FREE Webinar

 March 27 –  Reshoring: The Urgent Need to Bring Manufacturing Back to America
Rosemary Coates, Reshoring Institute
1-2:30 pm Eastern
CM Pending
Free registration available at the link 

American companies are on a quest to Reshore production. According to a 2014 study, 54% of US manufacturers over $1billion in revenue are considering Reshoring some or all of their manufacturing. Site evaluation and the correct site selection are critical to the success of these projects. Establishing manufacturing at the right site has an economic multiplier effect on communities. Manufacturing jobs pay well and workers use their wages to buy homes, cars and other goods in the local community. Everybody wins. Reshoring is a very popular idea among businesses, their customers and governments where jobs growth will have the most impact. But it’s not that simple. Reshoring requires a carefully crafted journey through innovation, automation, localization of products and site/community selection. You will learn about the major components in this decision and what you need to develop a business case to bring manufacturing back to specific communities. We will also learn about some reshoring failures, where selecting the wrong site had devastating results.

Terry Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship for National APA Conference

On behalf of the APA's Economic Development Division, I would like to notify you of a deadline extension for the Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship for Economic Development Planning. Applications for the 2015 scholarship are now due on February 15. If you know of strong projects by Master's level students who are enrolled in or recently graduated from PAB-accredited planning programs in the US, please encourage them to apply.

The scholarship, once called the Economic Development Division Travel Scholarship, has recently been renamed in memory of longtime APA member and economic development visionary, Dr. Terry Holzheimer of Arlington County and Virginia Tech. The $1,000 award is a travel scholarship provided by the APA’s Economic Development Division to support attendance at the national APA meeting in the spring. The award will be decided on the basis of a letter of recommendation from a faculty member and an original student paper or work that is 2,500 words or less.

The original student submission should speak to practitioners about a substantive topic related to economic development in the United States. We strongly encourage students to think broadly about the topic of economic development. The winning paper or project will satisfactorily demonstrate the following: topical relevance to economic development practitioners with a clear discussion of why practitioners should care about the findings; soundness of data collection and methods; quality writing; student authorship; and originality and creativity.

The committee reserves the right to withhold the award should no submissions comply with these criteria.The winner will be notified by March 1, 2015 and the scholarship will be presented at APA's National Planning Conference in Seattle, April 18-22, 2015.

 The paper will also be published on the Economic Development Division website and distributed electronically to division members.  

 All submissions and inquiries should be directed to:

Margaret Cowell

Assistant Professor, Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech

mmcowell@vt.edu

Get Recognized in Seattle!!

Call for Submissions for the Annual Donald E. Hunter Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award

We invite you to submit an application for the annual Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award from the American Planning Association’s Economic Development Division. The award is named to honor Don Hunter, a long-time planner and economic developer who contributed a great deal of his time and wisdom to the APA. This is a $1,000 award to a community that shows innovation and success with an economic development plan or project.

The formal presentation will be at the annual APA conference in Seattle, Washington, the evening of Monday, April 20, 2015, at the EDD Business Meeting. The Division will also help with preparing a press release for the winning community and for Planning magazine, and will announce the winner in the News & Views Division newsletter that is sent out to some 1,000 organizations throughout North America. This year’s deadline for submission is: Friday, March 6, 2015. Please submit to the Chair of the Awards Committee:

Robert M. Lewis, AICP

Development Strategies

10 S. Broadway, Suite 1500

St. Louis, Missouri 63102

(314) 421-2800          

Applications are encouraged to be submitted by email to: blewis@development-strategies.com. If submitting hard copies, please send four (4) copies of the narrative description and Attachment I for distribution to the awards committee.

Persons submitting nominations must be members in good standing of the American Planning Association. Organizations submitting nominations must employ at least one member in good standing of the American Planning Association. Plans and projects submitted for consideration need not be limited to the United States.

There is no formal application form or fee. Please follow these guidelines:

Narrative Description of the Plan or Project: Description (up to 250 words) of the plan or project showing that the project fits the following definitions:

• Economic Development: The creation of new employment and wealth-generating activities through the mobilization of human, financial, physical, and natural resources.

• Economic Development Planning: A series of deliberate activities leading to initiatives that enhance the jurisdiction’s economic opportunities and quality of life.

 

Attachment I (Required): Nominee's Fulfillment of Award Criteria For each of the following criteria, provide up to a 100-word description of the project. The entire attachment (all six criteria) should be no more than two pages or 500 words.

1. Originality: Unique concept or appreciable refinement of existing techniques or procedures.
2. Transferability: Potential application to other communities or projects.
3. Quality: Excellence of thought, analysis, writing, graphics, and professional character of the presentation.
4. Implementation & Results: Effectiveness of work proposals that have been carried out or show the promise of being carried out.
5. Comprehensiveness: Submittal demonstrates a thorough and in-depth approach.
6. Contribution to Community: Demonstrates application to community needs and desires.

Attachment II (Optional): Supporting Materials

Applicants may provide news clippings, brochures, slides, videos, etc. If items need to be returned, please clearly mark them as such. Supporting materials need not be sent in sets of four if too inconvenient or expensive.

Schedule for Award Selection(s)

Application deadline: Friday, March 6, 2015
Review by Awards Committee: March 9-20, 2015
Notifications to applicants: March 20-23, 2015

Presentation of award(s): April 20, 2015 (evening, in Seattle, Washington)

THANK YOU! WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR SUBMISSIONS!