Prescott 2050

Economic Development Report

PRESCOTT 2050 – ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDY GROUP REPORT– Jan. 2008

SECTION 1 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

1-1 MISSION:
“The mission of the Economic Development Committee of Prescott 2050 is to set goals for the future economic development of Prescott. The Committee will identify and explore environmental, social, governmental, business, and other factors that will affect attaining these goals.”

1-2 MEMBERS:
The PRESCOTT 2050 Economic Development Study Group has the following participating members:
• E. Birtic - Tourism
• J. Bryan - Funding, Sustainability
• R. Carlson - Health Care, Higher Education
• J. Chappell - Small Business, Health Care
• H. Freedman - Small Business Development
• C. McNulty - Education, Water
• M. Romeiser - Technology, Telecommunications
• J. Sellers - Finance, Project Development
• J. Stuckey - Writer, Education, Housing

1-3 SUMMARY:
There have been a number of significant and useful economic planning studies for our area generated in the recent past. These have formed a foundation for our work, and also have made it obvious that we should concentrate as much as possible on the future:
• Tri-City Regional Business Diversity Report (2004)
• The Megapolitan Report, Morrison Inst.
• City of Prescott, Focus Futures II (2008), 3-5 Year Strategic Plan
• Various reports by the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Committee
Of necessity, these studies take a relatively short-range view. Our Study Group, as charged, takes a longer-range view. The reader of our report is referred to these because they contain a great deal of relevant background material. A number of our specific recommendations that follow reinforce some of the recommendations made by these predecessor studies. Most of our recommendations are truly long-range, however.
Early in our work the Group adopted a year 2032 “Vision Scenario” (attached) that helped focus our direction(s). In this scenario an individual is visiting our Region, possibly to relocate, and notices a number of unique activities and economic initiatives. These gave him the general

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impression that we were proactive in stimulating economic growth. A number of basic themes appear in the narrative. They cut across the major Sectors of economic development we have used to organize our work (Sections 2 and 3). To facilitate research and reporting by individuals in the Group we divided our research into eight Sectors: General, Jobs, Transportation, Funding, Education, Health, Telecommunications, and Energy.
As requested, our Study Group has developed a tiered listing of recommendations. At the highest level we feel compelled to highlight the overarching themes mentioned above. These are found in Section 1-4 below. Each has only one project/recommendation listed as an example. Section 2 contains a longer list of fairly detailed projects/recommendations. We feel these are important and hope they all will be considered carefully. Every effort has been made to make these as specific and focused as possible.  A few are relatively short-range, for example expanding mass transit to the whole Region, but most are long-range in keeping with the original charge. The Third Section contains detailed discussions of the eight Sectors used to organize the recommendations. The initial challenge from the Study Group Chairman was to; 1) identify areas of research that impact economic development, 2) quantify the impact where possible with supporting data, and 3) make specific proposals to facilitate future economic growth in the research area.  As a result, references are included in each of the discussion areas whenever possible. Additional supporting information is in Section 4.

1-4 KEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS:
ENCOURAGE LONG-RANGE ECONOMIC IMPACT
• Regional Development Office – REDO

ENCOURAGE PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS (PPPs)
• I-17 to I-40 Corridor

ENCOURAGE INFRASTRUCTURE GROWTH/IMPROVEMENTS
• Implement Broadband to homes/businesses/institutions

ENCOURAGE JOB & HUMAN CAPITAL GROWTH
• Repeat TRED-C Job Census, identify base job opportunities

SECTION 2 - LIST OF SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS BY STUDY SECTOR:
2-1 GENERAL:
• Establish a Regional Economic Development Office”, REDO
• Use LEAP or REMI program to analyze regional economic growth potential and impact of I-17 to I-40 corridor enhancement

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2-2 JOBS:
• Repeat the 2004 TRED-C, Yavapai College Economic Census
• Develop Regional business inventory
• Use REDO to encourage new “base job” growth, business connectivity, market information
2-3 TRANSPORTATION:
• Develop I-17 to I-40 toll road corridor to include rail ROW for future
• Develop a Regional mass transit system

2-4 FUNDING:
• Implement a Yavapai Development Bank to stimulate PPP financing
• Support business property tax and depreciation rules reform at State level
• Communicate to public the way revenue sources can be used to support programs
• Create a Community Development Financial Inst. (CDFI) or venture capital fund
2-5 EDUCATION:
• Establish magnet schools
• Use REDO and new TRED-C survey to identify educational needs
• Support development of additional 4 year degree programs
2-6 HEALTH:
• Seek funds to advance medical care through all forms of technology
• Develop a citizen-based healthcare technology assessment comm. to guide this effort
2-7 TELECOMMUNICATIONS:
• Establish telecommunications policy advisory committee with telecomm czar
• Encourage service providers to improve Regional reliability and access
• Implement FTTX network using “open access” approach and PPPs
2-8 ENERGY:
• Support solar thermal and/or geothermal electricity generation
• Require geothermal heat pumps on certain new buildings
• Adopt LEED standards for new commercial/ public construction
• Develop a “Focus on Energy” program to educate and lead energy conservation
• Attract photovoltaic solar system fabricators to area

SECTION 3 – SECTOR DISCUSSIONS:
3-1 GENERAL:
Many studies of economic development in our Region have been carried out through the years. Good recommendations have been made, but there seems to always be a tendency to let many of them languish or become lost. Not purposefully, of course, but just as a natural consequence of having to put out the most recent fire. Right now our fire is obvious; the downturn in the national economy is severe and will probably worsen. One recent study

