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Micro-Economic Development Introduction
Applied Economic Development: Southern Region, United States of America

This article will attempt to explore and verify the proper steps required to perform effective economic development in the southern region of the United States of America. Economic Development can be defined as "...the development of economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants.", which can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_development.

Little work has been done to clearely define economic development as it pertains to specific regions and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), in this case the Southern Region of the United States. This article will attempt to lay such foundations for other economic developers to review and perhaps use while pursing their economic development endevours within their specific Micro-Economic environment such as a multiple county partnership (MCP), single county, city or neighboorhood.

Economic Development is said to be "economics on a social level". The ways in which humans interact vary widely from region to region, city to city and even from neighborhood to neighborhood. As mentioned in the United Nations Development Programme: Human Development Report website,"...different groups within the country have very different levels of human development". Taking this further, we can say that it is true that different regions within a single country have very different levels of economic development, based in part by their cultural development, age of the local economy and other factors. For example, the economic needs of Lee County, Florida will differ in some measure from those of Savannah, GA. Both areas will need transportation infrastructure, health human services infrastructure, utilities infrastructure and business environments, but the actual internal structure of each will need to be different in many ways in order to suit regional needs.

Thus, the processes and tools used to practice economic development as it pertains to Economic Developers will vary based on their individual regions of interest (ROI). Economic Developers doing business in Califronia may have a completely different set of tools at their disposal, then say an Economic Development Professional doing business in the state of New York. In addition, they will have very different needs in terms of the types of business they are trying to attract or expand within their ROI.

Micro-Economic Development Definition
We now will attempt to define Micro-Economic Development

Micro-Economic Development is the industrial management and growth of a very specific region, defined either by state, county, city or local bounderies.

Micro-Economic Development Case Studies
Our first case study will take us to Southwest Florida, the Lee County area in particular. We will examine their 2006 GDP (Gross Domenstic Product) and attempt to target needs for economic diversity and other changes. Our second case study will take us to Central, Florida, the Orlando area in particular.

For case study reference, you can find a copy of the 2006 Lee County, Florida (MSA) and Orlando Florida (MSA) GDP document Here

To visit their individual websites: Lee County Economic Development Office Orlando Economic Developement Council

BEGIN CASE STUDY 1 Lee County, Florida Cape-Coral/Fort Myers MSA

Lee County, Florida which generated $21.8 billion in GDP for 2006, resulted in Per Capita GDP of $38,624.94. In order to make informed decisions at the micro-economic development level, industry specific percentage of total GDP must be calculated so that industry specific contributions can be weighed and reviewed. View Document

Upon reviewing the document, it becomes readily apparent that there are 3 industries which accounted for over 50% of Lee County, Florida's 2006 GDP; they are (in % of total GDP order) Real Estate and Rental and Leasing at 21.51%, Real Estate at 20.39% and Construction at 14.20% (which alone accounted for 80% of the total GDP for the Private Goods-Producing Industries within Lee County. Together these three industries accounted for 56.10% of the total GDP for Lee County, Florida (Cape-Coral/Fort Myers MSA) for the year 2006. Thus clearely indicating a very strong need for economic diversity.

Now that a need for economic diversity has been uncovered, the next step is to identify which industries, if expanded, would yeild the highest possible return on economic development investment. The first thing to do is to identify development goals. In order to define realistic goals, all of the following variables need to be taken into account; immediacy, targed industry stability, target industry value, level of risk to incur, cost to incentivise, land availability, workforce capability, infrastructure capacity, tax structure and others:

Immediacy: How quickly does the diversity need to take place? Is it vital that it take place within the next 3, 5, 7 or 10 years? When it comes to economic diversity the level of immediacy can be determined by understanding the imbalance that currently exists and gauging the economic outlook of the industries which the geographical area is too heavily engaged in. In the case of Lee County, Florida, it is known that it is too heavily engaged in the real estate and construction industry. It is also known that the recent real estate bubble (2006-2008), has lead to a construction dive. In this case, immediacy is high as the area will continue to see an extreme decrease in GDP due to the fact that the real estate and construction industry economic outlook over the next many quarters is grim. Very heavy imbalance, coupled with a dive in the very industries that an area is too heavily invested in requires high immediacy (change as quickly as possible).

Lee County, Florida: Immediacy is HIGH

Targeted Industry Stability: How stable does the targetd industry have to be? Is is a long term adjustment that will require long term stability? Is is a short term adjustment that is meant to stabilize the economy while other variables come into play? Engaging in "economic diversity" is an excerise in making a "long term" committment to changing the structure of the area economy. So in this example, long term stability is required.

Lee County, Florida: Targeted Industry Stability is HIGH

Targeted Industry Value: Targeted industry value can be defined as wages and number of direct/indirect jobs that companies within the industry typically produce, as well as other forms of revenue generated for the local government and economy such as taxes and local purchases for continued operations ect.; but mostly it is wages and number of total jobs. Does the industry have to pay high, medium or low wages? Does the industry have to typically involve businesses with a high number of local jobs resulting in a high number of indirect (spin-off) jobs? Does the industry have to pay higher than average taxes? Is there a strong need for the businesses within the industry to buy its operational equipment locally?

Is this case Lee County, Florida can choose to diversify its economy while putting those workers within the imbalanced industries back to work in other areas, who are now out of work due to the economic recession. It may also choose to diversify its economy without focusing on displaced workers, rather by focusing on industries that are completely new to the area, thus bringing in new jobs with higher value skill sets. Regardless however, it needs to attract enough targeted industry value to offset the huge imbalance that currently exists. Moreover, economic development organizations typcially do not focus on displaced workers, however, they do help support those that are charged with that responsibility such as workboards and other groups when ever they can.

Lee County, Florida: Targeted Industry Value is HIGH Level of Risk to Incur: On its face, the level of risk an economic development organization takes seems relegated to just the amount of incentive funds that it invests in the project (new business, inbound expansion, inward expansion). There is more to it than that. The level of risk also takes into account what will happen if the project is a success or failure; what are the dynamics of the project and how will they interact with area economics?

Is this case the level of risk that Lee County, Florida can incur is moderate. Since there is such a large lack of diversity, any new businesses that are introduced to the local economy should have very little negative impact in terms of competitveness and other local conflicts.

Lee County, Florida: Level of Risk to Incur is MODERATE

Cost to Incentivise to Incur:

Land Availibility:

END CASE STUDY 1 Lee County, Florida Cape-Coral/Fort Myers MSA'''

Word and Definitions
Multiple County Partnership (MCP): A situation where as multiple counties have agreed to work together to achieve common economic development goals that will benefit the region; which consists of representatives from all the counties that make up the partnership.

Region of Interest (ROI): Used to reference the specific area in which an Economic Developer is operating in.