LUKEVISION- Celebrating 20 years of building Community Vision, we now have links to Visions or Strategic Plans for 51 communities or regions on our web site, including the 18 communities below.  Visit at http://www.lukevision.com/communities.htm

HAMPTON ROADS, VA-When peace came with the end of the cold war in the late 1980’s, Hampton Roads was heavily impacted by the military reduction.  The table below summarizes the 1992-2001 Hampton Roads MSA experience.  Total net new jobs increased 107,113 or 11,900 per year despite having to replace 43,979 lost Federal Civilian & Military jobs.  This made the actual job gain more than 17,000 per year because some other high-paying contract jobs were also lost.

            In 2001, the remaining Federal Civilian & Military jobs averaged $56,400 per job including benefits.  Despite having to replace these high-paying jobs, the per capita income as a % of the US only declined 3% from 1992-2001.

            Congratulations to the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Hampton Roads Partnership, 15 municipalities, and others who have worked to achieve a remarkable turnaround in the economy.  The HRPDC projects the Hampton Roads Gross Domestic Product will increase in this decade at double the annual rate of the 1990’s.

Source:             BEA May 6, 2003 release   http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/reis/

ASHEVILLE, NC- The Asheville Metro average wage per job ranking among all 318 US metro areas improved from #293 in 1969 to #270 in 1994. This was a 23-position improvement in 25 years.  By 2001, the Asheville Metro rank was #220 for a 50-position improvement in seven years.  Information is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, compiled by the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.

On April 10-13, 2003-Fifty-three North Carolina legislators visited Asheville to showcase the special qualities of the region, to give thanks to the legislators for past support and to familiarize themselves with the current and future needs of Asheville.

American DataMed from Newport Beach, California selected Asheville for their new National Customer Service Center.  The call center could employ more than 200 people within the next three years.

                                                                                    The Asheville Report-May 2003 

            AB Tech has established a Small Business Incubator         http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/34132

MEMPHIS, TN-The Scripps Howard newspapers have written a comprehensive 25 article series “Brain Child: How Science and Society can build Better Babies”.  The articles deal with how children are taught and learn in the first five years of life.  Extensive research, examples, program descriptions, and

funding sources are included in the series.  Access the series at the Memphis Commercial Appeal web site

 http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/nation_and_world/article/0,1426,MCA_454_1950019,00.html 

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA-The Pottsville/Schuylkill Technology Incubator continues to prosper with a $400,000 grant from the Federal Economic Development Administration.  The grant will allow the incubator to double its existing four occupants.  http://archives.pottsville.com/archives/2003/May/13/E580459A.htm

            Schuylkill County Vision-Forward Together held the third Annual Fantasy Night fundraiser on May 2, 2003.  The 250 people present bid on more than 150 donated items.  This year proceeds were split with the Pottsville Bicentennial Committee.  http://archives.pottsville.com/archives/2003/May/5/E582489A.htm

HARRISBURG, PA-Instead of visiting a city outside the region, the 2003 ENVISION Intercity visit scheduled for September 30, 2003 will be an expanded inter-regional visit.  This visit will be a one-day event with participants traveling to adjacent York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg.  These three metro-areas had a combined 2000 population of 1.5 million.  Previous city visits have been to Hartford, CT; Memphis, TN; Louisville, KY; and Richmond, VA.

            The Polytechnic Preparatory High School will open in September 2003.  It will be co-located with a high tech business incubator and an advanced technology education center for workforce development.

            The new Master Plan for Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine calls for more than 800,000 square feet of new construction over the next 10 years. 

As part of the project to encourage young people to remain in the region, CREDC, the regional economic development organization has named two college students to the Board of Directors for 2003.  

                                                                        The News: Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce

UNION COUNTY, NC-The Union County School Board is developing architectural plans for the Union County School of Advanced Technology.  The school will house between 850 and 1,200 students and six academies: performing arts, transportation systems, construction trades, information systems, allied health & medical sciences, and environment & manufacturing.  The conversion cost will be $15 million with a completion date of August 2005.