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suggests that our Region is somewhat protected from severe downturns, however1. The Focus
Future II 2 and TRED-C 3 studies describe how well balanced our economy has become, which may help explain this advantage. That also suggests that we should strive to maintain that balance, and the quality of life it engenders.
One general recommendation of our Study Group is to not let all these efforts, including our own, be sidetracked. We suggest that a Regional Economic Development Office (REDO) be established with a paid leader and support staff. The Quad-Cities would all contribute. This
cooperative effort would have the additional advantage of helping to diminish disagreements about sales taxes, land and road developments, services, etc. REDO would be able to take a broad view when encouraging and assessing economic developments. One of our findings is that there is a tremendous amount of outside help available to aid economic planning:  information, grants, software tools, and published experiences.
For example, under the auspices of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),4 the Appalachian Regional Commission has developed a very detailed economic planning tool called LEAP (Local Economic Assessment Program)5. LEAP is broad in its approach, and looks at the totality of a region’s economic strength and growth potential.  Another economic analysis program that could be useful is available through REMI (Regional Economic Models Inc.)5. The REMI model is a dynamic forecasting and economic policy analysis tool. Much data is already available to begin these analyses .2,3 An example of how these tools might be used lies in analyzing one of our Transportation recommendations; the building of a toll road connector between I-17 and I-40 using PPP funding. By coincidence, there have been recent suggestions that such a transportation corridor should be built through Paulden using State Rte. 169. We recommend that LEAP or REMI’s PI+ program be used to study the impact and value of an I-17 to I-40 transportation corridor.
3-1 GENERAL REFERENCES:
1) “Recession Proof Areas”, Feb. 2008, M. Hovid, http://www.JobBait.com
2) “Focus Future II –Community Economic Development – 3-5 Year Strategic Plan”, Feb. 2008, City of Prescott
3) “Tri-City Regional Economic Diversity Steering Committee Report”, July 2004, Yavapai College
4) “Economic Development – Three Levels of Analysis”, Nov. 2008, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econdev/
5) “Handbook: Assessing Local Economic Development Opportunities with ARC-LEAP”, Jan.2004, http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=2203

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6) REMI Consulting Services, Policy Impact Forecasting and Simulation Analysis, 2008, http://www.edrgroup.com/consulting/economic-impact/remi-consulting-services.html and http://www.remi.com
3-2 JOBS: 
Improvements in transportation, telecommunications, education, health care, quality of life, resource utilization, affordable housing can all be measures of economic development but they basically are subsidiary to the development of jobs. The Focus Future II and TRED-C studies did a good job of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of Prescott in many of these areas GENERAL-2,3 . A recent study GENERAL -1 found that the Prescott MSA was one of 450 US MSAs that had positive job growth through three recent economic downturns. In all likelihood, one reason for this job
market stability lies in our region’s relatively high level of attainment in most of these areas of measure. This study did not look at the details of this job growth, however.
Economic development can be defined as the creation of jobs, and it is necessary to understand how our regional job growth can be nurtured through the coming years.  Successful economic development is defined as the creation of jobs faster than the population growth. Since we know the population will grow we should be pro-active in managing the concomitant job growth. 
In July 2004 the Tri-City Regional Economic Steering Committee (TRED-C) GENERAL-3 reported on economic development in the area within a 20 mile radius of the Prescott Airport). The study area covered the communities of Dewey-Humboldt, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Prescott. The Committee reported on both population and job growth.
Regional population growth was projected to be about 4 % a year, reaching 185,000 by 2015. They found that the median age would be about 45, gradually increasing while the primary workforce age group (20-44) would be gradually declining in percentage. The population would remain strongly white (87 %). These results, if continued in the years beyond 2015, suggest that steps need to be taken to attract and hold younger workers and their families. Improved transportation, telecommunications, education, health care, quality of life, resource utilization, and affordable housing are all factors that would help in this regard.  A few recommendations to these ends are listed in Section 2.
The workforce was studied in detail by TRED-C through surveys of 4700 regional business firms. The survey effort accounted for about 44,000 jobs of a total 2004 workforce estimated to be 47,300 by the US Census bureau. The workforce was about 44% of the population in 2004. To maintain this ratio in 2015 means that 34,000 new jobs have to be created between 2004 and 2015. The objective is challenging, and will be difficult to meet without a Regionally based, concentrated effort.
Further, two types of jobs were identified in the study: (1) those that bring new money into the region from outside (called “base” jobs), and (2) those that re-circulate money already in the region. The economic base of a region consists of the core of employers that make products and provide services that are sold outside the region, hence generating base jobs. A net gain or loss

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in base jobs in relation to population and workforce growth is a good indicator of whether a local economy is growing or declining.

The number of “base” or “export” jobs must grow faster than the population to have successful economic development. The Yavapai College Economic Base Census, 2004 was conducted as part of the TRED-C effort to gain details on base jobs generated by the 4700 business firms. The number of workers in base and non-base jobs was derived. Part time employees were included by calculating them on a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) basis. The results showed that in 2004, 32% of 40,000 FTEs were base jobs. A full-time employee and three part-timers, all working for a year, would equal 2.5 FTEs. Using North American Industrial Codes (NAICs), the leading areas for generating base jobs were: Trade, Transport, Utilities; Manufacturing; Leisure and Hospitality; Health and Social Services; Public Administration; Educational Services. These six categories accounted for about 75% of the base jobs in 2004.
Targeting these areas for growth would seem to be wise. Notice that retailers, included in a business services sub-category, are not generators of a significant number of base jobs.
The primary intent of the TRED-C study was to provide benchmarks from which the growth or decline of our economic base could be assessed. One of the recommendations in this Section is to repeat this survey in 2009/2010 to see if there has been success in that regard. If not, the newly constituted REDO agency can act to correct the decline (Section 3-1).

One of the 2050 Economic Development Study Group members has extensive experience with helping small businesses grow. He performed an independent study of population and job growth (attached, H. Freedman Population Growth Impacts). His population projections are in good agreement with those of TRED-C even using the 3% per annum figure suggested by the 2050 Steering Committee. This study makes the point that a balanced economy needs both wealth producing and wealth consuming jobs. Wealth producing enterprises produce and export goods and services. The TRED-C study put the main emphasis on gaining wealth producing jobs.

The author developed two basic time-frames to describe the areas where small business job growth should be encouraged: that of a “transitional economy” that would correspond roughly to the TRED-C 2015 view; and that of an “informational economy”, that would apply to a longer range, 2050 time-frame. Five economic sectors were used for analysis: Agriculture; Goods Producing; General Services; Personal Services; Knowledge Services.

