South Dakota cities near I-29 can spur economies

When the region learns from many decades of experience that taught Silicon Valley- from which the corridor cities can learn- how to create and maintain a “habitat” for innovation – a unique setting where entrepreneurs find easy access to

• scientific research
• rapid prototyping services
• intellectual property attorneysworkforce training programs
• venture funding and
• local governments that understand the relationship between time and money.

Business starts and failures during those decades have highlighted three factors that explain a lot about why companies tend to succeed in Silicon Valley- and by extension- in the I-29 corridor development

• industry clusters
• personal networks and
• an exceptional workforce.

How to Kick Silicon Valley’s Butt by Guy Kawasaki June 06, 2006), commented on what makes for a successful economic area by saying "Be logical. Make the challenge to create a Silicon Valley as easy as possible. Thus, a region should use it’s natural, God-given advantages. For example, aquaculture in Hawaii, security technology in Israel, alternative fuels in the Midwest, and solar power in the Sun Belt. There’s a reason why the best succeed with what they have because they know everything about the resource or asset."

Why Startups Condense in America, by Paul Graham, says "the recipe [for a Silicon Valley-like economic engine] is a great university near a town smart people like. A silicon valley has to be a mecca for the smart and the ambitious."

Mr. Graham offers tip for governments that want to encourage startups: read the stories of existing startups, and then try to simulate what would have happened in your county. When you hit something that would have killed Apple or Hewlett-Packard, prune it off. Startups are the kind of thing people don't plan, so you're more likely to get them where it's ok to make career decisions on the fly.

According to Rebecca Buckman in Venture Capital's New Green Machine (January 2, 2008), "In the first nine months of last year, U.S. venture investors poured $2.6 billion into clean tech, more than the $1.8 billion invested in all of 2006." This enthusiasm for "green" products and energy is a "glove in hand fit" with agri-energy technology, manufacturing, and production in the I-29 corrodor.

South Dakotans know agriculture; its farming and ranching families are problem solvers having great work ethics and electrical and mechanical aptitudes. Agri-energy production and manufacturing are as complementary to farming and ranching operations as computer software is to hardware.

No more cheap oil No. 1

In the 21 April, Monday, The Wall Street Journal, it reported on the general state of affairs of crude oil price, price speculation, and future production. The following excerpts and musings make up rough energy market info on what drives agri-energy technology.

Adequate inexpensive fuels- "cheap" fuels have now gone the way of the penny stamp and the nickel candy bar- and agriculture are necessities we can sustain if we think hard about and follow through with corridor development.

The Wall Street Journal, "Saudis wary of new oil projects pending sales forecast," by Spencer Swartz, p. C6; 21 April M 08.

• bull market in crude oil just got a catalyst that could push prices even higher, if not prevent them from falling significantly.
  
• Saudi Arabia may be reluctant to develop new oil projects after 2009

--it has no plans to increase oil production capacity beyond the 11% it will add during 2009

--it is waiting on more predictability about crude oil consumption

--it fears output / consumption of biofuels will reduce demand, which decreases the profitability of new oil field development

--the data confirming or invalidating market changes may be "several years away."

• Asia and emerging markets are [wildcards].
  
• non-OPEC producers are unable to fill in the slack created by less OPEC production.
  
• Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia oil minister- "All the latest projection- at least up to 2020- do not require [developing] anything higher [than the planned 11%]."

--Saudi Arabia hasn't, until now, laid out a timeline to when new capacity might be addedo "If you look at projections for demand, it has started going down."

[so Saudi Arabia and OPEC can work the politics of "over a barrel" as well as the degree of production.]

DrumBeat: April 18, 2008, Posted by Leanan at theoildrum.com/ tells about a few of the causes of $115+ per barrel crude oil-

• a Nigerian rebel group said Friday it had sabotaged a major oil pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell and vowed to step up attacks on oil installations. * Strikers at the major southern French oil port of Fos-Lavera vowed to remain on picket lines through Saturday. The strike trapped 23 vessels, including four crude oil tankers and six refined products tankers in the port.
  
• a similar strike in March lasted 17 days and forced four oil refineries with 603,000 barrels per day of combined capacity to curtail operations, helping spur a late spring rally in European diesel prices.
  
• a British union will launch a two-day strike on April 27 at Ineos Grangemouth refinery, forcing it to shut down with a reduction of delivery by the North Sea Forties pipeline system, which terminates there.

"All of the techniques [for estimating global oil reserves and production] seem to be converging to show a likely decline in production in the next few years, or even starting about 2005. Oil production data suggests that world oil production has been flat to slightly declining for the last two years, so it is possible the decline has already begun."

[Farm energy production / agri-energy production is highly unlikely to suffer from this kind of headache]

--to be continued