The Main Thing:

Nurturing your small business startup and growth environment is critical to a healthy economy. It can't be all about recruitment. Leaders must look internally to grow an economy and make efforts to assist local businesses growth

The period between startup and takeoff (three to five years after startup) is a time of immense potential for small businesses and entrepreneurs. With the support of economic developers and communities, success is not just a dream but a tangible goal. Ninety days of small business nurturing ideas is about unlocking the potential of our local businesses.

As critical stakeholders in our community's development, you play a vital role and have the power to shape the future. Your decisions and actions today will determine the economic landscape of tomorrow.

It's important to ponder the first question: 'Do we have the right conditions for small business startups?' This question underscores the need for a conducive environment for business growth, and your role is not just crucial, but also responsible in creating and maintaining this environment.

The second question is, 'If yes, what are we doing to support these businesses beyond the startup year

This week, you can read ideas 31 through 50 of my '90 Days of Nurturing Small Business Series' that I have been running on LinkedIn.

This series is designed to provide practical and actionable ideas for nurturing small businesses, with each day focusing on a different aspect of business growth.

As of the date of this newsletter, we are on Day 60.

Here are links to my blog, where I have grouped these entries:

​Days 1 through 10​

​Days 11 through 20​

​Days 21 through 30​

Focus on Economic Development

​Top States for Doing Business in 2024: A Continued Legacy of Excellence by Andy Greiner, Editor | Area Development

Area Development has published their rankings on the best places to do business in America. Economic development marketing departments in the various states and cities that are in them eagerly await this information. It's a valuable resource, particularly for the top-ranked states, as it provides 'Earned media'-a powerful tool that promotes their state's image without the need for additional content production. This underscores the importance of their work in shaping the state's narrative.
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I worked in one community that was highly ranked in many different media outlets, some well-known and others more obscure. We simply listed them all on one of our web pages and said, 'See how many people love us?' You can do that, too, but it's crucial to remember that economic development is a multifaceted process that goes beyond a ranking in a trade magazine. Each aspect, from media recognition to actual economic growth, plays a vital role in the overall development of a community.
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​Air taxis and other electric-powered aircraft cleared for takeoff with final FAA rules by Andrew J. Hawkins | The Verge

The journey from some airports to the heart of major cities is often a battle against time, with long taxi or Uber rides being the norm. While some airports are connected to mass transit, making the journey less daunting, there are still hurdles to overcome. These include frequent stops at local stations, which can significantly delay the journey.

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As a loyal reader of this newsletter, you're no stranger to my passion for flying cars and VTOLS (vertical take-off and landing) craft. I'm thrilled to report that the FAA has taken a significant step in this field. They've established rules for pilot training, aircraft operation, and the overall operation of these futuristic vehicles. With several companies already in the process of obtaining FAA clearance, the future of urban transportation is good.

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​Biggest Megaprojects Under Construction in 2024 by Megabuilds

Economic Developers love big projects, and since the effort to enhance our semiconductor chip-building capacity has been renewed here in the United States, several big projects have been announced. They are not just big, but also incredibly important, worth billions of dollars and certainly going to produce a large number of high-quality jobs.
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In this video, we won't see much about these projects, but you will see the fifteen most significant projects being built worldwide in 2024 and stretching into the rest of the 20s. It's a well-designed, edited video that describes these projects in great detail, with a particular focus on the advanced technologies being used. Transportation and energy, powered by cutting-edge tech, dominate the list.

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Watch as the host unfolds some fantastic projects, including some here in the United States.

Other Articles of Interest this week:

Leadership -- What You Still Can’t Say at Work by Jim Detert | MIT Sloan Management Review -- Most people know what their organization can’t say. However leaders can apply these techniques to break through the unwritten rules that make people self-censor.

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Technology -- AI in the Workplace: Answering 3 Big Questions by Kate Den Houter | Gallup Workplace -- In November 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, marking a new era in artificial intelligence. Since then, corporate investment in AI has soared, with businesses aiming to boost productivity. According to Gallup’s latest study on AI adoption, 93% of Fortune 500 CHROs say their organization has begun using AI tools and technologies to improve business practices.

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​City/Rural -- Why Disasters Like Hurricanes Milton and Helene Unleash So Much Misinformation by Ben Guarino | SCI AM -- Falsehoods spread when uncertainties—and emotions—are high after hurricanes.
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Green Economy-- We are already getting US clean hydrogen tax credits to make H2 for almost $2/kg': Plug Power by Polly Martin | Hydrogen Insight -- The green hydrogen firm’s CEO Andy Marsh tells Hydrogen Insight that the company’s Georgia plant already meets the so-called 'three pillars' for sourcing zero-carbon electricity

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​Mentoring-- -- Happier employees find work more meaningful – a manager’s guide to helping employees uncover it by Laura Ashley-Timms | CEO World -- CEOs are still struggling to move the needle on employee wellbeing. Deloitte reports that while 90% of C-suite executives believe they promote workplace wellbeing, only 60% of employees agree. More worryingly, overall employee well-being declined in 2023, with 41% of global workers still experiencing daily stress, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024 report.

Something You Should Read:

When I was in elementary school in the late sixties and early seventies, we were often ushered into the small gymnasium at school, sat on the floor, and watched on televisions they had brought into the room on tall carts made for that purpose (member kids, TV's weren't 'flat screen' back in the day) and watched as NASA launched the Apollo rockets into space. It was an era of great effort and discovery, and it instilled wonder and pride in our little hearts.

