Anatalio Ubalde, CEO of GIS Planning, discusses how to innovate in economic development and other markets. Case studies include media relations marketing, corporate site selection, GIS, creative class, young professionals, and predictive analytics. More at http://www.GISplanning.com

1. Innovation in
Economic Development
Anatalio Ubalde
CEO & Co-Founder

2. Innovation
/in-uh-vey-shuhn/
Noun
1. the creation of value for customers that
either meets new/undiscovered needs or
serves old needs in new ways.
2. something newly introduced, such as a new
method or device such as more effective
products, processes, services, technologies,
or ideas that are readily available to
markets, governments, and society.
Synonyms: revolution – modernization – improvement- advance

4. That’s actually not
a

6. Dean Barber:
“Well, folks, corporate site selection is not Charmin
and communities are not Cheerios. It matters little
to me or most corporate clients that you believe
that you are so unique because of your annual
dump truck festival or have the largest stuffed
collection of two-headed calves in the world.

8. It’s not about ideas
It’s about making
ideas happen.
It’s the challenge
of adoption &
implementation

9. A tip about getting people to adopt your ideas
• No one cares what’s in it for you.
• They care about what’s in it for everyone else.
• They will follow leaders who care about the
community and are generous beyond
themselves.
• If you are truly generous you are giving
something to those that can never repay you.

10. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-actualization – personal
growth and fulfillment
Esteem needs –
achievement, status, responsibility, reputatio
n
Belongingness and Love needs – family, affection, relationships,
work group, etc.
Safety needs
– protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
Biological and Physiological needs
– basic life needs – food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

11. Anatalio’s hierarchy of ED innovation needs
Innovation:
Inventing the
future
Actual Best Practices:
Cutting edge that
works now; used by
elite E.D. pros
“Best” practices: Doing what
others in the profession says is
good economic development
(tradition)
Inexperienced
EDpros
You
You
Traditional EDpro
Do something: focusing on the things you are
doing better without understanding best
practices
Do anything: I’ve got to do anything to prove I’m actually
working (Ineffective but you can show it to your bosses)
New EDpro

13. Radical innovation changes our profession
Innovator
“Best” Practice
Radical idea
DCI
Advertise through reach
and frequency.
Don’t advertise. Third party
endorsement through
media placement is what
matters.
Whittaker Associates
Target industries
Use math to target likely
businesses within industries
GIS Planning
Hoard (broker) information
so businesses will come to
you and you will convince
them.
Give valuable data away so
businesses will convince
themselves to invest
Littleton, CO
Recruit businesses. Use
incentives.
Grow businesses. No
incentives.
Richard Florida
Target businesses
Target creative
professionals
Rebecca Ryan
Focus: Today’s leaders.
Job first. Location second.
Focus: Tomorrow’s leaders.
Location first. Job second.
ZoomProspector.com
Specialization. A few site
selectors will deliver your
projects
Democratization. Many
businesses can self-deliver
your projects

14. Innovation Case Study
Development Counsellors
International
www.AboutDCI.com

15. Many of the slides for this individual case study are courtesy of DCI and are used with their permission

16. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Advertise through reach and
frequency.
Don’t advertise. Third party
endorsement through media
placement is what matters.

17. Getting Noticed: Reach & Frequency
• Reach – Number of people exposed to
your ad
• Frequency – How often you send the
message
• > 90% of TV ads the morning after are
not remembered ($9 out of every $10
wasted). So many of these sell the
brand and not the product
• Muhammad Ali used frequency
because it works
• It costs money though.

