Global Corporate Xpansion Journal Publishes Article By North Carolina Innovation Economist

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 05, 2008 – Raleigh, N.C. Global Corporate Xpansion, one of the world’s most widely read journals by C-level corporate executives, published an article this month on corporate location strategy by North Carolina innovation economist Thomas E. Vass.

In his article, Raising the Standards In Global Corporate Location Strategy, (http://www.gcx-online.com/gcx/article.asp?magarticle_id=642) Vass outlines how both global corporations and metro regions are in a desperate search for technological innovation. Vass calls this search the “two-way deal mapping process,” which can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes for regions and corporations.

“Multi national corporations have outsourced their search for innovation,” said Vass, “and companies like Proctor & Gamble have an ambitious goal to find half of its new product ideas from outside the company by 2010.”

At the same time, Vass notes that states, like Ohio, are searching for ways to replace the lost jobs in traditional manufacturing, and are attempting to implement a new state economic development strategy that features high technology new venture creation.

Vass advocates that states and metro regions implement new regional innovation strategies that promote high rates of new venture creation targeted to the technology within the regional input-output value chains. “Economic development professionals must shift to a detailed econometric analysis of the region’s input-output value chains,” said Vass, “in order to sync up with global corporate needs for technological innovation.”

Vass describes how technology value chains in metro regions are becoming the new innovation platform for global corporations, who have outsourced much of their search for innovation. “The reason for outsourcing innovation in global corporations,” said Vass, is that “it is easier to outsource innovation rather than endure an internal conflict of interest between the corporate status quo and corporate change.” The goal for economic development has changed from industrial recruitment, to innovation economics.

Vass is the author of Predicting Technology (2007), a new theory of how technology evolves in distinct geographical territories. “The common goal of both regions and global corporations is continuous innovation,” said Vass. “States like Ohio and Michigan would do better economically if they would stop giving away industrial recruitment incentives to companies that are creating unstable and low- wage jobs, and start focusing on the incentives serial entrepreneurs need in order to create new high technology firms.”

About Global Expansion Xchange. GCX is the quarterly magazine for executives and site selectors planning to relocate a facility or expand operations. GCX’s readership consists primarily of C-level executives at manufacturing companies with the following titles: CEO, COO, CFO, Partner, President, Corporate Vice President, Corporate Manager/Director, Economic Development Director and Corporate Real Estate Director. Ten-thousand copies of each issue are distributed to these corporate executives, site consultants, real estate executives and at industry trade shows and conferences. It is published by Latitude 3 Media Group LLC, of Birmingham, Alabama.