Even though Agriculture is a “wealth producing” sector, the suggestion is to phase it out in our region. Jobs in this sector are low-skilled and low pay. Our scarce water resource is needed for the population as a whole. The population has to grow to have significant job growth. Our Study Group assumed that the new Big Chino supply will accommodate the expected population growth and also allow us to reach “safe yield”. As a corollary, we also assumed the Region adopts strict water conservation measures, to include restrictions on or control of exempt wells.
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The Goods Producing sector includes manufacturing and should be emphasized for growth because it is a “wealth producer”. General Services include retail businesses which produce sales tax revenue but, in general, consume wealth. Their jobs are generally at the low end of the pay scale. Personal Services include government, health delivery, and education. This area will grow with the population and jobs tend to be high-skilled and high pay. Government growth will have to be contained, however, since this part of the sector does not produce wealth. Finally Knowledge Services would seem to offer the
greatest potential for high wage job growth, especially in the long term. The types of businesses here are call centers, home businesses, data storage and supply enterprises, and information technology businesses. Gaining these businesses will require an investment in education, telecommunications, physical infrastructure, health services, and quality of life issues. Small businesses, born of an entrepreneurial spirit, have been shown to grow rapidly so it is important to emphasize this sector.

In a parallel study on small businesses, Hal Freedman describes “Economic Gardening” (attached H. Freedman, Small Business and Small Communities). Economic Gardening is an innovative entrepreneur-centered economic growth strategy that offers balance to the traditional economic development efforts. An example of a small community that has made good use of this wide-ranging approach is Littleton, Colorado. Economic Gardening builds on three critical themes:
1) Infrastructure: building and supporting the development of community assets essential to commerce and overall quality of life (e.g. roads, education,, cultural amenities)
2) Connectivity: improving the interaction and exchange among business owners and critical resource providers (e.g. industry trade groups, public sector supporters, academic institutions)
3) Market information: access to competitive intelligence on markets, customers, and competitors comparable to the resources historically available only to large firms.
The recommendations from this Section list a few ways this type of approach can be encouraged. One of them, development and maintenance of a regional business data bank, means placing some type of filing requirement on businesses, perhaps through a license fee. Connectivity improvement would be greatly enhanced by having an improved, broadband telecommunications system in place.
3-3 TRANSPORTATION:
The first transportation recommendation in Section 2 deals with a major toll road extension from I-17 to I-40. This is in response to the expected sprawl from the Tucson-Phoenix corridor north, as described in the Sun Corridor-Megapolitan report1. A Yavapai transportation corridor through the area would greatly improve both external and internal transportation access. New
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investment in transportation and stimulated economic development are linked primarily by the lowering of costs borne by businesses and individuals.2 There are four basic cost savings: 1) travel time; 2) accident; 3) operating; 4) environmental.2 There are at least two software programs available for analyzing a highway program like this and its impact on local economics. General- 5,6 Because of an expected and continuing heavy public debt load, spending priorities become very important and will require detailed study and justification. A LEAP analysis combines much local economic and social data in helping set directions for a major transportation improvement. LEAP has been used successfully in large (13 state Appalachian Research Council, ARC) and small (LaPorte, Ind.) area transportation planning. Large transportation projects like I-17 to I-40 might have to be funded in the future through public-private partnerships (PPPs, see Funding Section). Since obtaining right-of-way for utilities in Arizona is a major problem, the recommendation also includes planning for a future rail system along the route.

In a study of 105 rural counties in Missouri, it was found that those with 15+ miles of 4-lane highways had the following: a larger population; a higher average wage; larger household incomes; greater number of businesses; higher gross sales tax receipts; higher real estate evaluations.3 Of course it can be asked whether this is a chicken or egg situation – which comes first? Whichever is the case, a community and its economy grows as the transportation system grows. Because of this importance, leaving the transportation decisions to ADOT or other interests alone does not seem appropriate.
The efficiency of local business depends, to a great degree, on local area transportation access. Transportation conditions and improvements can significantly affect the access businesses have to markets and suppliers. In our region transportation access is mainly by road. The Prescott airport handles a limited amount of freight, and an increasing number of passengers. In the future the airport could play an important role in sustaining economic development. Tourism is an important source of “base” income for the Prescott region. In very early years, tourists got to Prescott mainly by rail. Now roads and air are the only modes. By 2050 all three will be needed in moving both people and commerce into and out of our Region.
Another transportation recommendation in this Section is to develop a Region-wide Mass Transit System. This is supported by other 2050 Study Groups and is currently being planned, although initially only as a limited offering. Mass transit offers clear advantages in the areas of saving energy, decreasing pollution and traffic, and improving quality of life. There are less clear advantages in the area of economic development, however. If the mass transit system were to interconnect businesses, commercial, and residential districts there would be definite economic advantages. For financing, a mass transit system would probably require an “enterprise fee” approach (see Funding Section), or a combination of fee plus special tax or subsidy. Some amount of grant money could be obtained, at least for start-up capital. Perhaps the PPP approach using a Yavapai Development Bank would be helpful.
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3-3 TRANSPORTATION REFERENCES:
1) “Megapolitan: Sun Corridor”, May 2008, ASU Morrison Inst., http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison
2) “Ten Keys to Using Transportation Investments to Promote Economic Development”, May 2002, D. Forkenbrock, http://www.trb.org
3) “Transportation and Economic Development-Which comes first?”, June 2004, E. Perry, http://www.modot.mo.gov
3-4 FUNDING: 
Project Funding can come from two basic sources; taxation in its many different forms, and debt. Municipal taxation-based revenue sources can be categorized three ways: property taxes, sales taxes, and enterprise fees. Municipalities in Arizona have limited access to the property tax levy. It is controlled by the State and goes primarily to education. As a result, we see a local
emphasis on sales taxes and enterprise fees to gain revenue. Too much sales tax dependency leads to distorted planning and volatile revenue streams – as currently experienced. Enterprise
fees would typically be charged for water, sewer, parking, airports, golf courses, courts, etc. In a study of the use of the three forms, it was found (logically) that municipalities turn to enterprise fees during times of economic downturns1. One of the recommendations in this Section calls for better communication with the tax-paying public so that they can better understand our sources of revenue and their uses in economic downturns. An example of a new use of an enterprise fee to help stimulate growth is the development of a broadband FTTX network (see Telecomm Section). Another is in the Transportation Section where an expanded mass transit system would have to rely mainly on user fees.
The availability of funds for new projects drawn from taxation, in all its forms, will be limited. So to will be the ability to borrow, at least in the near future. Governments at all levels are currently burdened with very heavy debt in many different forms. As a result, municipalities must look beyond the normal grouping of banks and governments for new sources of debt financing. Implementing projects in this and other 2050 Study Groups will probably depend on the availability of these new capital funds. The obvious answer to the limited availability of capital funds from the public sector is to bring in private sector monies. 
Public/Private/Partnerships (PPPs) have been gaining great interest of late. 2 Partnerships- BC structures and implements partnership solutions which serve the public interest. PPPs also will bring a needed degree of stability to the current turbulent debt market in addition to offering new sources of funds. A listing of potential PPP funded projects follows. A quality of life improvement is included with the social safety net project. Philanthropic or “third way” PPPs are ones in which the private capital contributions come from charities or donors. A good example of this is the “village” concept in Prescott Valley being undertaken by Prevent Child Abuse Arizona (PCAAZ) together with DHS. Additional modules such as suicide prevention could be added separately.

