• Sense-making. The ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed
• Social intelligence. The ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions
• Novel and adaptive thinking. Proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based
• Cross-cultural competency. The ability to operate in different cultural settings
• Computational thinking. The ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning
• New-media literacy. The ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms and to leverage these media for persuasive communication
• Transdisciplinarity. Literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines
• Design mind-set. Ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes
• Cognitive load management. The ability to discriminate and filter information for importance and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques
• Virtual collaboration. The ability to work productively, drive engagement and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

The full report can be viewed here: Future Work Skills 2020 Report (PDF)

• CFEDC Mixer: 5PM – 6PM
• Panel discussion: 6:00 – 7:30 PM

WHQR Gallery (third floor), 254 N Front St.

The Lower Cape Fear Sustainable Communities Consortium has been awarded a $1.13 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Sustainable Communities Initiative to develop a regional plan for sustainable development for New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick Counties.

Two panelists, Wanda Coston and Ben Andrea (see bios below), presented the study, goals & opportunities of their recent HUD Regional Planning Grant award at our January fourth-Tuesday event. This event provided the first chance for many participants to hear and ask questions about the group’s plan. There was a discussion of the process, goals and history of the group as well.

Panelist biographies

Wanda Coston, Graduate of The Ohio State University Graduate Program with a Master Degree of City and Regional Planning and a Master Degree of Social Work. Presently, the Community Development Planner in the Long Range Planning Section, with over twenty five years of planning and community development experience. Wanda’s primary responsibilities include grant writing, neighborhood planning, demographics, Community Development Block Grant Program administration and management and sewer and water connections assistance for primarily low and moderate income persons. Wanda is also responsible for the administration and management of the County’s hazard mitigation/disaster recovery efforts as it relates to providing housing assistance.

Ben Andrea has served as a Planner with Pender County for the past three years where he focuses on a variety of development review and long-range planning efforts, including commercial and residential development review, analysis, interpretation, and recommendations on the county’s land use policies and regulations, small area planning, economic development grant administration, parks and recreation planning and grant administration, and coordination with local non-profits to support and facilitate grassroots community efforts. Ben’s previous experience includes work in both the public and private sectors, serving in a variety of positions related to coastal development review and enforcement, environmental advocacy, outreach, and education, and small business management. Ben is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies concentrating in Coastal Environmental Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration concentrating in Finance. Ben is a member of the American Planning Association, a NC Low Impact Development Certified Professional, a NC Certified Zoning Official, and also a small business owner.

This event centered around a discussion on the role that tax credits play in economic development in our area. Adam Shay, a CPA with areas of expertise in taxation and small business operations and CFEDC board member, led a discussion covering:

What role do tax credits play in economic development?

An overview of tax credits relevant to our local community for:

• Green Building
• Historic Building Restoration
• The Film Industry
• Small Business
  

Investments -How are other localities innovating with their local tax credits?

CFEDC and expert panelists convened on September 27th for a discussion about the need for a new business incubator in our area. Mark King, intellectual property / small business attorney and CFEDC board member, led a discussion covering:

• What is an ‘incubator’, and what is not?
• Are there any ventures presently in our area that would be properly termed ‘incubators’?
• Is there a need for a local business incubator, or are existing ventures sufficient?

If establishment of an incubator were to become a priority in local economic development policy, (i) should it be brick & mortar or virtual and (ii) should it be general or industry specific?

Panelists included:

• Jonathan Rowe, Director of the UNCW Entrepreneurship Center / Member Cape Fear Future Leadership Team
• Rich Novak, Executive Fund Director of IMAF Cape Fear Angel Fund and Managing Partner of Cornerstone Advisory Partners, Inc.
• Doug Tarble, Director of the Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center
• John Hinnant, Executive Director of Wilmington Downtown, Inc.

Overview

We resumed the CFEDC Presents event series (after a summer break) with an informal, technical, and practical walk-through of IT and place.

This set of brief presentations and panel discussion provided an orientation for using new information technologies to bring people, news, projects, and communities together. The event focused on:

• Sites and technologies for social networking and sharing
• Local infrastructure
• Hyperlocal media
• Particulars of our location that make it easy/hard to do technology business

The theme of the event is “IT and place” — our region, ways that technology helps or does not help foster civic involvement, collaboration, a sense of place.

Published Agenda

• Ian Oeschger, CFEDC, Introduction and brief talk being a good local “content provider” — RSS, email contact habits, sharing technologies, social bookmarks, etc.
• John Hinnant, Wilmington Downtown, Inc, ~5 minutes on mobile and other tech efforts to promote and connect the downtown (QR codes, mobile apps, calendars, etc.)
• Vaughn Hagerty, Star News, Tech and journalism, tech and local, Star News’ experiments with collaboration, social, place
• Robert Sharp, Digieffects, and John Cornelius, Wide Open Technologies, Local entrepreneurism + national reach and branding with tech

• Panel: IT and place, Wilmington in particular, knowledge workers here, civic tech

Wilmington, N.C. – July 11, 2011

Cape Fear Economic Development Council, Inc. (CFEDC) announced today that it believes that the proposed Titan cement project is “inconsistent with both the region’s current economic identity as well as our as yet unrealized potential to compete at a global scale”. Titan America has proposed to build one of the largest cement manufacturing and limestone mines in the nation on the Northeast Cape Fear River just North of Wilmington, NC.

Lloyd Smith, president of Cape Fear Economic Development Council, and a local business owner, stated, “More important than this one project, it is my opinion that the process that brought Titan Cement to the region is broken and in need of repair.” Shar Olivier, a member of the CFEDC board of directors, added that, “the Titan proposal and the surrounding ideological struggle are symptomatic of the fact that our elected public servants need a clearer vision for the region’s future and a process with local checks and balances to control the future direction of our economy.”

