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Editor's Desk |
Early Childhood Education:
The Best Economic Development
Tool
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Leading researchers, economists, and academicians agree there is one specific economic development strategy “that will, by itself, do more than any other strategy to optimize future economic growth in the United States.” The magic tool? High-quality early childhood education. People in the business of early childhood education have known this for years, but several recent studies have confirmed it to be true yet again. Rick Noble, executive director of Richland County’s First Steps program in Columbia, South Carolina, tells us that good early childhood education has a huge payoff in the future—anywhere from $4 to $7 for every dollar spent. One hopes, therefore, that when government officials brainstorm about their next economic development tools, funding for more—and better—early childhood education will be high up on their list. Then, Dr. Lynne Noble, an associate professor of early childhood education at Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina, writes about the importance of providing the right training for those caregivers and teachers who provide our children with that all-important early childhood education. “This doesn’t necessarily mean a college education,” she says, “but it does mean more than a high school education followed by monthly, on-the-job, two-hour workshops . . . This means low teacher-child ratios, and adequate, safe, well-equipped facilities. This means decent wages.” Next, did you know that the forest products industry has been a keystone of South Carolina’s manufacturing economy for many years? Maureen Taylor, coordinator of education and communications for the S.C. Export Consortium, tells us how the state is now working to create a more competitive environment that enables timber companies and forest owners to compete domestically as well as in the global market. |
Then, if you aren’t already familiar with DISCUS, an acronym derived from Digital Information for South Carolina USers, Paul Lewis brings you up to speed on the topic. Lewis, a reference librarian at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, writes that businesses of all types and sizes in South Carolina can now access, at no charge, these “enormous electronic collections of exceptionally well-organized, reliable, and continuously updated business, government, academic, and other types of information” via the World Wide Web. DISCUS levels the playing field for smaller businesses in the state “by putting high-quality information sources formerly available only to large corporations within easy reach.” Read on for more details. Finally, what’s in a name? How about if the name is that of
domestic diva Martha Stewart, who is now serving a jail term for lying to
investigators about a stock transaction? Amy O.J. Lum, a marketing
consultant in San Francisco, and Doman Lum, professor emeritus of social
work at California State University in Sacramento, look at the issues
surrounding personal branding of a product “and the impact on a firm and
its shareholders when the individual associated with the brand faces a
crisis.”  |
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