If Texas is going to remain competitive a strategic plan for higher ed must be developed
and followed. I think the governor should call a high-level group together to plot
the future of higher ed for the next 10, 25, and 50 years.
This group MUST also include young people who will work to see this plan succeed
over their lifetimes.
We need to setup state education standards in a way that encourages emerging models
for integrating high school and college programs. This is a direct response to the
State Board of Education requirement for four years of math and science and the
ongoing debate about how that requirement can be met, but we create enormous drag
when innovative programs all over thet state have to scramble to sustain their investment.
The State needs high education standards that encourage innovation.
SA should have a regional strategy to encourage innovation by systematically working
the categories Isaac Barchus has on his slides for the evolution of Austin's capabilities:
technical talent, professional infrastructure. managerial talent, two others.
Ok..so the Texas Lyceum's Economic Summit is over.
Now what?
Don't forget- those great speakers you heard at the event are on to their next speaking
or consulting gig.
In the same way they are on stage to evangelize how great our fair city and State
may be just substitute the PowerPoint slide #7 and insert St. Louis, Atanta, Pittsburgh,
ec. Every place has its own assets, should have regional collaboration, bla bla
bla.
Me?
I have my own social theory of where all this creative class thing began.
Since I don't have a real Ph.D and I can't prove it, I'll go ahead and uncharacteristically
stick my neck out on this one.
I think it was the music and cultural revolution of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones,
combined with Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead that has trickled into our
minds and spirits that began to unleash a movement of what Richard Florida calls
the creative class. I see it in my friends who are younger than me and I see it
in my teenage kids.
While it is certainly noble (and don't forget, profitable) to come and inspire us,
and speak the obvious, it's up to us to make something happen and not do the obvious.
Here's my suggestions to David, Nelson and John as to what I think we should do:
- Convene a post-summit event and make something happen. A call to action if you will.
- Create a San Antonio-focused creative class community in Second Life.
- Make Richard Florida's blog required daily reading through the end of year. (then
you will know who he talking to and pitching his theories to)
- Start hanging out in the lobby of the Valencia Hotel. Why? It's becoming the telecom
and disruptive broadcasting center of the universe. I've got people from NY, LA,
Boston and other places that are starting to come to see the IPTV set up in my house
and then they mosey on over to see AT&T.
There are big time industry analysts, financial analysts, content developers and
studio honchos that are starting to come to town to figure out how to do bidness
with the phone company as we no longer know it.
Creative Classtime anyone?
Alan L. Weinkrantz
Given the current deficiency in the Texas workforce and the fact that it will only
get worse as the baby-boomers begin retiring at an ever increasing rate, I think
that the state's workforce system and funds should be privatized. The private sector
can do a much better and more efficient job of training, testing and placing the
state's workforce. The state can still monitor the funds because the program can
be set-up on a reimbursement basis where the private sector employment services
provide the training and other services and are reimbursed as expenses are incurred.
With the never-ending debate on how to improve the state's educational system, I
think that the state should require that all Texas high schools adopt the academy
model such as is done at Moody High School in Corpus Christi and Irving Academy
High School in Irving. This would allow the students to get a head start on their
career choice and, as an example, it would allow them to see firsthand what the
relevance of learning Algebra is for their chosen academy/career.
Also I think that school choice and vouchers should be allowed which would, due
to market forces (school choice), quickly identify, and cause rapid improvement
or elimination of, the underperforming schools.
Convene a post-summit working group session with key economic development decision
makers and implementers. Develop a short, mid, and long-term economic development
plan for the regions of Texas as well as statewide.
If the Governor and Legislature really want to promote economic development in Texas,
they need to reform the Enterprise and Emerging Technology Funds system so that
the funds are more equitably apportioned throughout the state. Just by their very
status as state and US growth centers, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San
Antonio are going to naturally and more easily attract and close development projects.
The smaller metro and rural areas are the ones that need help in closing project
deals. Therefore, the state should be divided into regions and the Enterprise and
Emerging Technology Funds should be apportioned equally among these regions and
the funds can only be awarded in their respective region. The current Texas Enterprise
Fund system, which favors major metro areas, is perceived, whether right or wrong,
as a fund for the re-election of the Governor since the major population centers
are getting the funds and they have more voters than the small metro and rural areas.
Also, the Texas Enterprise Fund should not focus its awarding decision on the number
of new jobs associated with a project. The trend for projects is towards higher
new capital investment and a smaller number of new jobs, but they tend to be higher
paying jobs requiring a better trained workforce. This trend will only continue
as technological advances are made in manufacturing and other industries making
them less dependent upon human resources. New technology will also be a way for
industries to ease the pain and dilemma of backfilling the workforce as the baby-boomers
start to retire which will further deplete a shrinking workforce.
Given the current deficiency in the Texas workforce and the fact that it will only
get worse as the baby-boomers begin retiring at an ever increasing rate, I think
that the state's workforce system and funds should be privatized. The private sector
can do a much better and more efficient job of training, testing and placing the
state’s workforce. The state can still monitor the funds because the program can
be set-up on a reimbursement basis where the private sector employment services
provide the training and other services and are reimbursed as expenses are incurred.
The Economic Growth Summit had some good points and speakers, but it could have
been so much better. The summit was very professionally done starting with the excellent
set-up of video screens and banners, the off-stage announcer who introduced the
speakers, the short videos, and Richard Florida and Ray Perryman as keynote speakers.
But as stated, it could have been much better, for one, the electronic voting was
an excellent idea, but the questions were terribly weak in that they were mostly
validation questions about what is being done or what is planned. The questions
needed to be weightier to get the attendees' input on more substantial economic
development issues. Also, the summit was almost solely focused on new business start-up
issues, incubation and the Emerging Technology Fund. The summit should have been
more broad-based.
Finally, until this summit, I had never heard of the Texas Lyceum and I have been
in the economic development profession in Texas for 14 years. I need to access the
Texas Lyceum website and find out more about it.
If the public conference was to shape the legislative agenda in 2007, I guess communities
outside the San Antonio/Austin, Dallas, and Houston triangle will be on their own.
If a community does not have the technology framework or infrastructure it appears
that there would be little or no assistance from the state in the future. It seems
that money for economic development goes to those communities that don’t need the
assistance. If we are serious about making the ENTIRE state competitive, help those
communities that have the potential but not the resources. Otherwise, we will be
creating "have" and "have not" communities and thus a whole
new set of economic and social issues.
I felt like decisions had already been made and all we were asked to do was validate
the agenda. The electronic input process is a valuable tool but at the conference
was not used to solicit true input. What a missed opportunity!
Under the assumption that all the sessions were recorded, I would suggest that you
consider putting the proceedings on CD that businesses can use in their meeting,
play in their cars etc so that a greater audience can benefit from the great info
that given.