This article by Tim Urban, a prolific writer and blogger, discusses the recent SpaceX launch of the Starship Rocket. I've seen videos of other SpaceX rockets taking off, coming back down, and exploding on impact rather than being used again. The SpaceX people would say, "That's OK; we learned from that." Of course, I think they would have liked to have seen the thing back in one piece.

Urban recounts the most recent launch, in which the rocket did come back and was captured by a pair of rocket-sized chopsticks in mid-air, which is pretty epic. It looked like those nineteen-fifties attempts at depicting rocket ships, but much more serious.

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​Read Urbans’ entertaining description here.

Overheard :

Just like with any step function in technological progress — electricity, steam engines, whatever — the technology’s ability is not to replace people but rather to amplify them.”

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— Andrew Rabinovich, vice president of AI and machine learning at Upwork, in the latest Me, Myself, and AI podcast episode, “Never Too Much AI”

Listen, Eat, Drink, Watch, READ, View

Have you ever wondered why your perfectly crafted humble brag at work backfired? Or why did hiding your impressive credentials somehow make you seem less impressive?

In this candid interview, organizational psychologist Alison Fragale shares her relatable status-management mishaps – from obsessively proving to her nanny that she was right (we've all been there, right?) to playing 'introduction dodgeball' about her Stanford degree. But here's the twist: these very fumbles led her to crack the code of getting people to see us the way we want to be seen.

Forget everything those YouTube influencers told you about winning friends and influencing people. Fragale shares practical, evidence-backed strategies that work better than playing both nice and hardball. Plus, you'll learn why your mom's well-meaning advice to 'not care what others think' might be the worst advice ever (sorry, Mom!).

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Whether you're gunning for a promotion, trying to impress a date, or closing the deal on that next job-producing company, this conversation is packed with surprising insights about the science of status. It's not just theory- these are real-life situations we all encounter. Trust us, it's worth dropping the self-deprecating humor for this one – and Fragale will tell you exactly why.

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​Listen or read here.

Listen, Eat, Drink, Watch, READ, View

Quick: How many minutes in a day? You have one minute…3, 2, 1! Did you get it right?

The answer is 1,440 minutes. This news source, which I have read for several months, is called 1440.

In an era where news sources are often accused of bias, it's crucial to remember that this is a longstanding issue in the history of news. The root cause? News stories are written by humans, each with their own set of biases. This is why I advocate for reading and collecting news from a variety of sources, empowering us to form our own, well-rounded understanding of current events.

1440, the year the Gutenberg press was invented, marked a significant milestone in the history of news dissemination. This invention allowed for news and information to be spread beyond the confines of scrolls that monks painstakingly copied down in monasteries, making it accessible to a wider audience.

1440 is not just another news source. It is an excellent platform that diligently strives to maintain a 'fair and balanced level of news,' a standard that many media outlets aspire to achieve.
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A subscription is free, and you can get it at this link.

LISTEN, Eat, Drink, WATCH, Read, View

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What do creating photorealistic portraits, learning German, becoming a world-class tennis player, and holding a Guinness World Record for the largest crocheted granny square have in common? According to cognitive science expert and decision-making specialist Stephen Duneier, they're all impossible achievements until you break them down into tiny, manageable decisions.

I recently found this eight-year-old TED talk that challenges our assumptions about talent and success. Duneier reveals how marginal improvements – small adjustments to our daily routines and decision-making processes – can lead to extraordinary results. He demonstrates this through the journey of Novak Djokovic, who rose from being ranked 680th in tennis to becoming one of the greatest players of all time by improving his decision success rate by just six percentage points. This underscores the power of decision-making in shaping our destinies and achieving success.

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Duneier's own story is equally compelling. A self-described C- student who couldn't focus for more than five minutes, he transformed himself through one simple strategy: breaking down seemingly impossible tasks into five-to-ten-minute chunks. This approach, as he demonstrates, is a powerful tool to overcome the overwhelming nature of ambitious goals. Today, as a professor of Decision Analysis at UCSB's College of Engineering and Commissioner of the League of Professional Educators, he's using cognitive science to revolutionize how we learn and make decisions. His methods have not only shaped his successful career in finance but also led to an impressive artistic journey, with his large-scale yarn-bombing installations featured in galleries worldwide.

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This video is for you if you've ever put off a big dream because it seemed too daunting. Duneier's insights can help you overcome these barriers and achieve your goals, whether they're personal or professional. After all, as Duneier proves through his work and rapidly shrinking bucket list, even the most ambitious goals become achievable when tackled one crochet stitch, one word, or one decision at a time.
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It’s all about marginal adjustments. Watch the video here.

Thanks for Reading

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$5.00 Thanks for the Coffee! I am going to take this and run down to my local coffee shop (remember, buy local)! There, I will sip on my black bold... Read more I'll take it Black, no Cream, Please!

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Whenever you’re ready, there are several ways I can help you:

1. Economic Development: If you are looking to supercharge your economic development organization, I can help by strategizing and developing a roadmap to success. Set up a time to talk to me here.

2. Culture Change; Is your organization changing? Would you like to create an asset out of your culture? Do you know how to assess team strengths? Let me help you. I'm a certified culture change practitioner. Set up a time to talk to me here.

3. The Green Economy: The world is changing. Some of it is positive, and some is not. Let me help you develop green economy opportunities for your community. ​Let's set up a time to discuss this.​

4. Mentoring Programs: Circles of Seven (C7) is a proven, award-winning mentoring model. I can develop a mentoring program for your business or community leadership program. ​Let's discuss your situation. Set up a time here. ​

If you have any thoughts or comments about any articles in this newsletter, please feel free to email me at martin@martinkarlconsulting.com.​

You can review my services and offerings at www.martinkarlconsulting.com​

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