Professional Documents
Culture Documents
White Paper Series ‐ Helping Distressed Communities
Advanced Manufacturing Institute
Working Paper
Objective:
This paper briefly describes the tools that the economic development agents could use to support a
wide group of businesses and entrepreneurs in their community to recognize and capitalize on regional
opportunities based on shared needs and complementary capabilities.
Background:
Distressed communities often engage in one of two strategies of revival ‐ economic growth strategies or
economic development strategies (Malizia 1986). Economic Growth strategies focus on recruiting
businesses in the region and focuses on short‐term growth of the region. Economic development
strategies such as encouraging entrepreneurship focus on a development process to achieve long‐term
changes in the economic structure.
Traditionally in distressed rural communities, an economic development agent’s approach is based on
either recruiting new businesses into the community or more recently developing industries based on a
cluster development approach. This is usually based on a strategy that has been successful in some
other setting. An approach that works for one region may be adopted by other regions without fully
considering the unique situations that made the method successful in a particular setting. Every region is
different with its own strengths and assets and might require a different approach than what is being
employed elsewhere.
The recruitment strategy focuses on attracting new businesses into the region, sometimes considered
the ‘steal the business from thy neighbor’ approach. While this approach may bring new businesses into
a community, it seldom adds to the total wealth of the community and does not work as successfully for
small rural regions (Emery, Wall and Macke 2004). Usually these recruitments attract branch
manufacturing facilities (Malizia 1986) into the community to expand the employment base. Most of
these facilities locate in a community to take advantage of the tax and location based incentive. This
potentially exasperates an existing lack of educated workforce and offers little to entice workers to
locate to a distressed community with few quality of life offerings or little to offer a young educated
workforce. As more regions become aggressive with recruitment activities and companies demand more
lucrative incentives from regions, in the form of tax abatements, infrastructure improvements or even
direct loans, the regional tax base continues to erode or grow at an artificially slow rate. The reduced tax
earnings can mean, in many cases, that the region cannot address some of the underling quality of life
issues and attract more people into the region (Crowe 2006). The recruitment strategy does not lead to
development if the production facility attracted to the region is substituting for production somewhere
else (Malizia 1986) or the retail outlets that add more of the low wage jobs (Emery, Wall and Macke
2004).
A second and more recent approach focuses on conducting a cluster analysis and identifying a few
clusters to improve upon or develop. An Industrial cluster is defined by Porter as “a geographically
proximate group of inter‐connected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by
commonalities and complementarities” (Porter 2008). UNIDO goes a step further and defines clusters as
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“sectoral and geographical concentrations of enterprises that produce and sell a range of related or
complementary products and thus, face common challenges and opportunities (UNIDO, Development of
Clusters and Networks of SMEs 2001). Once a regional cluster has been identified, programs can be
planned and targeted at a specific cluster to enhance its collective efficiency (UNIDO 1997). In the realm
of economic development, the cluster analysis approach groups the firms into various clusters based on
their NAICS or SIC codes also known as the supply‐ or production‐based approach (Dalziel 2007). This
technique supports the development of concentrations of businesses with interdependent capabilities
and is well supported within the economic development community as an analysis tool to understand
existing communities.1
A cluster development approach is based on collectivity, instead of helping a single company, assistance
for a cluster will percolate to the entire region (Heike 2003). Following a cluster‐based economic
development strategy has benefit if a ‘true’ cluster exists in a region. There is a wealth of literature
regarding identifying clusters and strengthening those, some even suggest techniques for building or
creating new clusters (Hill and Brennan 2000), . Organizations like Porter’s group at HBS or Purdue
University have developed a detailed NAICS code list of what is to be included in each cluster. In
practice, however this output based cluster analysis has shortcomings for less populated regions. Rural
areas often show few if any fully developed clusters using traditional definitions. Yet today cluster
analysis is a standard procedure not only for measuring the shape of an economy but also how
economic development efforts will be directed.
The effectiveness of cluster definitions in rural or heavily distressed communities comes in to question
when the number of total establishments or employees is very small or skewed by large single entities.