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POTENTIAL PPP PROJECTS

Regional Mass Transit
Creation of a Private Economic Development bank at the regional level
Local affordable housing
ERAU Technology Park
Freeport Bagdad Mine infrastructure investments
Broadband Telecomm FTTX
Magnet Schools
PPP for Phoenix to Flagstaff including existing I-17 remaining as free route.
Social safety net projects
Rodeo Grounds
Hospital/health technology outreach

One of the main suggestions in this report is directly related to helping this financing problem, the implementation of a Regional Development Bank (RDB). The concept is being explored currently by one of our Group members in conjunction with the I-17 corridor project. These approaches (PPPs and RDB) would seem to be good for the long term as well. A Regional Development Bank (RDB) would be significantly more than just a bank. It would have international ties and hence access to that pool of resources. Shareholders would include public entities, and private financial experts. There would be an independent director, transparency, and no politics. The RDB would be a public/private/partnership (PPP) that would have competency in handling (business) cash flow and credit in a conservative, ethical manner. The primary development targets would be infrastructure related: water; transport; education; public service; health. The RDB would advise on the raising of funds for PPPs. They would stimulate economic studies; e.g. using LEAP or REMI to understand the full economic impact of

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an I-17 to I-40 corridor project. Funding of the RDB would come from retainer fees, and success fees, not from the taxpayers.
Another form of recommended banking is tied to the concept of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) (See J. Bryan attachment). The concept of CDFIs has been around for a long time and there are six basic types: community development banks, community development loan funds, community development credit unions, microenterprise funds, community development corporation-based lenders and investors, and community development venture funds. CDFIs are private-sector, financial intermediaries with community development as their primary mission. CDFIs take a local, as opposed to a global, view of project financing. The RDB would look at infrastructure development and a CDFI would look at smaller scale, almost personal, needs. There is no reason why we both approaches can’t be used to find economic development funds.
3-4 FUNDING REFERENCES:
1) “Enterprising Cities: An Exploratory Analysis of Municipal Enterprise Revenues, User Fees and Charges, and Service Delivery”, 2004, C. Hoene & M. Pagano, National League of Cities, http://www.nlc.org
2) http://www.partnershipsbc.ca

3-5 EDUCATION:
In a study of 573 US municipalities over a 30 year time-span, growth in “human capital” was found to be important in obtaining economic growth. 1 What can be done to generate or increase human capital obviously becomes an important question. Certainly quality of life in all its difficult to quantify aspects is important. In the study referenced earlier there were a few characteristics in common for the 27 “recession proof” towns: low population density; high education levels; low travel times to work.GENERAL-1 The one measurable quantity in the McGregor study that was correlated to economic growth was the beginning average level of education in a community. In comparing these communities it was found that a 10 percent higher beginning (in 1960) average educational level increased economic growth over the period to 1990 by 5 % per annum. Similarly, this same 10 % higher educational level led to a 7 % increase in population growth when compared to communities with lower beginning averages. This increase in educational level would be equivalent to a beginning average education level of 12 rather than 11 years. In Prescott, 90% of the population over 25 years of age has attained a high school or higher educational level.2 Other studies of the relationship between human capital development and economic growth have shown similar results.
Arizona’s reputation for supporting public education is not exemplary. One of the barriers to improving education through local efforts lies in the handling of the Property Tax that funds public education. The State takes the property tax money and sends a portion back for the schools. If a locality wants to improve local educational levels on its own it has to work through charter schools, special districts (think JTED), special projects, or community colleges. As a
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result, this 2050 Economic Development Study Group has a number of recommendations: (See attachment, C. McNulty):
1) Establish a “Magnet High School”. A magnet school is intended to attract unique, motivated, and sometimes gifted students. Obviously it is intended to offer an educational experience that is different than that obtained through the public school system. Cost per student would probably be higher than that found in the public schools. Since industry has an interest in improving (and perhaps occasionally directing) higher education, a PPP might be used for financing (see Funding Section). North Point Academy or Tri-city Prep might be willing and able to fill this role, for example.
2) Support 4-year degree program growth at local colleges.
3) The local education leaders should continue their close ties to the Arizona Science Foundation and the Governor’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) program.
4) Support greatly improved telecommunications access and speeds (FTTX). Online learning and ongoing education will require more ubiquitous and higher speed data
capability in our towns. North Central University (an on-line university) will grow even faster if it has improved communications capability.
5) Support County and other regional efforts that attempt to coordinate education improvements and economic development, such as JTED (Joint Technical Educational District) and Yavapai College’s C-TEC (Career/Technical Education Center).
3-5 EDUCATION REFERENCES:
1) “Municipal Economic Growth, 1960-1990”, Dec. 2002, R.R.McGregor, N. Carolina Univ., http://www.goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1237821/Municipal-Economic-growth-1960-1990.html
2) http://www.city-data.com/city/Prescott-Arizona.html
3-6 HEALTHCARE:
Recommendation:  Develop an organization to seek federal, state, and foundation funds as well as private contributions to improve the technological capability of the Prescott Area Healthcare System.  The funds obtained will be distributed to local and regional healthcare providers to assist in purchase of technology that offers maximum potential for improving the health status of residents.
Submitted by:
Ray Carlson

