The Retention Monthly

	“It is the first thing you see and the last thing you see. It’s your calling card and your handshake… The U.S. lags behind most of the world in airport city and aerotropolis development. We don’t recognize airports as infrastructure assets of the 21st century.”
	Airport expert John Kasarda is the University of North Carolina professor who coined the term “aerotropolis” to describe those airports that successfully integrate commercial, residential and transportation features into a self-contained destination. Kasarda believes that airports are the 21st century equivalent of highways in the 20th century and rail in the 19th century in terms of spurring development. Source: “Airport belt in need, officials say” by John Schmid. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 24, 2008.
	“They said, ‘There is nothing you can do to compensate for the fact that we are able to pay $1.57 an hour in Mexico.’ That’s when I started to say, ‘NAFTA and CAFTA have given us the shafta.’”
	Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm recalls the loss of 2,700 good-paying manufacturing jobs in Greenville (population 8,000) when Electrolux, the Swedish appliance maker, closed its refrigerator plant there. The closing occurred despite incentives from the state and concessions from the union to keep it open. Globalization has been a mixed blessing for Michigan, with significant closures like Electrolux but major investments and job creation by others, including the German industrial giant, Siemens, in Holland MI. Source: “2 Outcomes When Foreigners Buy Factories” by Peter S. Goodman. The New York Times. April 7, 2008.
	“We are trying to show them sites that would work for a VW assembly plant…. We are leaving no stone unturned.”
	Globalization has been good for Kentucky. 153 Japanese firms have established operations in the state where they employ 39,500 Kentuckians including 7,000 at Toyota Motor Corporation’s Georgetown assembly plan. According to John E. Hindman, who leads the state’s economic development activities, Kentucky is making a pitch to attract the proposed Volkswagen plant. Company officials may decide as early as June on a site for the new plant. Source: “Kentucky is wooing VW” by Jere Downs. The Louisville Courier-Journal. March 26, 2008.
	“As the economy has become one that has put more emphasis on education and highly skilled labor, Tennessee has slowed down relative to the nation. The economy has put a premium on highly educated workers, and we just don’t have the work force to complete. We’ve done some things over the long term that should help us do better but in the short term we’re bearing the consequences.”
	University of Tennessee economist Bill Fox offers a frank assessment of the state’s workforce that Governor Phil Bredesen wants to change. Bredesen has significantly increased the budget for job training from $4.5 million in 2003 to almost $26 million in the current fiscal year. Source: “State views skilled jobs as crucial to pay growth” by Naomi Snyder. The Nashville Tennessean. March 27, 2008.
	“I have the same feeling about wind as I had about the best oil field I ever found. I like wind because it’s renewable and it’s clean and you know you are not going to be dealing with a production decline curve. Decline curves finally wore me out in the oil business.”
	Oilman Boone Pickens is a wind energy convert – he’s sinking as much as $10 billion into a new wind energy farm in Texas. Thanks to investors like Pickens, Texas is transforming itself into North America’s leading wind energy center after being the continent’s oil capital for generations. It now produces more wind energy and generates more investment in new wind farms than any other state. Source: “Move Over, Oil, There’s Money in Texas Wind” by Clifford Krauss. The New York Times. February 23, 2008.
	“Universities are fairly reliable partners. As the overall economy gets worse, higher education enrollments tend to go up.”
	Sal D. Rinella, president-elect of the Society for College and University Planning, believes that private developers find universities to be attractive partners. Many schools are joining forces with private developers to reshape their adjoining neighborhoods as they expand campuses to be more competitive in attracting faculty and students. The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia is a long-time leader in urban development. Following earlier successes in stabilizing surrounding neighborhoods, Penn recently embarked on a $2 billion, 42-acre project along the Schuylkill River in partnership with Brandywine Realty Trust. Source: “Colleges Teach ‘Urban Development 101’” by Nick Timiraos. The Wall Street Journal. February 27, 2008.
	“That’s [property tax breaks] criminal. My assessments went up while somebody else got it for 20 years with no property taxes. They’re handing out benefits to the big guys and leaving the small-time guys like myself and my tenant out of business. We’re picking up the tab for someone else.”
	Not everyone is happy that National Public Radio (NPR) is receiving a $40 million tax break over 20 years to build a new headquarters in Washington D.C.’s rapidly improving NoMA neighborhood. Nicholas Deoudes has seen his property taxes in NoMA jump by 36% in just one year as the value of his property increases. District officials urge smaller property owners to appeal the assessments as one way of addressing rising property taxes. Source: “NPR to Remain in the District” by Yolanda Woodlee and Miranda S. Spivack. The Washington Post. March 6, 2008.
	“I am optimistic about the potential for technology to help us find new ways to improve people’s lives and tackle important challenges. I am less optimistic, however, that the United States will continue to remain a global leader in technology innovation.”
	Outgoing Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates comments before a congressional hearing on the state of U.S. competitiveness. Gates is calling for more federal funding for math and science education, among other measures. U.S. 12th graders score significantly below the international average for general math knowledge, according to a 1998 International Math and Science study. U.S. high school seniors scores 461 compared to the international average of 500. In comparison, students in Canada scored 519. Source: “Last Call? Gates Pushes Globalism in Remarks” by Corey Boles. The Wall Street Journal. March 13, 2008.
	“He didn’t come to Indiana to commend our accomplishments; he came because he is concerned about lots of idle capacity we have in Indiana.”
	The economic slowdown has even impacted Toyota Motor Company, once considered immune from a sales slump. Toyota’s U.S. sales fell 10% in March 2008; sales have fallen in seven of the past nine months. The combination of declining sales and construction of six North American assembly plants has left Toyota with excess capacity, a problem once reserved for the Detroit Three. The situation may get worse before it gets better: Toyota opens its seventh plant in Woodstock ON later in 2008; its eighth plant is under construction outside Tupelo MS. Source: “Toyota Feels Pinch Along With Big 3 As Sales Dive” by Norihiko Shirouzu, Mike Spector and Josee Valcourt. The Wall Street Journal. April 2, 2008.

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