18. National Survey
Marketing Strategy
Website
Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses
Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours
Public Relations
Special Events
E-Mail
Social Media
Targeted Lead Development Databases
Trade Shows and Conferences
Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity
Online Videos (YouTube, etc.)
Online Advertising
Company Blog
Brochures
Direct Mail
Print Advertising
TV/Radio Advertising
Videos (VHS, DVD, etc)
Telemarketing
Rating Effective
82%
74%
68%
65%
60%
50%
47%
42%
42%
41%
32%
31%
21%
21%
19%
17%
11%
10%
5%

19. “I’M A GREAT GUY”
MARKETING
Used with permission. copyright

20. “I’M A GREAT GUY”
“I’M A GREAT GUY”
“I’M A GREAT GUY”
ADVERTISING
Used with permission. copyright

21. “HELLO.”
“I’M A GREAT
GUY.”
TELEMARKETING
Used with permission. copyright

22. “TRUST ME…
HE’S A GREAT GUY.”
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Used with permission. copyright

23. Attract Attention of News Media
Step One: Develop key messages that:




Fit into the news of the day, or
Support a trend, or
Offer a counter trend, or
Are delivered by a newsworthy source
Step Two: Determine delivery of message
 Email targeted reporters (brief/factual)
 Tell directly via “story tellers”/spokespeople
 Travel to targeted reporters OR
 Invite targeted reporters to you
Used with permission. copyright

24. Attract Attention of News Media
Step Three: Play it back at home


Alert local media to national attention
Email your investors/board members
Step Four: Socialize it
 Post it to your website
 Tweet the article/post on FB/LinkedIn
Used with permission. copyright

29. Innovation Case Study
Whittaker Associates
www.whittakerassociates.com

30. Many of the slides for this individual case study are courtesy of Whittaker Associates and are used with their
permission

31. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
• Target industries
• Use math to target likely
businesses within industries

32. (C) Whittaker Associates, Inc. 2012
32

33. (C) Whittaker Associates, Inc. 2012
33

34. Predicting Corporate Behavior
• Key Drivers
– Change
•
•
•
•
Leadership
Ownership
Product/Service
Client Preference
– Metrics
• Sales
• Employment
(C) Whittaker Associates, Inc. 2012
34

35. Predictive Analytics
•
•
•
•
•
•
Statistics
Correlation
Relationships
Models
Pattern recognition
Algorithms
For the mathematicians, they are using multiple variant regression, gradient decent,
and matrix algebra to generate the predictive analytic algorithm
(C) Whittaker Associates, Inc. 2012
35

36. Predictive Analytics
• What is it that you would benefit from
knowing ahead of time?
• Is there data that is plausibly correlated to
that which you wish to predict?
(C) Whittaker Associates, Inc. 2012
36

37. Do you really understand your
network of relationships?
The hidden value isn’t the
network you know. It’s the
network they know.

40. Innovation Case Study
GIS Planning Inc.
www.GISplanning.com

42. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Hoard (broker) information so
businesses will come to you
and you will convince them.
Give valuable data away so
businesses will convince
themselves to invest

43. The way of the dinosaur
• “I don’t publicly give out
information about my
community because
businesses need to call me
so I can explain it to them.”

44. Reality
Because they don’t give the information out,
they aren’t going to get called at all.

45. 1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

46. User-defined search for sites and
property based on location, use & size

47. Matching
properties are
shown in a
comparison list
& on the map

48. Drill down into
individual
property report to
see the details

49. View the area
with Google
Street View

51. Competition & Synergies
Identify Industry Clusters

52. Pick any category, like
Construction

53. And only Construction
businesses are displayed

54. Local GIS Layers

55. Drive Times
Legend

56. Changes the rules for generating
economic development investment

57. Before ZoomProspector
You Chasing Prospects

58. Prospects Chasing You

59. Many Prospects Chasing You

60. Innovation Case Study
Economic Gardening
www.ci.littleton.co.us

61. Chris Gibbons

62. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Recruit businesses.
Use incentives.
Grow businesses.
No incentives.

63. Economic Gardening
• Fundamental idea is that entrepreneurs
drive economies. So, create jobs by
supporting existing companies in a
community.
• Pioneered in 1987 in
Littleton, Colorado, when the state was
in a recession, is an alternative to
traditional economic development
practices.
• Based on research by MIT’s David
Birch, who suggested that most new
jobs in any local economy were
produced by the community’s
small, local businesses.
• In Littleton, it evolved into a focus on
“gazelles” that created the greatest

64. Economic Gardening
• Economic gardening connects
entrepreneurs to
resources, encouraging the
development of essential infrastructure
and providing entrepreneurs with
needed information.
• Littleton provides local entrepreneurs
with access to competitive intelligence
on markets, customers, and competitors
that is comparable to the resources
customarily only available to large firms.
• Included in the market information
category are database and data mining
resources, and geographic information
systems.

