Giving your region an edge

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I still see many regions continuing to build shell buildings designed for manufacturing. It used to bring jobs to the area, so why not just keep doing it? The problem is that kind of strategy is competing for fewer and fewer jobs (as few as 10% of all new jobs) against more and more regions willing to throw enormous tax incentives at manufacturers. Meanwhile, more and more manufacturing is going to other countries.

How about trying something different--something that will really give your region a marketing edge, for about the same price as a shell building? What if you could provide this resource to businesses by the hour, so that you don't have to find a single business to lease the whole facility for a long time?

How about a supercomputer?

Add Bowie State to the growing number of colleges and universities that are building supercomputers, both for their own academic research but also for use by local businesses. Virginia Tech's "Big Mac" project led the way, but other areas are beginning to do this as well. Here is the key information from the article:

The initiative is expected to increase grant opportunities and attract business partnerships. In the near future, Bowie State will generate revenue by selling and negotiating cycle time.

Wouldn't you like to be able to advertise to businesses that you have one of the 100 fastest supercomputers in the world? Doesn't that sound a little better than saying, "We've got a nice, drab metal shell building just like about 10,000 others in the U.S.?"

Guess what? They both cost about the same. Which one is most likely to project an image of being connected and being part of the global Knowledge Economy?

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