CFEDC board member and internet technology expert, Ian Oeschger stated, “We are distinctly pro business, and we disagree entirely with the “any job at any cost” mentality often used to justify the considerable externalized economic costs associated with such a project.” Bill Graham, CFEDC board member and community leader in the areas of health, education and the arts added, “This region has had long standing air and water pollution problems that can no longer be tolerated as EPA has tightened its rules in response to greater knowledge of the implications of pollutants in our environment. The addition of Titan or other large scale coal burning plants in a region that makes its living from tourism and water sports is adverse to our primary business core as well as the health of our families.”

Elise Rocks, CFEDC board chair, and a local real estate appraiser, explained that “the Cape Fear region can only compete in the 21st century, global economy by raising our standards and boosting quality of life, which will in turn attract and keep the kind of companies we want.”

About Cape Fear Economic Development Council, Inc. – The Cape Fear Economic Development Council (CFEDC) exists to provide leadership in sustainable economic development and job creation for the Cape Fear region. The organization represents a vision for the future economic development of the region that is actionable, sustainable and that builds on existing strengths of the region. We believe that “quality of place” is the linchpin of the region’s future and that a competitive educational system, thriving arts and culture, and natural beauty are guarantees of that quality. The organization is inclusive, culturally sensitive and progressive. We acknowledge the industrial, economic and cultural past of the Cape Fear region but work to move the region toward a prosperous future in the new economy.

On May 24, at 6pm at the WHQR studio in downtown Wilmington, the CFEDC had another CFEDC Presents event, featuring a follow-up panel discussion on how we build upon the lessons learned from Congress for the New Urbanism CEO John Norquist’s Wilmington presentations on May 19 and May 20 to create a sustainable economy for the Cape Fear region.

The panel featured:

• New Hanover County Commissioner Rick Catlin
• Dave Spetrino, President of Wilmington Downtown, Inc.
• Buddy Milliken, CFEDC Board of Directors
• Chris Boney, Architect and Principal at Cape Fear Future
• Tracy Skrabal, North Carolina Coastal Federation
• Chris O’Keefe, New Hanover County Planning
• Billy King, Wilmington Industrial Development

Our region can move forward to a sustainable Cape Fear if we understand, share, and take action on the next steps indicated from the John Norquist events. See you there!

Event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact us at info@capefearedc.org

“The Cape Fear Economic Development Council is proud to host a speaker of national renown who will advise us on how we can mold our region to deliver the quality of life that attracts healthy investment and generates a resilient, sustainable economy for present and future generations,” said Elise Rocks, board chair.

Norquist’s appearance followed author’s Richard Florida’s recent visit to the Port City. While here, Florida outlined The New Economy principles that nurture The “Creative Class,” requiring a high performance education system, a robust cultural environment and beautiful, healthy and functional places to live, work and play. A former Wisconsin state legislator and the former mayor of Milwaukee, Norquist worked with the CFEDC to help translate the Creative Class vision into tangible steps for transforming the regional economy through the power of place.

Events:

May 19: Tour. Norquist toured Wilmington, ending at Market and Water Streets at 5 p.m.
Dinner. Norquist spoke from 6:30-7 p.m. on building civic capacity to achieve a sustainable Cape Fear. Hotel Tarrymore, 102 S. 2nd St.

May 20: Luncheon Presentation, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Norquist spoke on place-making as the economic development tool in the New Economy. Hotel Tarrymore.
Afternoon break-out, 1-3 p.m. Session on the nuts and bolts of building a sustainable place.

6:00 – 7:30 PM

WHQR Gallery (third floor), 254 N Front St.

Transportation choices play a profound role in our lives and help define our quality of life and the quality of the environment around us.  Americans spend an average of just under 50 minutes per day commuting to and from work or school.   Our port, airport, trails, roads and rail provide critical infrastructure to support commerce and to build our economy around.

This forum explored the network of transportation choices that exist for us to build our lives around.  It discussed the plans for the future which will allow us to adjust our mobility to improve our quality of life and enhance the way we do business. The forum analyzed the relationship between our transportation network and our ability to compete for growth in economic sectors that will improve our community.

Mike Kozloski, Executive Director Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Director

Albert Eby, Executive Director Cape Fear Public Transit Authority

Chris O’Keefe, Chairman bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee

And others..

According to industry trade group Cleantech Group, “Clean is more than green”. Clean technology, or “cleantech,” should not be confused with the terms environmental technology or “green tech” popularized in the 1970s and 80s. Cleantech is new technology and related business models that offer competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges. While greentech, or envirotech, has represented “end-of-pipe” technology of the past (for instance, smokestack scrubbers) with limited opportunity for attractive returns, cleantech addresses the roots of ecological problems with new science, emphasizing natural approaches such as biomimicry and biology. Greentech has traditionally only represented small, regulatory-driven markets. Cleantech is driven by productivity-based purchasing, and therefore enjoys broader market economics, with greater financial upside and sustainability.

Cleantech represents a diverse range of products, services, and processes, all intended to:

• Provide superior performance at lower costs, while
• Greatly reducing or eliminating negative ecological impact, at the same time as
• Improving the productive and responsible use of natural resources

Cleantech spans many industry verticals and is defined by the following eleven segments:

• Energy Generation
• Energy Storage
• Energy Infrastructure
• Energy Efficiency
• Transportation
• Water & Wastewater
• Air & Environment
• Materials
• Manufacturing/Industrial
• Agriculture
• Recycling & Waste

This event was also an opportunity for Cleantech entrepreneurs and investors to network and connect with peers while advocating for your industry.