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Economic growth typically results from expanded employment opportunities, increased tourism, and the like, but such development depends on successful competition with other regions seeking the same types of growth.  In the meantime, less dramatic but modest economic growth through employment in service jobs, and through sales and property tax revenue can be achieved by attracting and retaining retirees and people in job positions that allow working at home.  Whereas Prescott has not had a competitive advantage in job creation or tourism, it has shown an advantage in attracting retirees. Prescott’s past success in this type of growth suggests it should be successful again once the current housing market stalemate is resolved.
Primary Obstacle:
Prescott’s past success was supported by being designated more than a decade ago as one of the U.S.’s best places to retire.  At that point, a number of factors were considered in developing such lists including climate, cost of living, security, and the like.  Recent surveys, however, have added a new element, healthy living, as a significant consideration, and Prescott has not fared as well in these lists.  [1]
To define a “healthy” community more objectively, Money magazine and CNN used life expectancy as a measure of that factor.  Those counties whose residents, on average, survive the longest are the ones that are deemed “healthiest.” Traditionally, it was assumed that the more we spend on health services, the healthier the community will be.  Some recent investigations indicate that costs and survival rates are not related suggesting actual survival rates are a better indicator. [2]
Research suggests that a variety of factors influence longevity, but some of the strongest are regular physical activity, avoidance of environmental problems like air
pollution, and the availability of outstanding health facilities.  The communities surrounding health facilities like the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Kaiser Permanente facilities in California, and two highly-rated hospitals in suburban Washington D.C. jump to the top in such life expectancy surveys.  It has been suggested that these facilities have the best impact because they emphasize patient education, recognize the social and
mental health needs of caregivers, and promote healthy lifestyles as well as provide state of the art health care. [3, 4, 5]
Prescott does well on recreational opportunities and environmental quality but faces challenges on the health care front.  Prescott has some good facilities including medical imaging services, but a key problem is the limited number of primary care physicians. 
Currently, there is a national shortage of primary care physicians, and the situation is worse in non-urban areas that offer less medical support, spousal job opportunities, quality of schools, and the like.  A recent national survey suggests that non-physicians provide about 42 percent of direct clinical care in rural areas.  A region like Prescott can compete by finding financial resources to help recent medical school graduates pay off loans.  This approach, however, does
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not lend itself to long-term retention of such graduates and relies on less experienced personnel in the health care field which has found that greater experience is associated with better outcomes.  [6, 7]
Many studies suggest that some health care professionals underuse the most effective diagnostic and treatment planning information that is available, but this situation often worsens when less trained personnel must be used.  [8]
Proposal:
A way to offset this lack of experience among several primary care staff is greater utilization of health care technology.  For example:
Several reviews have suggested that medical outcomes would be improved if treatment planning and monitoring were more consistently based on the evidence supplied by existing research.  Such evidence is complex and not always definitive but both government and foundation support have generated a series of guidelines that are consistent with the evidence. [9] These guidelines have been incorporated into computer-based knowledge systems that can guide diagnosis, treatment planning, and monitoring of progress.  Such systems have been widely utilized and can be accessed by computer, PDA, etc. [10]
Computer-supported diagnostic equipment in areas like ultrasound, MRI, and x-ray can provide detailed images of the problems a person is experiencing, e.g., pinpointing the nature of a blockage in a kidney, partial collapse of a stent in an artery, bone or spinal
cord deterioration, etc.  With clear images, diagnosis can be accurately rendered by less experienced personnel. [11]
Establishing telephone and broadband based communication systems with networks that provide interpretation of medical data by experts in other locations.
A number of sources have encouraged increased use of information technology to collect, store, retrieve and transfer health information.  Effective systems can improve efficiency but also improve health results by showing the service provider medication the person is already using, pre-existing conditions and prior response to treatment.  The federal government has developed a toolkit to guide development of such systems [12].Arizona has developed a program to provide grants to assist health care providers in the development of better health information technology. [13]

Such supports are already in use in some facets of the local healthcare system, but expanding and continually updating such support allows nurse practitioners, physician assistants and recent graduates to provide more consistent effective care. 

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To develop such a technology-based system requires a combination of infrastructure and funding. 
Necessary Infrastructure:
High speed communication networks allow use of telemedicine and other communication-based consultation as well as continual updating of the decision support knowledge based systems.  The FCC has initiated a pilot funding program to facilitate the creation of a nationwide broadband network dedicated to health care, connecting public and private non-profit health care providers in rural and urban locations.  [14] The necessary communication infrastructure is addressed elsewhere in this report.
One way to improve on use of evidence –based guidelines is to have staff gain experience through the use of computer simulations.  Such programs can result in the clinician repeatedly encountering a variety of medical situations without risking patient harm or inconvenience. [15]
Training of technicians to operate the diagnostic, communication, and computer systems.  Much of this training is provided at the advanced community college level such as the vocational programs being developed by Yavapai College in other fields.  Some training might be appropriate for the new JTED.  Again simulation offers a good resource. [16]
Positive publicity on the effectiveness of such health care supports to encourage migration to this region during the time period necessary to improve health care outcomes and life expectancy improvements.
Funding:
In September, the federal government released an announcement of a program to fund demonstration projects intended to “Utilize Health Information Technology (IT) to Improve Health Care Quality (R18) “ [17] Projects will be funded that test whether improved information technology leads to better medication management, better coordination across different settings and better decision making.  Proposals can seek up to $1.2 million over a three year period.  The proposal can be submitted by a variety of organizations including a city or non-profit community organization.
If funding from such a source were obtained, those funds would only support development of information technology, the same topic covered by the Arizona project mentioned above.  [13] Acquisition of other technology needs supplemental contributions A reasonable mechanism to handle such tasks could be development of an organization representing a partnership between public and private agencies.  This organization should include a healthcare technology assessment committee consisting of community residents with background in healthcare and technology but no ties to local programs.  The committee will monitor federal and state funding intended to support acquisition of healthcare technology.  If the city and/or relevant services deem that a specific application is appropriate, the organization will assist in drafting requests
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for funds.  This organization should also develop a mechanism to solicit contributions from the public, service organizations, relevant foundations and local government
The users of healthcare technology such as the Yavapai Regional Medical Center, local diagnostic clinics, and medical practice groups will submit proposals to this organization.  The technology assessment committee will assess these proposals taking into account the likely payoff of the technology requested and the ability of the users to partially fund the costs of the technology.  The committee will allocate the funds based on the potential payoff taking into account the evidence supporting the proposed technology and the feasibility of its implementation and the availability of necessary infrastructure.  In assessing evidence, the committee will take into account the reports generated by other similar projects. [15, 18, 19] Kaiser Permanente in California offers a potential model for such a committee. [20]
This committee’s priorities will be guided by the likely payoff in increasing life expectancy among local residents recognizing the importance of prevention, rehabilitation to maintain residents’ involvement in physical activity, ongoing disability assistance and mental health supports as well as resolution of acute conditions.
3-6 REFERENCES:
1) Kimberly Castro: America’s Best Healthy Places to Retire - U.S. News writers profile 10 healthy retirement spots around the country.  U.S. News & World Report.  Posted
September 18, 2008 to http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-places-to- retire/2008/09/18/americas-best-healthy-places-to-retire.html
2) Jonathan S. Skinner, Douglas O. Staiger, Elliott S. Fisher, 2006. Is Technological Change In Medicine Always Worth It? The Case Of Acute Myocardial Infarction Health Affairs, 25 (March), pp. w34-w47.
3) Emily Brandon: How to Pick a Healthy Place to Retire - Scientist Mary Altpeter discusses how to choose a retirement haven and live a longer life. U.S. News & World Report.  Posted September 22, 2008 to http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/retirement/2008/09/22/how-to-pick-a-healthy-place-to-retire.html?PageNr=1
4) Best places for a long life - Residents of these 25 counties enjoy some of the highest life expectancies in the U.S. Money/CNN Posted September 22, 2008 to http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0809/gallery.bestplaces_lifeexpect.moneymag/index.html The source for ratings of counties: Life expectancy stats from consultant Bert Sperling of BestPlaces.net, Centers for Disease Control
5) Leveille, Suzanne G. 1; Guralnik, Jack M. 1; Ferrucci, Luigi 1,2; Langlois, Jean A. : Aging Successfully until Death in Old Age: Opportunities for Increasing Active Life Expectancy.  Original Contributions.  American Journal of Epidemiology. 149(7):654-664, April 1, 1999.