Traditional definitions require co‐location of companies having either similar product, markets, shared
resources or are interdependent. Smaller regions do not generally have enough businesses of a kind in
the region to qualify as a cluster. For example, Jewell County in Kansas has a total population of 3,198
(US Census Bureau, 2007), total of 98 private establishments with 458 employees and only one
manufacturing establishment (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). The traditional cluster analysis might
not be the most appropriate tool for this region. Again, it is arguable if a group of 15 establishments
(maximum number of establishments are retail, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007) can be properly
defined as a cluster. More importantly, the traditional approaches of using cluster based economic
development do not have much relevance in such regions. No doubt, the cluster analysis based
approach to economic development is one of the most frequently employed tools available today, but
cannot be applied to all regions irrespective of the actual regional conditions.
Large communities or metro regions can often support focused development that develops and
supports existing clusters to compete on an international scale. In smaller communities, artificial
support for output based cluster analysis creates two problems. The first problem arises from the lack of
diversity in the number and types of clusters in the area. In the areas we studied, the few preexisting
industries already drive a large amount of employment and activity in the area. Output based definitions
reinforce clusters that can be driven by economic factors from outside the area. As an example, in the
State of Kansas where the aviation industry is one of the most defined and important clusters in state,
the global economic crisis of 2009 created far‐reaching disturbances that brought many businesses in
the area to the brink of failure.
1
There are a lot of studies that have done cluster analysis for understanding the regions and formulating economic
development polices. E.g. (University of Minnesota Extension Servcie 1999), (Luger, Stewart and Androney 2003),
(Heike 2003), etc
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The second major concern arises from the limited number of firms within a cluster in an area where the
number of employers involved is small. For the local economic development offices, the job of
supporting a single cluster without appearing to supporting a single private entity exposes potential
conflicts. The office that supports the single, albeit important, business is now acting in behest of that
single entity that may or may not have the best interest of the whole community at heart. This becomes
painfully clear when a company changes ownership and a plant is forced to move or close down. To
avoid this potential issue many economic development offices find themselves reverting to the
comparatively safe activity of business recruitment over business retention despite low success rate of
such activities.
Contention
A cluster analysis that works for rural communities needs to drive economies toward a more sustainable
model for their economy, while maintaining the drive for smart synergy inherent in cluster type
development.
Traditional output based cluster definitions fail to consider how with modern business structures and
manufacturing methods, the way a company functions is often more important than what they produce.
Ironically, this model of flexibility was inherent in the way rural business functioned for many years.
However, over the last half century many rural manufacturers have followed the path of modern mono‐
crop agriculture and pursued singular efficiencies over flexibility. We propose a method to help agents in
rural areas support flexible and diverse method doing business.
We propose a new methodology to overcome all the issues discussed above called “needs‐based cluster
analysis”.
Solution:
To overcome the lack of clear actionable strategies for economic development in a rural community
with no critical mass of similar industries to call it a traditional cluster, we are proposing an alternate
methodology to profile businesses in specific region. Rather than considering shared industries, the new
method will develop profiles that identify shared infrastructure, complementary services and work
styles of businesses and hence help economic development agents make better decisions on how to
help those businesses work to improve the business environment of the entire region.
As an institution, AMI has been helping small and medium sized companies, mostly in rural areas,
develop new products and serve new customers for over a decade. Through this time, we have begun to
understand that small companies need a mix of technical, market and user intelligence to succeed in
business and help their communities grow. Our clients are often well situated to respond to
opportunities in one or two of the aspects, we have seen a need in helping companies build or partner
to develop the missing component(s).
We propose a “needs based cluster analysis” that while not completely ignoring the industries of the
areas businesses, considers the needs, phases, and possibilities of the constituent businesses. A major
component of the preparation stages of the study will determine the appropriate factors that will best
conform to the needs of the local economic development agent. The components will generally capture
the three business components that are important for business success.
1. Technical Capabilities: skill at New Product Development, Production, Precision
2. Market Responsiveness: Sales reach, Brand definition, Market understanding
3. User Focus: Experience design, User understanding
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These three factors combine to form a profile for the role the company plays in the marketplace. These
profiles will form the groundwork to allow a more intelligent way to provide synergy based economic
development. We contend that economic development agent’s resources are better applied to business
and groups of businesses that combine to create collaborations that work at the highest levels of the
three factors.
Competent using standard business
Capable of either high production or Collects existing customer data to
Second Tier high precision production
methods and serving existing
occasionally improves offerings
market
Additionally, just as retailers are able to customize local offerings to areas using tools like ERSI’s Custom
Tapestries or Claritas' segmentation system PRIZM, development agents and educational services will be
able develop and target offerings to those that need them most.
