Export west: How Mountain West metros can lead national export growth and boost competitiveness

In the beginning of 2010, with U.S. output growth modest and job growth nonexistent, President Obama devoted a portion of his State of the Union Address to “fi xing the problems that are hampering our growth.” One of these problems, according to the president, was a lack of international export sales. The president linked an increase in exports to an increase in jobs, and pledged to double the nation’s exports over the next five years.2 Since then, export growth has emerged as a key tenet of numerous economic visions including those of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution which has suggested that the “next economy” in the West and nationally will likely be “export-oriented, lower-carbon, and innovation-driven.”3 This report focuses attention on the benefits of exporting and highlights the existing and emerging strengths—and some weaknesses—of the Intermountain West’s large metropolitan areas in global trade. Doubling exports, whether or not it happens in the next fi ve years, would be a major boon to the Intermountain West’s largest metropolitan areas. Such a doubling would bring the West’s large metros thousands of good jobs and see them expand on their existing strengths in the world economy. The prospect of such gains is especially attractive in the Mountain zone, moreover, given the present moment of self-refl ection in a region that appears faced with the partial breakdown of its traditional migration- and real estate-driven growth machine. With such sources of domestically-driven growth looking less reliable, export-based development holds out one possible new source of sustainable job-creation and broadly shared prosperity. International exports, after all, present an important opportunity for the Mountain metros and promise tremendous benefi ts to workers, companies, regions, and the nation as a whole. Export markets in Brazil, India, and China are growing rapidly at a time of slower projected domestic growth. Export-related jobs pay relatively well. And for metropolitan area industry clusters and firms, international engagement and competition brings its own benefits of heightened innovation and productivity growth. In this respect, it is a good thing that metropolitan areas in the Mountain West already have depth in a variety of export industries, and in some cases enjoy high rates of industrial innovation—both a result of firms’ engagement in international competition and a driver of further global competitiveness itself. All in all, numerous metropolitan areas in the Mountain West could be well-positioned to benefit from the current national focus on doubling exports and from targeted metropolitan efforts to expand the foreign markets for their goods and services. To take advantage of their global connections and the new federal focus on exports, however, the region’s metropolitan areas-particularly those that have been heavily oriented to population growth and real estate development—will have to rethink what they do and how they do it. They will have to look outward. They will have to be more innovative, both in determining what new products and services they develop and in retooling their existing activities to capture a larger share of global demand. And they will need to be deliberate and strategic in their efforts. In sum, while bolstering exports will not replace the thousands of jobs lost to the Great Recession—many of them real estate and locally-serving jobs that disappeared once migration and consumption slowed down—the export of goods and services is likely to be an important source of quality and sustainable job growth for the region in the future. Western leaders should at a minimum investigate that possibility and consider the data and information presented in the following pages

The Shortage of Skilled Workers: Quality Jobs for a Trained Workforce

The Great Recession of 2008 temporarily solved employer workforce needs by lowering demand and increasing the number of unemployed skilled workers. After a few years of modest but sustained economic growth, the labor market for skilled workers has once again tightened and positions are going unfilled. This research helps national and regional leaders understand which skills are in short supply and offers policy advice on how to redress the imbalance between supply and demand. In addition to offering a national perspective on this topic, the lecture will examine the situation in Nevada

Mountain Monitor-4th Quarter 2010

The metros of the Intermountain West largely fell into two categories by the close of the fourth quarter of 2010 in December: those consolidating their gains from previous quarters on the way to recovery and those still struggling to turn around appreciably and reposition themselves for the next economy. Along those lines, three Intermountain West metros ranked in the top quintile of performers and three in the bottom at year’s end on a measure of overall performance that takes into account changes in employment levels, the unemployment rate, output (gross metropolitan product or GMP), and housing prices since the beginning of the recession for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas

Mountain Monitor-3rd Quarter 2010

One year after the Mountain Monitor began tracking recession and recovery in the Intermountain West, the Southern Nevada economy has yet to turn around. The rate of slippage across a range of indicators has slowed measurably, but evidence of a nascent recovery eludes. Las Vegas\u27 poor relative performance over the past year can be attributed not only to the legacy of a particularly devastating initial wave of economic distress, but also to a continued struggle to slow and reverse the downward trend