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6) Roger A. Rosenblatt, MD, MPH; C. Holly A. Andrilla, MS; Thomas Curtin, MD; L. Gary Hart, PhD: Shortages of Medical Personnel at Community Health Centers - Implications for Planned Expansion. JAMA. 2006; 295:1042-1049.
7) Jack M. Colwill, James M. Cultice and Robin L. Kruse: Will Generalist Physician Supply Meet Demands Of An Increasing And Aging Population?  Health Affairs.2008; 27: w232-w241
8) Evidence-based Practice Program, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Summary of The Effect of Health Care Working Conditions on Patient Safety. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 74.  Online at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/worksum.htm
9) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Evidence-based medicine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence-based_medicine
See http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epc/ for information on the federal governments’ efforts to support such medical practice.
10) Agency for Healthcare Reserarch and Quality presents:  AHRQ’s Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS) is a quick, hands-on tool designed to help primary care clinicians identify and offer the screening, counseling, and preventive medication services that are appropriate for their patients. The ePSS is based on the current, evidence-based recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and can be searched by specific patient characteristics, such as age, sex, and selected
behavioral risk factors. Available both as a Web-based selector and as a downloadable PDA application, the ePSS brings the prevention information clinicians need - recommendations, clinical considerations, and selected practice tools - to the point of care.  http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2006/eppspr.htm
11) Val M. Runge: Advances in Magnetic Resonance.  Investigative Radiology. 43(12):893-898, December 2008.
12) The Toolkit is available at http://healthit.ahrq.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1093&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2
13) See http://www.azgita.gov/ehealth/rhita/
14) For information about this program see http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/rural/rhcp.html
15) A. Grenvik: Alternate Modes of Financing Healthcare Technology.  Annals of the Academy of Medicine.  May, 2001. 30:3.  222-225.
16) Embry Riddle University is involved in developing aircraft-related simulations and might be able to offer the skill set relevant to developing healthcare simulations.
17) For information and applications see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-08-270.html
18) M.G. Myriam Hunink: Decision Making in the Face of Uncertainty and Resource Constraints: Examples from Trauma Imaging.  Radiology, May, 2005, 235-2: 375-383. Published online
19) The federal government’s effort to summarize evidence on effective procedures also includes technology assessments.  See http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epc/

