Regional Economic Development

Rural states such as Montana have a lot to offer companies looking to outsource white-collar support services for the insurance, financial, medical and information technology fields, say local and national experts on the subject.

While the local economy is recovering, the job base remains diminished. Washington state still has not recovered nearly 30,000 of the jobs it lost during its recession. The new group wants to attract new jobs, not work already projected to arrive in the coming years.

"Every tax change will affect a
state’s competitive position relative to its neighbors,
as well as globally."

Please note the following upcoming economic development meetings, discussions, hearings or trainings that may be of interest to you. Please note where an RSVP is required. If you are personally unable, but have an interest…

Finding a target market and hitting it repeatedly is essential, they advised.

The Utah Board of Business and Economic Development on Thursday approved a $2.25 million incentive for the company to locate in the county.

"These projects will encourage real-world laboratories for innovation and provide models for other organizations as we move forward in developing an electronic health record."

The incubator, part of Boise State University’s West Valley Campus near the Idaho Center, now has 17 resident business clients ranging from a biotechnology firm to an online shopping mall.

Local business leaders traveled to Seattle last week and met with UW medical school staff to push for the study, which they hope will eventually lead to establishment of a full program to train doctors in Spokane.

"You can actually go broke if you do economic development wrong," said Bill Sellers, director of TechConnect East in the Idaho Innovation Center.