Mountain Monitor-4th Quarter 2009

The Mountain West’s recovery from the Great Recession is spreading. Output is growing in every metropolitan area. Still, hiring remains elusive—a fact frustrating the entire nation, but perhaps more so in a region used to snapping, even roaring, back from recessions faster than the rest of the nation. Drawing on data covering the fourth quarter of 2009 (ending in December), this new Mountain Monitor—a companion product to Brookings’ national MetroMonitor and a quarterly resource produced by Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between Brookings and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas—surveys a region that is at once recovering and still struggling. Previously, the Intermountain West has been almost impervious to national declines over the last 30 years. Construction growth looked automatic. Job growth seemed a given. And when there were recessions as in the 1980s and 1990s they were—in retrospect—mere blips in a steady upward trajectory. And yet now, the region’s very strengths have become its greatest weaknesses as what was taken for granted now remains elusive. For example, the once unstoppable housing sector now represents one of the heaviest drags on the region’s recovery, dampening the usual rapid snap-back of hiring. In sum, the region is having to consider what may fuel the next era of growth, job creation, and broadly shared prosperity. To this end, this edition of the Mountain Monitor examines data on employment, unemployment, output, home prices, and foreclosure rates for Intermountain West’s 10 large metropolitan areas, the nation’s 100 largest metros, and 17 smaller metros dispersed around the Mountain region through the fourth quarter of 2009

Mountain Monitor-2nd Quarter 2010

The Intermountain West exemplifies the peculiarities of the Great Recession and its subsequently fragile and protracted recovery. Where pre-recession growth in employment and housing prices was fastest, employment losses and housing price declines have been the most severe—in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Boise most starkly. The profundity of the recession and sluggishness of the recovery have ensured that no metro in the region escaped unscathed, however, and in the second quarter even the best performers fell on some indicators. Perhaps most significantly for the region, housing prices are unlikely to keep falling much further. An analysis by Howard Wial and Richard Shearer for this quarter’s MetroMonitor has found that housing prices are now under-valued in most large metropolitan areas, including nine out of the 10 large Intermountain West metros.1 Their model, however, may not pick up the effects of increasing foreclosures, which could continue to drag prices down. With that caveat, an eventual increase in housing prices—if and when the market settles back in line with economic fundamentals—should have a number of positive effects on the balance sheets of banks and home owners. In retrospect, it is clear when looking across metropolitan area economies with unusual reliance on highly cyclical industries—like housing and tourism—places them at greater risk of experiencing a more wrenching recession than others. And hence the origins of much of the region’s anxiety: structural changes cannot happen overnight, and jobs are needed immediately. This version of the Mountain Monitor covers data through the second quarter of 2010. The report documents and analyzes recession indicators for this new American heartland, the Intermountain West, as a companion to Brookings’ national MetroMonitor. The Mountain Monitor is produced by Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between the Brookings Institution and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This latest Monitor sheds light on another variegated and ambiguous quarter. Those looking for assurances to either start investing or retrench for a double-dip cannot find clear signals in these data

Cracking the Code on Stem: A People Strategy for Nevada\u27s Economy

Nevada has in place a plausible economic diversification strategy—and it’s beginning to work. Now, the state and its regions need to craft a people strategy. Specifically, the state needs to boost the number of Nevadans who possess at least some postsecondary training in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math—the so-called “STEM” disciplines (to which some leaders add arts and design to make it “STEAM”). The moment is urgent—and only heightened by the projected worker needs of Tesla Motors’ planned “gigafactory” for lithium-ion batteries in Storey County. Even before the recent Tesla commitment, a number of the more high-tech industry sectors targeted by the state’s new economic diversification strategy had begun to deliver significant growth. Most notable in fast-growing sectors like Business IT Ecosystems (as defined by the Governor’s Office for Economic Development) and large sectors like Health and Medical Services, this growth has begun to increase the demand in Nevada for workers with at least a modicum of postsecondary training in one or more STE M discipline. However, there is a problem. Even though many available opportunities require no more than the right community college certificate, insufficient numbers of Nevadans have pursued even a little STEM training. As a result, too few Nevadans are ready to participate in the state’s emerging STEM economy. The upshot: Without concerted action to prepare more Nevadans for jobs in STEM-intensive fields, skills shortages could limit growth in the state’s most promising target industries and Nevadans could miss out on employment that offers superior paths to opportunity and advancement. Which is the challenge this report addresses: Aimed at focusing the state at a critical moment, this analysis speaks to Nevada’s STEM challenge by providing a new assessment of Nevada’s STEM economy and labor market as well as a review of actions that leaders throughout the state—whether in the public, private, civic, or philanthropic sectors—can take to develop a workforce capable of supporting continued growth through economic diversification