Again as an institution AMI has seen where bringing unrelated business together through an economic
development agent can create opportunities and growth for the entire community.
Implementation
Cluster analysis activities require significant data mining and analysis using public data, unfortunately
information resources for smaller areas often have noticeable and significant “holes” and shortcomings.
In practice, the stakeholders in a region can often point out missing or incorrect data. Rather than
relying on outside sources for data this method will focus on helping to visualize and standardize locally
generated data that can be synthesized in to actionable prospects.
To implement needs based cluster AMI proposes to provide local economic development agents with
online access to a survey and assessment tool to allow an economic development office to profile and
compile data about the business in the target region. The survey system will allow online entry and
instant data compilation. The purpose‐built survey will focus on gathering qualitative data and indirect
data that infers the needs and opportunities of a business and intentionally avoid the collection
proprietary or highly private data.
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SURVEY Tool to verify
ED professional’s • Online statistical
requirements • Instant significance of the
sample for survey
Regional Profiles
Company Profile Profile Database
• Rich interactive mapping
visualization • Watch signs • Collection of case
• Company profiles over study and narratives
• Opportunities based on company
geography and industry
profiles
Opportunity Matching Network Weaving
• Opportunities & Needs • Complimentary Capabilities
• Capabilities • Possible Fits
• Weaknesses • Potential Connections
The collection of company level data allows, the creation profiles based on the actual feedback from
subject as well as case studies and generalities of firms and companies with similar profiles. Connecting
company data to scenarios and or case studies provides agents with insights into how the company
participates and reacts to changes in the area.
As an area is profiled, agents and businesses will have a wealth of resources to consider potential
synergies among companies that would neither be competitors or considered as complementary
business in a traditional output based cluster development. These profiles will also allow and encourage
network‐weaving activities among complementary resources within a region.
Dissemination
AMI proposes to extend its recent efforts in visualizing real business and economic data in their
geographic context. The internet will however be leveraged as a tool to ensure the ease of access to the
data and allow business and even residents to have access to information about the growth possibilities
and conditions in the region. The development of a rich web interface to the needs based cluster
analysis will allow the dissemination of the technologies and technologies to rural areas throughout the
United States.
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Phases off a Need Base
ed Clustering Approach
Technical User
Business Expeertise
Capaabilities Undersstandingg
Stru
uggles with pro
oduction,
Strugggles with foreccasting Assumees customer acttions
hangs on to outdaated
and re
esource managgement are rand
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tech
Possible vvariables for categorizing businesses
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Bibliography
Crowe, Jessica A. "Community Economic Development Strategies in Rural Washington: Towards a
Synthesis of Natural and Social Capital." Rural Sociology 71, no. 4 (2006): 573‐596.
Dalziel, Margaret. "A systems‐based approach to industry classification." Research Policy 36 (2007):
1559‐1574.
Emery, Mary, Milan Wall, and Don Macke. "From theory to action:energizing entrepreneurship (E2),
strategies to aid distressed communities grow their own." Journal of the Community Development
Society 35, no. 1 (2004): 82‐96.
Heike, Mayer. Cluster Monitor. A Guide for Analyzing Industry Clusters in the Portland‐Vancouver
Metropolitan Region, Portland: Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, 2003.
Hill, Edward W, and John F Brennan. "A Methodology for Identifying the Drivers of Industrial Clusters:
The Foundation of Regional Competitive Advantage." Economic Development Quaterly (Sage
Publications) 14, no. 1 (2000): 65‐96.
Luger, Michael, Leslie Stewart, and Greg Androney. Identifying Targets of Opportunity ‐ Competitive
Clusters for RTRP and its Sub‐regions. Office of Economic Development, 2003.
Malizia, Emil E. "Economic Development in Smaller Cities and Rural Areas." Journal of the American
Planning Association 52, no. 4 (1986): 489‐499.
Porter, Michael. In On Competition, by Michael Porter, 215. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing,
2008.
UNIDO. Collective Efficiency: A way forward for small firms. Vienna: IDS Policy Briefing Issue 10, 1997.
UNIDO. Development of Clusters and Networks of SMEs. Vienna: Private Sector Development Branch,
Investment Promotion and Institutional Capacity Building Division, 2001, 9.
University of Minnesota Extension Servcie. Industry Clusters ‐ An Economic Development Strategy for
Minnesota. Preliminary Report, University of Minnesota Extension Servcie, 1999.
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