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20) Kanter M, Schottinger J, Odell R. “New technologies in health care: an evidence-based approach to evaluating new technologies,” at the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute and The Permanente Journal Evidence-Based Medicine Symposium, Costa Mesa, California, December 3-4, 2004.  Summarized in Joanne Schottinger, MD; Richard M Odell: Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Technology Management Process: Evidence-Based Medicine Operationalized.
The Permanente Journal. Spring 2006, 10:2 —A Focus on New Technology
See also: Yan Chow: Information Technology Innovation, The Permanente Journal. Fall 2008, 12: 4, pp. 65-69.
3-7 TELECOMMUNICATIONS: 
One infrastructure element that has a significant impact, positive or negative, on economic development is the telecommunications network. Two specific recommendation areas are identified in this study in this regard; 1) improving existing voice/data connections to the Region, and 2) upgrading data rate connection speeds to homes/businesses/institutions within the Region. The first is relatively short-range in nature, but unfortunately hard to influence at a local level. The second is long range and can be controlled locally. There are many examples in the US and internationally of this being achieved.
Addressing #1, there have been multiple local complaints about the reliability and quality of the voice/data connections between our Region and the outside world. Notice that video service is not included in this statement. Based on the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the primary incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) Qwest is prohibited from providing video services.  Qwest provides most of our region’s voice/data connections, however. This prohibition leads to problems for both of the recommendations above. In the language of the Arizona Investment Council’s Infrastructure Study the voice/data connections from our Region to the rest of the world are referred to as the “Middle-mile”1. The middle-mile connects a local municipality or isolated region to the extensive State/national/international network. Arizona has two organizations that guide technology policy; the Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) 2 , the Governor’s Communications Infrastructure Advisory Committee (CIAC) and the staff agency Government Information Technology Agency (GITA)3.These Agencies recognize the value to a region like ours in accomplishing both the number 1 & 2 recommendations. 
Recommendation # 1 basically calls for helping these State efforts by concentrating pressure on the ILEC and any other regional voice/data providers (called competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs)). Mayor Wilson recently called all stakeholders together to discuss this issue4. One conclusion from this meeting became obvious to this writer:  recommendation #1 can not be
achieved by our municipalities if we simply apply the ad-hoc techniques of the past. A local entity, group, or office has to be identified and enfranchised to deal with all telecommunications issues. There should be a paid leader, not necessarily full-time, so that concentrated and sustained effort can be made to achieve both recommendations 1 & 2. Telecommunications is too important in promoting economic growth to be dealt with on the back-burner.
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In regards to #2, the federal government officially designates “Broadband” as a connection speed of 200kb/s.  This is a barrier to telecommunications growth. Telecommunications companies supply what are now considered low speeds but still are allowed to call them Broadband as a result. There is ample evidence that an enhanced local telecommunications, truly broadband, infrastructure nurtures economic growth. An MIT study found that the availability of mass-market broadband communications brought more rapid growth in; 1) total employment, 2) number of businesses, and 3) businesses in IT- intensive job sectors5. For example, in the Health Section of this report it is brought out that an improved middle-mile and local broadband telecommunications capability can be used to stimulate and grow our health provisioning industry. In the Prescott region, Internet tests consistently show that we get average download speeds of about 1.5 Mb/s and upload speeds of 0.7 Mb/s. These tests can be carried out by any interested person6. The newest services becoming available (and desired by many) are mainly video based and require much higher speeds. Verizon is offering a service nationwide called FiOS (Fiber Optic Service) that allows speeds higher than 100 Mb/s7. Verizon is betting on the future, even in geographical areas where it is a CLEC. Optical fibers placed directly to the home/premises/institution (FTTH/P/I, also called FTTX) offer many advantages:
• FTTX is the only technology capable of delivering enough bandwidth for the communications needs of the near-future.
• FTTX is affordable with current technology and will get less expensive in the future.
• FTTX is the only technology that will be able to handle the Gigabit/s speeds needed for multiple HDTV signals, holographic (3-D) TV, detailed graphics, and real time remote medical imaging.
• FTTX availability is a proven incentive when trying to draw new businesses to a locale.
• FTTX is a green technology which delivers broad environmental benefits8. 
There are supposedly competing technologies that can also provide these advantages9. Cable TV often utilizes a combination of optical fiber and coax connections to the home. These are called hybrid systems. The final (coax) mile into the premises is bandwidth limited, however. Satellite television systems use the radio spectrum and hence are bandwidth limited, in addition to being affected by bad weather. WiFi and WiMax systems similarly use a bandwidth limited portion of the radio spectrum and also can only provide service within a limited geographical range. These systems also rely on high bandwidth land connections to be able to deliver the high bandwidth localized radio. Ironically, here again, Federal regulators have hurt the national communications infrastructure by limiting the total bandwidth available to the cell-phone industry for these services.
FTTX has none of these drawbacks10-12. FTTX systems are being installed nationally and internationally in many locations13. Obviously it is less costly on a per-customer basis to install this service in metropolitan areas, but this doesn’t mean that we in rural communities have to give up on obtaining this improvement. In our Region, since video cannot be used by Qwest to gain revenue there is probably no incentive for them to place FTTX. They would just have to rent
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out the capacity to someone else. Perhaps this explains their lack of interest when approached on this issue at the recent meeting convened by Mayor Wilson. Many states have this type of impediment. As a result, many small communities in the US have taken the initiative and found ways to implement FTTX on their own14-20. The most successful localities doing this have used an approach called “open access”. With open access the communities set up independent entities that obtain non-taxpayer funding. A good example is the formation of Burlington Telecom in Vermont21-23. They used a phased implementation of FTTX to gain experience and fund the project gradually. The initial phase installed data server(s) and fibers to connect government offices and schools in a limited geographical area. Significant cost savings were realized in phase 1 alone because they no longer had to pay for ILEC services. The project is entering the final phase, where all debt is expected to be retired and revenues will then flow to the general fund.  Wouldn’t it be good if our citizens could interface with our municipal offices using high-speed data? This enterprise activity would then return funds to the City. Our recommendation is that the Prescott Region pursue FTTX on our own initiative. Again, this can not be done using only an
ad-hoc approach. As with recommendation #1, a local entity, group, or office has to be developed with dedicated, permanent leadership.

3-7 TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFERENCES:
1)“Infrastructure needs and Funding Alternatives for Arizona: 2008-2032”, Arizona Investment Council, http://www.arizonaIC.org,
2) Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) http://www.arizonatele.com/ATIC
3) Studies of Arizona Broadband, http://www.azgita.gov/telecom/
4)“Closing the Loop – Joint Business Opportunities”, Oct. 2008, J. Wilson, and “Prescott 2050 Economic Development – Initial Recommendations – Telecommunications”, Oct.2008, M. Romeiser
5)“Measuring Broadband’s Economic Impact”, 2005, W. Lehr, C. Osorto, S. Gillett, MIT, and M. Sirbu, Carnegie Mellon, http://cfp.mit.edu/groups/broadband/docs/2005/MeasuringBB_EconImpact.pdf
6) Test Internet speeds, http://www.speedmatters.org
7)“FiOS and the Economic Basis for the Coming Ultra-Broadband Age”, May 2008, L. Schoener, http://www.broadbandproperties.com
8)“Developing a Generic Approach for FTTH Solutions using Life Cycle Analysis Methodology to
Determine the Environmental Benefits of FTTH Deployments in the USA”, Oct. 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers-Ecobilan-SA, http://www.ftthcouncil.org/userfiles/file/PWC_FTTH_Sustainability%20Report%20FINAL.pdf
9) “Broadband Technology Overview”, June 2005, Corning white paper,
http://www.corning.com/opticalfiber/white_papers/metro_access.aspx-32k
10) “Municipal & Utility Guidebook to bringing Broadband Fiber Optics to Your Community”, 2008, D. Chaffee & M. Shapiro, Public Technology Institute, http://www.pti.org