Mountain Monitor-1st Quarter 2010

Where are the jobs? That anxious question pervading national discussions of the Great Recession and its aftermath is becoming acute in the Intermountain West. Not only has the region’s usual faster-than-the-nation employment snapback after recessions failed to materialize this time around. What is more, the Mountain region’s halting economic recovery in some ways actually weakened in the first three months of 2010 as reports this new edition of the Mountain Monitor, a quarterly report produced by Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between Brookings and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and a companion product to Brookings national MetroMonitor. Drawing on data covering the first quarter of 2010 (ending in March), the new picture is sobering and surveys a region that is at once recovering and still struggling. Output growth slowed in the region’s largest metropolitan areas. Employment fell faster in the Intermountain West than it did nationally and—frustratingly—faster than it did last quarter. Unemployment, for its part, inched upwards in every large metro except Denver. And for that matter, the overhang of real estate-owned properties in the Intermountain West—a measure of foreclosure actions—actually increased during the first quarter of 2010 in almost every large metro. In short, for the first time in three decades the region finds itself unable to lead the nation out of a recession and forced into a period of serious questioning about the sources of future growth with further federal stimulus unlikely. In these new, uncharted territories, certain corners of the Mountain West face the prospect of being left behind the rest of the country and virtually all of the region’s metropolitan areas have to reevaluate the basics of the Western growth model. Hence this report: To inform deliberations this edition of the Mountain Monitor examines data on employment, unemployment, output, home prices, and foreclosure rates for the Intermountain West’s 10 large metropolitan areas, the nation’s 100 largest metros, and 21 smaller metros dispersed around the Mountain region, as it was available through the first quarter of 2010

The Hidden STEM Economy: The Surprising Diversity of Jobs Requiring Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Knowledge

Policy and businesses leaders have argued that there is a shortage of highly educated workers in professional occupations related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Critics have countered that Ph.D scientists often face a difficult academic labor market and do not necessarily earn higher wages than other professionals. Yet, both sides of the STEM debate have been relying on an ill-defined definition of STEM work. Using a detailed survey of worker knowledge requirements, this research project redefines STEM jobs based on the level of knowledge required in STEM fields to perform occupations. The results uncover two facts previously unrecognized in the STEM literature: A surprisingly high number of jobs require high-level STEM knowledge in at least one field, and roughly half of these jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree. The presentation will highlight these and other results from this work and discuss the policy implications for STEM education and workforce development nationally and at the regional level

Metabolic targets of watercress and PEITC in MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells explain differential sensitisation responses to ionising radiation

Watercress is a rich source of phytochemicals with anticancer potential, including phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC). We examined the potential for watercress extracts and PEITC to increase the DNA damage caused by ionising radiation (IR) in breast cancer cells and to be protective against radiation-induced collateral damage in healthy breast cells. The metabolic events that mediate such responses were explored using metabolic profiling. H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy-based metabolic profiling was coupled with DNA damage-related assays (cell cycle, Comet assay, viability assays) to profile the comparative effects of watercress and PEITC in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and MCF-10A non-tumorigenic breast cells with and without exposure to IR. Both the watercress extract and PEITC-modulated biosynthetic pathways of lipid and protein synthesis and resulted in changes in cellular bioenergetics. Disruptions to the redox balance occurred with both treatments in the two cell lines, characterised by shifts in the abundance of glutathione. PEITC enhanced the sensitivity of the breast cancer cells to IR increasing the effectiveness of the cancer-killing process. In contrast, watercress-protected non-tumorigenic breast cells from radiation-induced damage. These effects were driven by changes in the cellular content of the antioxidant glutathione following exposure to PEITC and other phytochemicals in watercress. These findings support the potential prophylactic impact of watercress during radiotherapy. Extracted compounds from watercress and PEITC differentially modulate cellular metabolism collectively enhancing the therapeutic outcomes of radiotherapy