Innovation solutions outlined at the National Economic Development Conference 2008

The third National Economic Development Conference, hosted by EDA, drew insights and inspiration from a wide range of expert speakers. Grant Meyer, an EDA Board member, writes about the experience of attending the two day landmark event in Brisbane in October.

Conferences are typically short, sharp bursts of information exchange and networking. With an effect similar to a dose of antibiotics, they help attendees to shift out of ‘the day-to-day’ and get a boost of clarity on how they, and their profession, are travelling.

In October this year, 232 members of the economic development fraternity gathered in Brisbane to receive a powerful shot in the arm that had the required effect as many walked away feeling energised and invigorated.

The theme was ‘Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Economic Development’ and first up was our international guest Christian Saublens, the Executive Manager of EURADA (European Association of Development Associations), based in Belgium, who had flow to Brisbane to deliver the keynote address to the conference.

EURADA represents approximately 140 organisational members (groups – not individuals) operating in more than 20 countries across Europe. EURADA and its members are highly organised and economic development is well evolved as a discipline.

Christian Saublens is a clear convert to acting regionally and has some strong views on what comprises a dynamic economic region. He listed the following as critical ingredients for stimulating innovation: good governance, strong leadership, fostering entrepreneurship (start ups), helping to provide access to finance, attracting talent, having a university locally, effective business clusters and a skilled up local labour force. Regions that paid attention to where their companies sat in the ‘value chain’ were more likely to succeed.

He stressed the importance of accessible energy, a skilled workforce and companies responding quickly to environmental sustainability challenges and said that the French Government, in particular, is allocating big dollars towards the establishment of clusters.

After his keynote address it was time to settle in for the balance of two full days of conference program. Some presenters offered new ideas and practices whilst others served to validate existing effective ways of doing things. Some of the key themes over the course of the conference were as follows: 

• Innovation is uncomfortable and a disruptive activity. It calls for old ideas and ways of doing things to become obsolete. Innovation needs to be supported with a strong emphasis on accompanying business networking. 
• Innovation strategies are typically produced at a Federal and State level but very rarely at a regional level (Andrew Wear, DPCD). This must change. Practitioners need to help facilitate business networking as this helps with the transfer of market knowledge. 
• The demand for skilled labour across Australia is high and some regions will go to great lengths to import workers. For example, Rockhampton Regional Development, under a program aptly titled, ‘Get Staffed!’, managed to attract some former GMH South Australian employees to relocate to the Queensland Central Region to work in the mining sector. One key tool to make this happen, a skills matching employment website, can be viewed at www.cqjobs.com.au 
• Skill shortages, particularly in non-metropolitan regions, are a big issue. One example cited by Bill Millard was Warnambool in Victoria. It is providing an outstretched hand to new African migrants who are filling some labour voids and adding to the cultural diversity and richness of the local community. Don’t underestimate the time required to do it properly Bill advised. 
•  Some practitioners are going about identifying ‘failures’ and ‘inadequacies’ in the market and offering a helpful local government interventionist hand. For example, matching up developers with local suppliers and ‘tradies’ - traditionally as scare as hens teeth in a strong property construction market (eg Fairfield Council in Sydney).
• More and more of our agricultural producers are seizing opportunities to create business opportunities centred on tourism and the natural environment. It was put to the conference by Rose Wright from Southern Cross University that 25% of fresh food supplies come from ‘peri-urban’ areas in Australia. This group of producers need additional income because of rising land values due to their proximity to metropolitan areas. With assistance from Southern Cross University, some NSW producers are attracting tourism dollars with new initiatives such as on farm tastings and interpretive centres. And if farmers happen to have, or be adjacent to, some significant vegetation or landscapes, this too is being packaged up as part of the tourism destination. Examples cited included: strawberries and cheese in Byron Bay and the Nimbin Valley Dairy in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW. A key philosophy expounded was that practitioners should help to identify and then encourage clusters of complimentary tourism destinations. Having one or two ‘attractors’ in an area will not provide the necessary scale. The more the merrier.
• Business incubators (now referred to as ‘business accelerators’) are still in fashion and kicking goals. Sutherland Shire is rightfully spruiking the business wares of its ‘SSHED’ which offers accommodation for 20 start-ups with more planned. www.sshed.com.au 
•  Many in the profession are still pursuing the holy grail that is ‘knowledge enterprises’. Cluster mapping was described as an important tool to help identify ‘prospects’. Following up with business development initiatives was also considered critical (eg business networking). 
•  Linking economic development and town planning functions is as important as ever. Examples from inner city Belmont in Perth included the following: have some flexibility on car parking ratios so that these do not prove an inhibitor to quality more intense urban development and encourage improved urban design through ‘pre-applications’ with prospective developers.
• Efforts to encourage local businesses to export required detailed conversations and one-on-one relationships. ‘Export Gippsland’ has arranged for Austrade representatives to visit ‘prospectives’ in the region for a number of days.
• It was evident that many practitioners are not aware / using the full potential of the regular ABS Census. Colin Menzies from ‘The Public Practice’ pointed out that any Workforce Strategy that doesn’t take into account gender breakdowns is going to have a de-facto gender bias (eg industry classification by gender is informative).
• Maha Sinnathamby is Chairman of the Springfield Land Corporation, in NSW and is overseeing a major new development on Sydney’s edge. He made the point that Australia must have a much longer-term approach to the way it plans its infrastructure. He suggested that many Asian countries plan 50 years in advance. We hope that the new entity, ‘Infrastructure Australia’, takes note.
• Practitioners are increasingly focussing their efforts on reducing the environmental footprint of small businesses. This involves training programs designed to minimise their carbon footprint and increase their bottom line. Steve Harrison, from the City of Prospect in South Australia, spoke about a program his Council was supporting that involved 100 businesses in a 12 month pilot. In that time there had been a 15% waste reduction and a 21% reduction in water use. Many other organisations at the conference were pursuing like initiatives to good effect. 5-10 years ago this would have been a rare occurrence nationally.

