metros

Between 2010 and 2015, the vast majority of metro areas experienced growth in gross metropolitan product (GMP), led by energy-intensive regions such as Odessa, TX, and Bismarck, ND, according to an SSTI analysis of recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The Elkhart, IN, and San Jose, CA, metropolitan areas experienced the largest increase in GMP per capita over the same period. Metro area gross domestic product (GDP), commonly referred to as gross metropolitan product (GMP), is derived as the sum of the GDP originating in all the industries in a metropolitan area, according to the BEA.

As the potential nexus of tech-based economic development and community development, cities play an important role in not only making their cities attractive to startups that help drive economic prosperity, but also in bringing together community members to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. In an attempt to address both of these important issues, several metros have announced new city-backed investment funds that support both startup growth and impact the lives of city residents. These city-backed investment funds are intended to help create, expand, and retain high growth startups. Efforts are being undertaken in Sacramento, Kansas City, San Antonio, and Montreal. 

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre launched Capital Intelligent Mtl – a 100 million CD (77.3 million USD) investment fund aimed at smart city startups and established businesses offering solutions to urban challenges that also will spur job creation in Montreal. The new public-private partnership will backed by 23 founding organizations including venture capital firms, financial institutions and corporations that have pledged over 100 million CD in private capital to establish the fund. In addition to the over 100 million CD from private sources, the city will commit 400,000 CD (309,000 USD) for the administration of Capital Intelligent Mtl through to 2018 with the intent of ensuring the coordination of the group's activities. While the management team of Capital Intelligent Mtl will oversee the day-to-day operations of the investment fund as well as pre-quality companies for investment, partners will be included in the final review of all investments. Capital Intelligent Mtl can make investments of up to 5 million USD (3.9 million USD) into individual companies. Read the press release…

Despite a small decrease in venture capital deals last year, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area remains the most active investment regions on a per capita basis, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) MoneyTree Report. San Francisco led all other MSAs in both total dollars and per capita activity, with its $21 billion in 2015 investment averaging about $4,500 per metro resident. NVCA notes that 133 metros were home to deals in 2015, an encouraging sign that opportunities are opening up in areas outside of the known hotspots.

Leaders in Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis have teamed up to leverage their respective resources and help build an economic mega-region in the center of the country. The Heartland Civic Collaborative will focus on four main areas of opportunity: transportation, federal advocacy, life science and entrepreneurship. In the coming months, the collaborative plans to begin work on an entrepreneurial metrics dashboard for the participating metros and a map of life sciences research assets. The group also plans to improve the research commercialization pipeline for biomedical and bioenergy research. The initiative’s first event, around transportation futures, will be held next month. Learn more at: http://heartlandciviccollaborative.org.

AT&T has announced a new partnership with three U.S. metros to establish a Smart Cities Framework using Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to create solutions for cities. In the first stage of the effort, Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas will showcase the potential use of sensors and other Internet-connected technologies to improve municipal services. In addition to existing services offered by AT&T, the new framework adds several new services in four categories: infrastructure; citizen engagement; transportation; and, public safety. To help support the new framework, AT&T has formed alliances with Cisco, Deloitte, Ericsson, GE, Georgia Institute of Technology, IBM, Intel, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. More information is available at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-launches-smart-cities-framework-with-new-strategic-alliances-spotlight-cities-and-integrated-vertical-solutions-300199022.html.

Between the second quarters of 2014 and 2015, consumer spending significantly slowed, according to research from the JP Morgan Chase Institute. The institute used data from credit and debit card transactions to track spending in 15 major U.S. metropolitan areas. They found that most of the slowdown could be attributed to decreased spending among consumers 65 and older, and among middle- and high-income consumers. Also, while consumer spending declined among all businesses, larger businesses reduced their spending by a larger margin. The researchers conclude that the strong and diverse growth apparent in these cities in 2013, had stagnated in 2014 and early 2015. Read the report…

Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto announced the launch of the Pittsburgh Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation, a strategic plan that is intended to support economic growth and the equitable access to technology, city resources, and information. The roadmap includes three primary goals that include:

Conducted by the National League of Cities (NLC), the Local Economic Conditions Survey 2015 asks government officials in more than 250 cities across the nation to assess their local economic conditions. Painting a broad picture of the economic health of cities, Cities and Unequal Recovery highlights key points from the most recent survey. The report finds that economic conditions over the past year have improved in nearly all cities, with 28 percent of city leaders indicating that conditions have improved greatly and 64 percent reporting slight improvements. In the 2013 Local Economic Conditions Survey, just 8 percent of cities reported greatly improved local economic conditions from the year before.

SYNEVA Economics – a consulting firm focused on local and regional economic analysis – released a free-to-use, web-based tool that allows users to examine monthly change in employment for the United States’ largest metros from January 2008 to May 2015. Using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the Metro Employment Index interactive dashboard includes a mapping function that allows users to examine monthly employment data for all 387 metros. The tool also allows users to view a single metro monthly employment data for the 77 months of available data. As of May 2015, the number of metros adding jobs dropped to 319 – approximately 82 percent of all U.S. metros. These finding marked the fifth consecutive month with fewer metros showing job growth. The 63 states that reported job loss was the highest since March 2014. Use the dashboard…