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11) “Arizona Broadband Initiative and Framework”, 2007, ASU Center for Business Research/Arizona Dept. of Commerce, Center for Digital Government, http://www.centerdigitalgov.com
12) “FTTX: Current Status and the Future”, July 2008, L. Hutcheson, IEEE Communications Magazine.
13) “Home Broadband Adoption 2008”, J. Horrigan, Pew Internet & American Life Project, http://www.pewinternet.org
14) “A Broadband Utopia”, May 2006, IEEE Spectrum, http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
15) “Portland (OR) Community Fiber Network: Staff Report”, 2007, http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=168966
16) “Municipal Fiber to the Home Deployments: Next Generation Broadband as a Municipal Utility”, 2008, http://www.ftthcouncil.org,
17) Broadband Properties (Industrial magazine), http://www.broadbandproperties.com
18) RVALLC fiber to the home market research group, http://www.RVALLC.com
19) Reason Foundation free market studies, http://www.reason..org
20) “Santa Monica (CA) Telecomm Master Plan”, http://www.smgov.net/isd/telecom/s98030305-A.htm
21) “Burlington Telecom Case Study”, 2007, C. Mitchell, Institute for Local Self Reliance, http://www.newrules.org/info/bt.pdf
22) Burlington FTTX, http://www.burlingtontelecom.net/aboutus/tech/
23) “Vermont gets serious about FTTH”, June 2006, M. Hanna, Lightwave Magazine, http://www.lightwaveonline.com
OTHER INTERNET REFERENCES:
CWA Broadband, http://www.cwa-union.org
Public Technology Institute, http://www.pti.org
International Research Center (ATIC cons.), http://www.researchedge.com/MBTAS/Landscape_2.html
Arizona technology portal, http://www.aztechcouncil.org

3-8 ENERGY : 
The term “energy” by itself elicits many different ideas when trying to link it to economic development. Energy considerations touch many areas of concern, most of them so broad as to not afford much local control. There are a few initiatives that can be recommended, however; 1) our Region is well situated to host both solar and/or geothermal based electrical generation,
2) geothermal heat pumps should be required on all new government and commercial buildings and retrofitted where feasible, 3) the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,
“Green” Building rating system) standards should be written into our commercial building codes, 4) a concentrated and sustained program of education and leadership in conserving energy should be instituted, and 5) there should be an effort made to attract solar (photovoltaic) system manufacturers to the Region. The jobs these initiatives will create are in the technology-IT sector advocated for expansion in the Jobs Section of this report. Given the current need to
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move to alternative energy sources, solar energy in its many forms and geothermal energy have the potential to have significant local economic impact.
Recommendation #1 in this Section deals with the generation and distribution of electrical energy. Relatively low cost electrical energy has to always be available or economic development will suffer. The recommendation suggests that we support new electrical generating “green” facilities, placed within or close to our Region. In the future fossil fuel based vehicles will have to yield market share to electrical energy based vehicles. This means that more attention must be paid to the generation, distribution, and efficient use of electrical energy. The recommended electricity generators should not be fossil fuel based. Non-fossil fuel electrical generation plants can use biomass, wind, nuclear, solar, or geothermal energy. A biomass facility probably should not be located in our fairly densely populated area. Wind generation requires consistently high winds which we do not have, even though some golfers might beg to differ. Nuclear generation requires a constant and abundant supply of water which we also do not have, even though some developers might beg to differ.  Fortunately, solar thermal, geothermal, and photovoltaic generation is feasible for this area. The solar thermal
generator(s) suggested for this Region use high-temperature technology. Currently, about 80% of the solar based electrical generation in the US comes from solar thermal plants1. Mirrors and lenses are used as concentrators to obtain very high temperatures in a fluid. The fluid then is converted to steam, and used to drive conventional turbine generators. Heat energy can be stored for use in the dark hours2. Through the 80’s and 90’s a number of these thermal Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) were installed in the Mohave Desert3. APS has installed a similar (parabolic trough) demonstration system near Tucson4. A parabolic trough system consists of long rows of curved concentrators that focus the sun’s energy on a pipe carrying the heat transfer fluid, usually water. APS is looking to expand this technology to other parts of the State. Why not in our Region? The jobs created by this installation would be high-paying and high tech. Conversion efficiency in transferring solar to electrical energy by this method is in the 10 – 20 % range. These plants are expected to soon achieve the 4-6 cents per kWh generation cost needed to compete with fossil fuel plants5. With carbon based fuels constantly increasing in cost, these systems will be even more cost competitive in the future.
States in the western US also have geothermal energy readily available6. Geothermal means literally “earth heat”. Geothermal energy is obtained in a number of different ways; directly from geysers, from deep hot water reservoirs, from deep reservoirs using injected fluids (called enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)), and from the upper 10-20 feet of the earth. Our area is
one of those zones where earth heat is available and can be used for generating electricity and heating/cooling buildings7. To generate electricity, heated water (hydrothermal) is drawn from
wells, 1 to 2 miles deep. The water may be in the form of steam or just very hot. California has
33 geothermal power plants and Nevada 14. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) make use of deep wells plus injected fluids to make the process more efficient8.
Recommendation #2 advocates the use of geothermal heat pumps. Geothermal heat pumps use the stable ground temperature near the earth’s surface to heat and cool buildings above ground. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that geothermal heat pumps are
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the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective systems for temperature control. These systems are being used extensively in Texas and investigated for use here in Arizona9,10. It appears the energy savings can be significant. These systems can be used for individual dwellings or for wide-ranging district heating/cooling11. In our Region these might be called to use in public buildings or new construction, for example. 
Recommendation #3 basically expands on the “green” building theme inherent in the use of heat pumps. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) provides guidelines for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings12. The LEED standards are most applicable to new commercial building design and construction. The concept of “sustainability” is used in these standards. A LEED designed building indicates a building’s overall sustainability by awarding points for such things as; rainwater collection and reuse, bike racks, energy efficient lighting, low-flow plumbing, heat pumps, etc.. The EPA has a similar program called Energy Star, which looks at energy consumption in existing buildings. With LEED, the responsibility for application resides primarily with architects and engineers while with Energy Star it resides primarily with
property managers. In a study of one phase of the economics of green designs, LEED and Energy Star green buildings out-performed their conventionally designed peers in several key areas:  occupancy rates, rental rates, sale prices13. Recommendation #4 is a continuation of #3 that calls for a concentrated effort to educate the public on energy conservation and the use of renewable energy sources. The State of Wisconsin, through a public/private partnership (PPP) has had a “focus on energy” program for a few years that offers this type of guidance.  The program has been shown to have a positive impact on; job creation, income and occupation levels, and economic competitiveness14.
Finally, Recommendation #5 deals with solar energy generated by photovoltaic cells15. Photovoltaics are semiconductors made of Silicon, which directly convert sunlight to electricity. They are assembled into arrays because one cell alone generates limited power. The concentration approach mentioned above is sometimes used with photovoltaics.  Because they can be assembled into either very large or small installations, Photovo