Outgoing EDA Chairman, David Keenan, suggested that ED practitioners need to do things differently: Too many Australians spend too much time travelling to work (his own one hour plus commute a case in point). The time is ripe for more flexible arrangements to enable us to increasingly work from home or in the ‘third place’ (Google that term for more information).

On the urban planning front, he noted that governments have feverishly gone about separating land uses for too long. Accordingly the time has come for more integrated planning controls to help realise more vibrant and mixed use activity centres. He commented that local authorities have an ambivalent relationship with home based business and there is a clear need to move away from focussing on regulation to creating environments conducive to trading from home. David said he was aware of more developers who are selling combined house, land and job packages in an effort to generate sales and differentiate themselves from competitors.

Carbon trading

Judging by the number of conference attendees who walked up to these two speakers after their presentations, the issue of carbon trading is of vital interest. It is also one that many of us have yet to fully grasp. Andrew McEwen (Townsville Council) and Justin Wynn (Onkaparinga Council) made it clear that carbon trading has strong economic development and investment ramifications and must be understood now and not in a few years time. Andrew spoke proudly of the Townsville Carbon Trading Exchange (akin to the Bendigo Community Bank). By way of example, he noted that our Murray Darling Food Bowl is set to disappear so a response is required. The Trading Exchange is helping to establish a series of regional carbon trading schemes that is putting investment back into regions. One aim is to make farmer’s practices more sustainable (eg fewer fertilisers with reduced water consumption and a commitment towards organic production). Attracting carbon credits is one means to effect this type of critical change in behaviour. Further information can be viewed at www.carbontownsville.com.  

Andrew spoke of his council’s efforts to establish a new ‘Carbon Park’ on 28 hectares of Council land. It will provide a clustering for low carbon companies, is a partnership with the private sector and will be brand the region as one for low carbon emitting companies globally. Andrew referred to the importance of businesses measuring the full life cycle costs of their products and services and their ability to offset their emissions by linking with other projects. Using ‘Kyoto’ mechanisms, businesses can partner globally and not just locally. For example, a Canadian company can invest in a new recycling facility in Australia and take the carbon credits. Andrew was quick to point out that the Federal Government’s new Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will generate a new economic market overnight from its start date in 2010. http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/wong/2008/pubs/mr20080716.pdf  

No conference is complete without a presentation from a government minister. Fortunately Queensland’s The Hon Desley Boyle, Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry, found time to escape the Parliamentary bear pit to address the assembled national audience. She applauded EDA on its work and strong recent growth and welcomed further links between the organisation and the Queensland Government.