65. Economic Gardening
• Information: This accounts for 75% of staff time.
They provide “very sophisticated search
capabilities using tools often only available to large
corporations.” They use the tools and lists to which
they subscribe to create marketing
lists, competitive intelligence, and other
information to answer business questions. They
also use GIS software to plot customer
addresses, as well as demographic, lifestyle, and
consumer expenditure data.
• Infrastructure: This is not traditional governmental
infrastructure. Instead they are focused on the
infrastructure for quality of place (open
space, pedestrian experience, festivals) and
intellectual infrastructure (institutions that provide
training for companies).
• Connections: They provide connections for their
businesses to trade associations, think
tanks, academia, and to thought leaders such as
CEOs.

66. Innovation Case Study
Richard Florida
www.creativeclass.com

68. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Target businesses
Target creative professionals

69. Traditional assumptions
• The traditional approach of most EDOs is to
focus on companies to achieve economic
growth. This happens through business
attraction and retention assistance.
• The assumption: the more businesses
relocate or expand in town, the better it
will be for economic growth.
• Professor Richard Florida’s book The Rise of
the Creative Class showed it was the people
in creative professions that were largely
responsible for the economic growth and
health of a community.

70. Key points of Florida
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Creativity has become the driving force in economic
growth.
The “creative class” is a fast-growing, highly
educated, and well-paid segment of society.
The creative class works in a variety of industries. They
create new things that are transferable and useful.
They also work in knowledge-based industries and
engage in creative problem-solving.
Jobs were the main reason people wanted to live in
certain places. Now creative people want to live in
places that have high quality
amenities, experiences, diversity, and openness.
For a community to attract creative people, foster
innovation, and spur economic growth, it is necessary
to have all the three Ts: Talent, Tolerance, and
Technology.
Cities that attract and retain creative class workers will
prosper, and those that fail will not. Creativity is the
source of competitive advantage.

71. Michael Porter on
industries:
Traded Industry
Local Industry
Images © GIS Planning Inc.

72. What they measured
• Economic development
– Economic output per person
(productivity)
– Wages
– Innovation (patents)
• Talent
– Educational attainment
– Knowledge workers
• Industry (Porter)
– Local industries
– Traded industries
Source: http://research.martinprosperity.org/papers/Talent-vs-Trade-formatted.pdf

73. What they Discovered:
The variation in talent largely
explains the variations in regional
economic performance
Talent
Industry
Images © GIS Planning Inc.
Source: http://research.martinprosperity.org/papers/Talent-vs-Trade-formatted.pdf and http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/09/talent-beats-trade-economic-development/3083/

75. 14 Million
3.2 Million
$100 Billion
-1%
Source: CNBC

76. Traditional Economic Development
COMMUNITIES
COMMUNITIES
COMPANIES
COMPANIES
Talent Rich Economic Development

78. Innovation Case Study
Rebecca Ryan
www.nextgenerationconsulting.com

79. Rebecca Ryan

80. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Focus: Today’s leaders.
Job first. Location second.
Focus: Tomorrow’s leaders.
Location first. Job second.

81. Next Generation Millenials
• Today, Baby Boomers/Gen Xers, run most
companies, communities, and EDOs.
• One of their blind spots is the assumption that
younger generations share their values, even
though they have had very different experiences.
Some of these CEOs, mayors, and other leaders
are waiting for the next generation to grow up
and start acting like them.
• But that isn’t going to happen.

82. Next Generation Millenials
• Communities can succeed by embracing
the Millennial generation and their
unique set of values and principles.
• Her work complements Florida’s in the
recognition that Millennials choose where
to live before they choose where to work
• Her innovation comes from studying the
generation gap in order to help older
community leaders connect with the
leaders of tomorrow and meet them on
their terms.

