachian Region: Findings and Lessons from an Evaluation of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, 1997-2005,” by Deborah Markley, Erik R. Pages, Brian Dabson, Thomas Johsnon, Sara Lawrence, Sara Yanosy and Karen Dabson.

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Ernst & Young’s latest assessment of the global biotechnology industry was released last month. 2007 was a very good year for the industry. In Europe and the Americas, financing levels—with more than $29.9 billion raised—were the second highest annual totals on record. Venture financing also reached an all time, and global biotechnology firm revenues topped $80 billion for the first time ever. Firms in Australia and Europe had especially strong years. In the US, the overall biotechnology has not yet been profitable. However, trends are moving in the right direction. 2007’s overall industry revenue loss was under $300 million; this figure represents less than 0.5% of total industry revenue. While 2007’s performance was strong, the report expects a slowdown in 2008. In addition to facing an overall global downturn, biotechnology firms face several other industry-specific obstacles, including pressures from globalization and continued restructuring among Big Pharma companies.

Access a press release describing the May 2008 Ernst & Young report, Beyond Borders: Global Biotechnology Report, 2008. The full report is available for purchase.

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Many states, localities, and even the Federal government, through the Small Business Administration (SBA) have created a new post of the Small Business Ombudsman. This individual or office exists to serve as a troubleshooter and advocate for small businesses who face unfair regulatory burdens or who are facing other challenges when it comes to interacting with government agencies. In an effort to encourage more states and localities to adopt this model, the SBA has published a guide to creating a Small Business Ombudsman effort. This useful guide includes model legislation as well as case studies for how these offices have worked elsewhere in the US. The report is very useful guide for any government officials seeking to promote transparency and provide more open communications with small business owners.

Download the 2008 US Small Business Administration report, Small Business Ombudsman Model for State and Local Governments.

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While Americans are consumed with their ongoing Presidential campaign, politics is also heating up in Great Britain. Recent Labor Party losses in local elections have emboldened the Conservative Party, which has recently released several detailed policy proposals. One of the latest efforts focuses on small business. The report of a party Task Force examines how Great Britain can reform and streamline current public support programs for small business. According to the study, Britain is now home to 3,000 different business support programs run by 2,000 public bodies at an annual cost of £2.5. billion (approximately US $4.9 billion). The report recommends a major streamlining of these efforts, as well as a renewed commitment to rigorous evaluation of program outputs and outcomes. In particular, it recommends the creation of a single web-based Business Information Service that would provide needed information to business owners. The report also recommends new approaches to expanding small business finance resources as well as a new government research investment program modeled on the US’s Small Business Investment Research ((SBIR) efforts. Finally, the report calls for an expansion of youth entrepreneurship education programs.

Download the 2008 report from the British Conservative Party, Small Business and Government: The Richard Report

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Last week, the Edward Lowe Foundation unveiled a new website that provides a very useful picture of America’s entrepreneurial economy. YourEconomy (www.youreconomy.org) is a web-based database that allows users to gain a better understanding of the composition of entrepreneurial firms in their communities. Users can track companies by broad categories and then see the stage of these local firms–from start-up to relative stability as an established company. The site, which will be further expanded this summer, uses the relatively new NETS (National Establishment Time Series) database, which is in turn based on information developed by Dun and Bradstreet.

Access the Edward Lowe Foundation’s YourEconomy site, visit www.youreconomy.org

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

European universities need to get more serious about “infusing entrepreneurship across the curriculum.” In other words, they must do more to ensure that entrepreneurship training is provided to all students, not just those who seek a business degree. A new report from an Experts Group charted by the European Commission provides a useful state of play for how European universities are faring in this mission. The report finds that most European nations lack a sufficient base of well-trained entrepreneurship instructors, and they also fail to find ways to engage current or former entrepreneurs as instructors or trainers. In general, universities need to move away from traditional teaching methods and embrace experience-based approaches that more effectively teach entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. The report does not recommend a single “cookie cutter” approach as it recognizes the need for local innovation and specialization. However, it does recommend that all European member states and the Commission place a higher priority on supporting entrepreneurship education initiatives.

Download the 2008 European Commission Expert Group paper, “Entrepreneurship and Higher Education, especially in Non-Business Studies.”

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Congress has finally completed action on the 2007 Farm Bill. The legislation was vetoed by President Bush, but an override of his veto is expected. The package, (H.R. 2419, H. Rpt. 110-627) contains several small provisions that could expand Federal support for rural entrepreneurs. New research funding programs received a boost. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative—authorized to spend up to $700 million per year—will provide competitive grants to universities and other organizations doing research in high-priority areas. Research spending for biofuels and renewable energy also receives a big boost of $1 billion in new funds. The bill funds a new $15 million Rural Entrepreneur program that will provide low cost loans (of up to $50,000) to establish small businesses in rural areas. It also authorizes a new Rural Collaborative Investment Program that will aid rural regions in developing new collaborative economic development strategies. Finally, the bill authorizes several new and existing regional development authorities. Specifically, the bill provides authorization for the Delta Regional Authority, the Northern Border Regional Economic Development Commission, the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority, the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, and the Southwest Border Regional Commission.

Learn more about the provisions of the 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419, H. Rpt. 110-627) on the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture website.

Provided by: National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship