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As innovation becomes a more central feature to economic development strategies for states and regions, we're seeing a greater effort to measure this important economic process. (Last year, I was part of a team from Purdue and Indiana University that released an innovation index for regional leaders. You can learn more here.)

For example, in Milwaukee last month, the Public Policy Forum, a nonprofit research group based in that city, released an Innovation Index. Read more.

The oldest -- and still one of the best effort to measure innovation -- comes out of Massachusetts, produced by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Last week, they released their latest report. Read more. You can download a copy from this page.

Going through this report, as well as some of the accompanying material on the web site, gives you some sense of why innovation is so difficult to measure. If yoare interested in pursuing this issue further, you might start with the 2008 Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation, a group established during the Bush Administration. You can read their report here.

Earlier in April, the third Creative Cities Summit took place in Lexington, Kentucky. Although the online activities of the Summit were disappointing, the Summit itself sounds like it was successful. (Hopefully, next year, organizers will plan for webcasting or -- at the very least -- some active blogging, beyond a Twitter feed.)

Here's an overview of what took place. Read more.

Newspapers can play an important role in shaping perceptions of a region's future.Effective strategies change the narrative within a region. As a region faces an economic transformation, the first challenge comes in focusing conversation on the opportunities of the future, as opposed to what's been lost.

So, for example, the transformation of the Youngstown economy began to take shape when young professionals asked the older leaders within the community to stop talking about the steel mills closing down.

Here are three examples of newspapers beginning to reshape the dialogue within a region.

Lansing, MI

In Lansing, Michigan, the local paper is moving ahead with a series that makes the case for regional solutions.

Lansing is already making important strides by establishing the Lansing Economic Area Partnership. The Partnership has launched Greater Lansing Next to pursue seven strategies. Read more.

Brevard County, FL

Down in Brevard County, Florida, the challenge is different. The region is facing a major dislocation with the end of the NASA shuttle program. The newspaper is focused on understanding the scope of this dislocation and exploring alternatives for economic transformation in the region. Read more.

(In a couple of weeks, I will be down in Brevard County conducting a strategic doing workshop with about 200 civic leaders. You can learn more about what I'll be doing over at my other web site: Ed Morrison's Garage. I will be posting our workshop materials there.)

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

In an editorial over the weekend, the editors of the local paper are pushing for new regional approach to economic development. Read more. 

Interesting developments are taking place in the emerging market for holy automobiles. New companies are emerging that may challenge the entrenched manufacturers.

The odds are long. Nevertheless, some promising strategies are emerging in niche markets. Here's an article that surveys the horizon. Read more.

Over the past five years or so, a boatload of reports on the future of manufacturing has appeared in the US and Europe. It's not surprising. Manufacturing is undergoing fundamental changes.

Here's another. This one calls for a national manufacturing policy. Produced by the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board, the report explores the characteristics of competitive manufacturing, as well as the outlines of a national policy. You can download a copy of the report here. I insert the report here.

I've also attached to this post a number of other manufacturing reports that may interest you.

A year ago, the Fresno chamber and economic development organization launched a sustained "buy local" campaign.  This approach makes sense as a way to build an economy from within. Here's why.

The trouble comes when a "buy local" campaign touches off political controversy. Is Wal-Mart a local business or an outside company? (Answer: it's both, these are not hard categories.) Here's a good resource on thinking about the impact of Big Box retailers on your community.

You're seeing this controversy on the edges of this article on Fresno's buy local campaign.

Connie Loden, a colleague from the Heartland Wisconsin Business Alliance, pointed me to a good example of a buy local campaign in Madison, WI.

If you are interested in exploring this strategy, there's a good web site out of the UK: Plugging the Leaks.

Relentless pressures to close state and local budget deficits will only get worse in the months and years ahead. Already, states are deferring pension contributions, a stopgap that can make matters worse in the future.  

So, it's not surprising that we are seeing efforts to streamline government programs. Earlier this week, Missouri's governor made a  significant speech at the University of Missouri in which he underscored the importance of downsizing government.

In Massachusetts, the state Senate is considering legislation to streamline state economic development functions. Read more. 

And yesterday, California's governor announced a new executive office of economic development designed to provide a "one stop shop" for businesses investing n California. Read more. 

This article gets into the weeds about how New York City is moving to a green economy. It's a good review of the many initiatives that are needed to execute NYC's strategy. The Boomberg administration set the target last October to double the city's green-sector jobs from 13,800 to 27,600 by 2018.

Mayor Bloomberg sets a good example for setting clear metrics on city initiatives. The Mayor's Management Report  is a model of clarity and focus. 

Read more about NYC's green strategy. 

Regional health systems can create valuable platforms for innovation. Here's an example.

In Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Health Research and Innovation Institute has launched a new partnership with Tech Columbus. The Institute provides physicians and other staff with mentoring to develop new ideas into products.

TechColumbus provides support services for startup companies. The handling of intellectual property differs from an academic hospital. With clinical innovations at Ohio Health, the innovating physician holds the intellectual property. You can learn more about the model from this article and from visiting Institute website.

In South Bend, Indiana there's another interesting model at Memorial Hospital. Under the leadership of CEO and President Phil Newbold, the hospital operates the Innovation Café. Located in a former restaurant near the hospital, the Innovation Café provides creative space where ideas or innovations can flourish.

You can read more about the Innovation Café here. You can also visit their website here.

Bringing back the downtown of an old industrial city is no easy task, but Fort Wayne is showing some promise. The lessons of Ft. Wayne are important for other midsize cities like Akron, Youngstown, Flint, Kalamazoo. The list goes on.

As I was reading the article, I was struck that the civic leadership and for Wayne seems to understand the importance of downtowns:

• Downtown serves as a symbol, a showplace, the heartbeat of the community
• Getting it right is important for cities trying to attract high-tech companies that hire young, creative professionals
• The Downtown Improvement District sponsors numerous events designed to appeal to younger residents, including Drop Your Avant Garde, an inside/outside event that included art, music and food at each of four downtown venues one evening in early February. “We wanted to do something outside the traditional summer season...We wanted to show the downtown can be a draw all months of the year, not just summer.”

Read more.

Minnesota has enacted a new tax credit for angel investors. Qualified investors — both individuals and pooled funds — can get a 25-cent tax credit for every dollar they invest in a qualified small business. In fiscal year 2011, which starts July, the state has set aside $17 million in tax credits for qualified investors.

I've attached a copy of the legislation. You can read more here.

Austin's Pecan Street Project  represents an ambitious collaboration to develop new opportunities in designing sustainable energy systems.

In the years ahead, regions will be developing their own energy systems. Distributed power systems, smart grids, local renewable energy systems, and energy conservation initiatives will all contribute to these new regional approaches to energy production and consumption.

We can see a glimpse of the future in this project in Austin. Here's an article that gives some background. You can also check out their YouTube channel.

Finally here's the project website.

The Pecan Street Project is a community-wide collaboration to fully reinvent the energy delivery system. It’s more than a smart grid project. Pecan Street is an ambitious effort to empower customers and innovators to use the energy system in new ways while making energy cleaner, water usage more efficient and the economy stronger.