83. Live first, work second
• 3 out of 4 Americans under 28 value living in a cool city over a good
job. Skilled young professionals choose their community first and
then a job in that city.
• Employers must adjust their workplace culture and practices to
attract and retain desirable “next generation” workers.
• The old model of economic development that focuses on job
attraction and incentives doesn’t work if people choose a
community before a job.
• Economic developers job-strategy doesn’t work in a knowledge
economy and EDOs are failing in the metrics of increasing incomes
of all people, better education, better health, more sustainable
economies, and increased environmental protection.
• Communities must integrate and involve the next
generation, including leadership positions.
• Making “Cool Communities” is a competitive advantage to attract
the next generation and foster economic development.

84. “If you build it they will come”
doesn’t work anymore.
Bringing the business doesn’t mean the
company will attract the people

85. I can work
anywhere I want.

86. Cool communities
• density
• collaborative third-spaces
• stroll districts
I used to be a city planner now
I’m becoming one again

87. My job in the coming
years will not be to
attract companies.
One hundred percent
of my job will be to
attract talent.
Janet Miller
Nashville Chamber

88. Innovation Case Study
ZoomProspector.com
www.ZoomProspector.com

90. Innovation Example
Best Practice at the time
Innovation revolution
Specialization. A few site
selectors will deliver all your
projects.
Democratization. Many
businesses can self-deliver
your projects.

91. 750,000 businesses need
NEW facilities each year

92. How can 22 companies do 750,000 deals?
• They can’t.
• EDOs have missed that most businesses do
their own research and that intermediaries
aren’t the true gatekeepers they used to be
(if they ever were).

93. How can 22 companies do 750,000 deals?
• They can’t.
• We’ve missed that most businesses do their
own research and that intermediaries aren’t
the true gatekeepers they used to be (if they
ever were).
• There are actually no gate keepers.
• They ways to reach expanding businesses have
changed and expanded in possibility (We are
beyond the TV-industrial complex)

95. Businesses identify the optimal communities to
start-up, expand, or relocate based on
characteristics that matter to them.

96. We are closer to
your market
We have lower
cost facilities
How do we find
the businesses
that need our
characteristics?
We have better
transport
options
I want a better
paying job

97. We want more
revenue growth
We need better
employees
How do we
find the
communities
that can solve
our problems?
We want better
access to
markets
We need to be near
the right businesses

98. We want more
revenue growth
We have lower
cost facilities
We need better
employees
We are closer to
your market
We have better
transport
options
We want better
access to
markets
I want a better
paying job
We need to be near
the right businesses

102. Community you know
Ranked List Wizard
Find Similar…
Power search

115. 369 Site Selectors

120. Making the Connections That Matter
Making the ConnectionsThat Matter
Economic
Development
Professionals
Site Selection
Consultants &
Corporate
Real Estate
Pros
New,
Expanding &
Relocating
Businesses

121. Businesses finding communities.

122. What happens to innovators?

123. In praise of heretics
All their ideas
were considered
heresy at the
time.
Now all are
recognized as
model practices
that continue to
push the cutting
edge.

124. You won’t be popular at 1st, 2nd, or 3rd…
“First they ignore you, then
they laugh at you, then they
fight you, then you win.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

126. Let’s take a trip back in time

127. Early 2009: It all starts with optimism

128. Then experts tell you it can’t be done, so you know you’re on the right path

129. Late 2009: IEDC Annual Conf.

133. Summer 2010: Ready for launch ?

134. Thursday, August 12, 2010

136. Examples of the original SizeUp
design were shared at this point in
the presentation. If you would like
more information about the history
of SizeUp please visit SizeUp.com
and contact the appropriate staff.

143. See the best zipcodes in which to
See the best zipcodes in which to
advertise based on industry
advertise based on industry
performance in your region
performance in your region

145. Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook Co-Founder)

151. “Market research and analysis is critical for the
success of any small business owner or
entrepreneur. Tools like SizeUp deliver data
right to the fingertips of business owners to
help make smart decisions and have the
greatest opportunity to start, grow, compete
and succeed. In today’s challenging economic
environment where small businesses create
nearly all net new jobs in the U.S., help for
small businesses is more important than ever
before.”
- Karen Mills, SBA Administrator