The Minister was quick to acknowledge the uncertainties under the prevailing economic conditions. Despite these challenges she stressed the importance of governments responding fleetly and rigorously to climate change. She pointed out that reductions in the Australian dollar present strong opportunities for our manufacturers.

Wearing her love for tourism proudly on her sleeve, the Minister said that one of Australia’s challenges is to stem the flow of Australians taking holidays overseas. We have to encourage our own to recreate in our backyard and the falling dollar and a new national tourism campaign should assist. She observed that Australia needs tourism repositioning noting that we are associated by some in the world as one of the countries that went to war with George Bush, the poorly received ‘Where The Bloody Hell Are You’ campaign and global environmental concerns about the deterioration of the Great Barrier Reef. She observed that today tourists want more than a static experience but rather want to engage their feelings and make a ‘connection’ with a place and its people.

Other key points stressed by the Minister included:

• Many small businesses must upgrade their IT and telecommunications technology in order to be competitive in tougher economic times. 
• The marine and tourism sectors have provided good internet-based training to their businesses (e.g. environmental, energy use). Other sectors must follow. 
• The Queensland Government has a very large capital program focussed on public sector improvements and that the state economy is moving from ‘Rocks and Crops’ to one that is more diversified and knowledge-based (e.g. aerospace, biotechnology, marine). 
•  Half of Queensland’s population is located in the south east corner. In terms of Government spending, a lot of the initial ‘Smart States Funds’ followed into this area but the Government now wants to distribute more funds into the balance of the state. These regions (e.g. Cairns) offer liveability advantages over some of their more congested metropolitan peers. 
•  There are high costs associated with rolling out infrastructure in major regional centres because of the geographic divide (industrial ports, railways, electricity, roads). The Government is trying to get ahead and provide the infrastructure to support these regional centres. 
•  There are some substantial supply chain opportunities in McKay (ie major mining hub). 
•  The Government have recommended 2-3 priorities for each region in an attempt to be realistic in its planning and service delivery. 
•  Regional Universities are working much closer with government than ever before.

And in case you thought that indigenous Australians were detached from the economic development profession, two inspirational speakers late on the Day 2 program proved otherwise. Craig Dalzell, from Indigenous Business Australia, www.iba.gov.au described a number of innovative ways that his organisation is helping to secure the financial futures of aboriginal people.

Providing business loans and affordable home finance products are helping to empower many indigenous communities across the country. Richard Ahmat, from the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, www.balkanu.com.au described with passion how his organisation is helping to establish viable enterprises and investments nationally with critical upfront financing and mentoring.

The last session at the conference was on the subject of EDA’s efforts to establish new professional development programs for the membership. EDA’s Executive Officer, Richard Walker, was joined by Dr Paul Collets from RMIT University. Both reported on new course offerings for practitioners and took feedback from the floor on a range of associated issues including future accreditation options for the EDA membership. It was agreed that moves to further equip practitioners with skills and training will only help to ‘raise the bar’ and align us with other professions. Stay tuned for exciting developments in 2009.

The Conference Sponsors, Brisbane City, CorenetGlobal, Pilbara Development Commission, The Public Practice and Bendigo Bank, combined with the conference organisation by Hallmark Conferences and Events ensured a highly successful event.

Presentations (including taped recordings) from the conference’s 29 speakers can be accessed in the member’s area of the EDA website here.

Editor’s Note: Our grateful thanks to Grant for his succinct and valuable summation of the key points of the conference. Grant is the Coordinator Place Management, Knox City Council Phone: (03) 9298 8534 Email: Grant.Meyer@knox.vic.gov.au