LAKELAND, FL-Polk County voters approved a new ½ ¢ sales tax to help build new schools.  Over 15 years, the tax will provide $450 million and was approved by 59% of those voting.  The Polk County Commission recently approved a school construction impact fee on new homes. The sales tax, impact fee, and state construction funds will provide the total projected capital needs for school of $654 million

                                                                                                The Lakeland Ledger

RICHMOND, VA-Phillip Morris USA is moving its headquarters from New York to Richmond in June 2003.  An estimated 450 jobs with an average salary of $133,000 will be transferred.  The company already has 6,800 employees in the Richmond area.

            The merger of Wachovia Securities and Prudential Securities will add more than 1,000 jobs to the Richmond economy.  The headquarters for the combined firm is planned for Richmond.  Together, they will form the nation’s third-largest brokerage firm.

                                                                                                Richmond Times-Dispatch

JACKSONVILLE, FL-Two Fortune 500 companies move headquarters to Jacksonville-CSX Corporation announced on February 25, 2003 that their corporate headquarters would be moved to Jacksonville.

 Fidelity National Financial, Inc. confirmed on April 23, 2003 that they would move their headquarters to Jacksonville from Santa Barbara, California.  The move will bring at least 750 additional jobs to Jacksonville within 3 years at an average wage of about $62,200.  The move is subject to finalizing the incentives deal and follows Fidelities recent acquisition of Alltel Corp’s 1,400 employee mortgage-serving business located in Jacksonville.

                                                                                                The Florida-Times Union

ATLANTA, GA-A high-powered group of business, diplomatic, governmental and academic leaders have created “Hemisphere, Inc.” with the goal of landing the “Secretariat of the Free Trade Agreement of America”.  They have raised $2 million so far with the promise of additional funds if necessary.  The competitors are Miami, Mexico City, Panama City and the Port of Spain. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta attracts young and highly educated talent.  Estimates show that an average of 1,100 people a week move to Metro Atlanta.  Forty-four percent of these newcomers are between 18-34 and 57% have a college degree.

                                                                                                           Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce      

Business Facilities Best Cities for Corporate Headquarters…included in the top 15 for 2003:

            1.            Atlanta, GA                                                                              

            3.            Charlotte, NC

            9.            Raleigh-Durham, NC

            11.          Richmond, VA

            12.          Jacksonville, Fl

http://www.facilitycity.com/busfac/bf_03_04_cover.asp

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL- In Florida, The “Save Our Homes” Amendment- in effect since 1995- limits the growth in assessed value of homestead property to 3% or inflation, whichever is lower.  St. Johns is 3^rd in the state in per capita taxable value removed from tax rolls as a result of the amendment.  1^st Collier @$6,193; 2^nd Monroe @$5,741; 3^rd St. Johns @$4,916; and state average @$1,731. Source: Florida Trend May 2003

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES-On March 31-April 4, 2003; there was a trade mission to Cuba with 32 involved.                                                          

                                                                                                Curacao Chamber Business

MOBILE, AL-The Envision Coastal Alabama’s latest newsletter is available at

http://www.mobilechamber.com/envision/ENVISION%204_03.pdf

SAGINAW MI- Read the Saginaw County Vision-March 2003 newsletter.  There is an excellent article about the impact of the “1,000 Leaders” program on a local company.  http://www.scv2020.org/monocle/MonocleMarch_2003.pdf

RUTHERFORD, NC- An East Rutherford High School Junior has participated in “Project 540”.  Part of the project is a national study that captured the dialogue of over 135,000 high school students around the country.  The top ten issue areas identified were:

http://www.project540.org/lead/ISSUEPRESSFINAL01.pdf

Digital Courier

CABARRUS, NC-Cabarrus County was among the 50 most generous counties for its size according to a report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  Cabarrus resident gave nearly 9% of their discretionary income to charity.

                                                                                                The Charlotte Observer

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