155. Innovation in Economic
Development Organizations

156. The 2 Reactions You Want in your
Innovation Strategy
Wow Customers
Uh-oh Competitors
2:45

157. High
Breakthrough
Innovation
Sustaining
Innovation
Value
High
Low
Low
Cost
Source: Jon Pittman, VP, Autodesk – lecture Sept. 2013

158. Orthodoxies
/(ôrth-dks-ez)/
Noun
1. Custom, practices, or belief.
2. Adherence to accepted norms, more specifically
to creeds, especially in religion.
3. Unstated assumptions that go unquestioned.
Entrenched “wisdom” that no one thinks to
change.
4. from Greek orthos ("right", "true", "straight") +
doxa ("opinion" or "belief", related to dokein, "to
think”)
Synonyms: unoriginal – conventional – traditional - faith

159. What is a bookstore? Describe one.

160. “All of us are prisoners, to one
degree or another, of our
experience.”
- CK Prahalad and GaryHamel
Competing for the Future

161. Different orthodoxies
• Internal
– Embedded in company culture.
– Hardest to change.
– Previously defined company success.
– Ford Motor: don’t ask for help, only discuss good news
• External
– What markets and industries believe.
– This makes them vulnerable to outside disruption.
– Southwest: no hub-and-spoke. Customer service.
Concept from: “Flipping Orthodoxies: Overcoming Insidious Obstacles to Innovation by Bansi Nagji and Helen Walters

162. How to innovate & challenge orthodoxies
1. Be open minded and intentional about challenging
orthodoxies. (New and younger people are best at
this)
2. Ask “Why not?” regularly. Don’t just find the
problem. Find the solution.
3. Look outside your industry market.
4. Be a credible heretic. Acknowledge why there is an
orthodoxy and then challenge it in a positive way.
Also, orthodoxies only change from the top down.
5. Recognize innovators. Rewarding them for their
work. Reward their effort if they fail.
Concept from: “Flipping Orthodoxies: Overcoming Insidious Obstacles to Innovation by Bansi Nagji and Helen Walters

163. OK, but really, how do you do it?
For each orthodoxy:
• Why does it exist?
• Why is it hard to eradicate?
• What cases or examples (from any industry)
show us a different way?
• What could it look like if you flipped it?

164. Innovation
appears
incredibly
risky

165. Failure is a certainty.
“Success is 99% failure.”
- Soichiro Honda

166. What motivates you?
Focusing on
failure is the
wrong motivation

167. The world will continue to innovate and change

168. Will your community and
organization be better off if you are
leaders or followers?

169. New Ideas

172. The moment when you are ready to
quit is usually the moment right before
the miracle happens.
Don’t give up.
Try new things.
Make mistakes.
Suffer public failures.
Emerge on the other side
with success.

173. • Michael Jordan – Cut from H.S. basketball team locked himself in his
room and cried.
• The Beatles – rejected by Decca Recording Studios who said “we don’t
like their sound” “They have no future in show business.”
• Steve Jobs – at 30 was devastated and depressed because he was kicked
out of the company he founded.
• Walt Disney – fired from newspaper for “lacking imagination” and
“having no original ideas”
• Oprah Winfrey – demoted from her job as news anchor because she
“wasn’t fit for television”
• Albert Einstein – couldn’t speak until almost 4, his teachers said he
would never amount to much.
• Henry Ford – 1-1/2 years after starting first venture to build a motor car
the venture was dissolved because stockholders didn’t have confidence.
• Richard Branson – student magazine failed after he dropped out of
school to start it so he started mail order music which enabled him to
open Virgin Music store.
• J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter books rejected my numerous publishers for
reasons like 'it was far too long for a children's book' or because
'children books never make any money'. BTW: when she started she was
a divorced single mum on welfare.
If you’ve never failed you’ve never tried anything new

174. “Change is not necessary.
Survival is optional.”
- W. Edwards Deming

175. Closing advice
Question how hard you are really working at
creating innovative change.

177. “Only those that risk going
too far can possibly find
out how far one can go.”
- T.S. Elliot

179. Innovation in Economic
Development
Anatalio Ubalde
CEO & Co-Founder
ubalde@gisplanning.com
GISplanning.com ZoomProspector.com SizeUp.com