NH Ranks 13th In New Economy

"In times of change, changers and learners will have unlimited opportunity, and knowers will be marvelously well equipped to succeed in a world that no longer exists"... one of my favorite quotes...

This article appeared in the NH Business Review and so is slanted to the NH results, but it should be noted that MA came in #1 in this analysis.

We can get so caught up in the never ending media barrage and the stock market woes. But we must persevere and proceeded! In my effort to never go blue sky, but continue to look for opportunities for myself and my clients, I think this puts a thoughtful look.

I have many clients and associates who are thriving, growing, changing, evolving... and so it goes!

I have the full report, The 2008 State New Economy Index, available to send you- all you need to do is reply to this blog and ask... BF



N.H. ranks 13th in ‘New Economy’

Friday, November 21, 2008

A new report has placed New Hampshire among the top states in the country in adapting its economy to the new millennium.

The 2008 State New Economy Index, released by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, nonpartisan policy organizations that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, lists New Hampshire as 13th in the country for its efforts in moving away from an economy based on older industrial models to one based on knowledge, innovation and technology.

Dr. Robert D. Atkinson and Scott Andes of ITIF, the index’s authors, define the “New Economy” as one that is “global, entrepreneurial and knowledge-based” in which “the keys to success lie in the extent to which knowledge, technology and innovation are embedded in products and services.”

Atkinson and Andes said the index measures the degree to which a state’s economic structure matches the ideal structure of the New Economy “and not merely economic performance or policies.”

It examines 29 indicators in five major areas, including knowledge jobs, globalization, economic dynamism, transformation to a digital economy and technology innovation capacity. States that ranked highest had the greatest concentration of high-tech jobs, educational institutions and entrepreneurial activity.

The researchers also said high-ranking states “tend to have a high concentration of managers, professionals and college-educated residents working in ‘knowledge jobs’ (jobs that require at least a two-year degree). With one or two exceptions, their manufacturers tend to be more geared toward global markets, both in terms of export orientation and the amount of foreign direct investment.”

Atkinson and Andes also said that states furthest along toward the New Economy tend to be “at the forefront of the IT and Internet revolutions, with a large share of their institutions and residents embracing the digital economy.”

New Hampshire ranked third in the country in immigration of highly educated knowledge workers into the state from outside of the country. The state also ranked third in alternative energy use.

“In the top six states … renewable energy accounts for more than one-third of their total energy consumption,” said the researchers.

The Granite State also did well in the percentage of the population online (fourth), foreign direct investment or the percentage of the workforce employed by foreign companies (fifth), and workforce education (sixth).

One interesting indicator in which New Hampshire ranked highly in was the use of the Internet in agriculture.

“Just as in other sectors, the New Economy is transforming agriculture,” they noted, adding that “two measures of this are the percentage of farmers with Internet access, and the percentage that use computers to run their farms.”

While the report placed New Hampshire eighth for online agriculture, it was tied with Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.

New Hampshire was also noted for moving up eight points in industry investment in research and development, from 16th in 2002 to eighth in 2008.

New Hampshire received low marks, however, for manufacturing valued-added per production hour worked as a percentage of the national average (39th), entrepreneurial activity (36th), use of technology in schools (39th), and the utilization of digital technologies by the government (47th).

Massachusetts was the number one state in the country for being the furthest along in moving into the New Economy.

In New England, Rhode Island ranked slightly ahead of New Hampshire at 11th, Vermont was ranked 19th and Maine at 28th.