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Driving the Next 20 Years:
Creating the
New Automotive Industry in the South

June 7-8, 2010
Lexington, KY

Hosted by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear

Register Today!

Road 2 Recovery Survey

Take the SGPB survey on economic recovery in the South!

Host a Community Forum

This year, Southern Growth would like your help in discussing how communities can respond to current economic challenges — ranging from job losses to home foreclosures to government cutbacks — while at the same time positioning themselves for success in the future. Host a forum now to help your community towards recovery!

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Green Economy Webinar

The Role of Chambers of Commerce

Thursday, March 11, 2010
1:30 – 2:30pm ET

Chambers of Commerce across the South have initiated new programs and initiatives to promote and support green business and sustainability initiatives. This webinar will explore what chamber leaders are seeing across the region as well as learn about specific initiatives such as St. Louis’ Climate Prosperity Project and Chapel Hill’s Green Plus program. The webinar speakers are:

  • Mick Fleming — President, American Chamber of Commerce Executives
  • Eric Schneider — Sr. Director, Energy and Environment at the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association
  • Aaron Nelson — President & CEO, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce

The webinar is free, but pre-registration required. Register for the webinar here.

Categories: Event Blog, Green Economy, Webinars

Listening to the South

Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board starts a conversation in the South on a particular issue related to economic development. Listening to policy makers and citizens throughout the region — their priorities, concerns and ideas — is an integral part of this conversation and Southern Growth’s research. Southern Growth had three key goals in mind when it launched this process in 2001: 1) to help ensure that the organization’s research is grounded in reality; 2) to help engage citizens and build social capital in Southern communities; and 3) to help spur action on important economic development issues.

There are three components to Southern Growth’s listening process: 1) state policy dialogues that bring together policy makers, private sector leaders, academics and experts to talk about state policy issues related to the topic at hand; 2) community forums, or moderated discussions, held by Southern Growth’s friends and partners in communities across the region to get a grassroots perspective and encourage thinking about community action; and 3) an online survey that invites ideas from a broad cross section of Southerners.

Since 2001, over 11,000 citizens have participated in over 560 community forums to deliberate about economic development issues, ranging from globalization to workforce development to energy. Thousands more have participated in state policy dialogues and the online survey. Results are shared with regional leaders each year as part of Southern Growth’s Report on the Future of the South.

For more information on the Listening to the South process contact Linda Hoke.

Tags: - Categories: Community Forums

Seeing the Future

The Southern Growth Policies Board has developed a series of guidebooks/modules to help Southern communities better understand current economic trends and to plan ahead for the opportunities of the future. Key topic areas will include:

  • Numbers – Southern Data and Trends
  • Technology and Innovation
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Globalization
  • Talent/Workforce
  • Leadership and Social Capital
  • Places
  • The Green Economy

The modules are geared towards small- to mid-size communities in particular, and include easy-to-understand background information as well as suggestions and resources for getting started. Modules are designed to stand alone, with communities choosing to focus on all, or a selected subset of modules.

Tags: - Categories: Seeing the Future

Competitive Corners

Competitive Corners is a customized product that provides Southern Growth clients with a summary of recent studies, data releases, trends, comparisons, expert opinions, future predictions, and best practices in order to take actions for improving their future economic competitiveness.

Tags: - Categories: Competitive Corner

Technology & Innovation

New ideas represented in new products, processes, services and industries, are the only sources of sustained, significant profits. Prosperity ultimately comes from selling things that people want at the highest possible prices. Innovation is the most assured way to do this. Technology industries often grow twice as fast as that for other manufactured goods. The people who work in these industries have higher than normal wages. Furthermore, the rate of financial return on basic science investment is many times compared to other investments. No wonder that the Milken Institute has said that “that high tech was the biggest single factor in explaining why some communities recorded exceptional growth.”[1]

[1] North America’s High Tech Economy: The Geography of Knowledge-based Industries,
the Milken Institute, http://www.milkeninstitute.org/pdf/NAHTweb.pdf.

Categories: Technology & Innovation, Topics

Leadership & Social Capital

Much of the region’s progress over the past several decades is due to visionary leadership. Many communities can also point to committed leaders as the inspiration for their renewal. But, even in cases where there are strong elected leaders, they can’t carry the burden alone. While not as tangible as infrastructure such as roads, bridges and broadband, it’s clear that broad-based leadership and social capital are essential foundations for community success.

Categories: Leadership & Social Capital, Topics

The Green Economy

The green economy encompasses the creation, distribution, and consumption of products and services that reduce carbon emissions and diversify the region’s energy sources. This economy includes the scientist who engineers a better biofuel, the entrepreneur who invests in a clean product, the manufacturer who builds wind turbines, the technician who installs energy efficient heating and cooling systems, and the individual who purchases LED light bulbs. Engaging in these new markets can lead to new jobs, new services, and a larger tax base for cities and towns across the South.

Categories: Green Economy, Topics

Numbers — Southern Data & Trends

Numbers is a repository of economic and social data of interest to Southern policy makers. Numbers allows for a quick understanding of how Southern states compare to one another and to the U.S. as a whole.

Categories: Numbers—Southern Data & Trends, Topics

Places

Forces of globalization and urbanization are creating economic winners and losers spread unevenly across the landscape. How a community responds to these changing trends can shape its economic prosperity. The goal of Places is to draw attention to these forces and help communities, both urban and rural, better position themselves to take advantage of opportunities in the emerging new economy.

Tags: - Categories: Places, Topics

2009 Report on the Future of the South

2009 Future of the South Cover

A Conversation on Southern Energy—The 2009 Report on the Future of the South— PDF Available
by Scott Doron, Charity Pennock, Linda Hoke, Stephen Whitlow, and Ted Abernathy

Copyright © 2009, Southern Growth Policies Board

Focusing on the current and future role of energy in Southern economic development, A Conversation on Southern Energy is full of regional and individual state data about existing and alternative energy sources.  The report also includes regional recommendations necessary for the South to participate in the future energy economy. Southern Growth, in conjunction with its Southeast Agriculture and Forestry Energy Resources Alliance, will continue to work on implementation of the recommendations.  For more information, contact Scott Doron at sdoron@southern.org.

Categories: Annual Report, Technology & Innovation, Topics
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