At times, too little money is better than too much. Anyone who is worked with start-up companies understands this point.

With too little money, entrepreneurs are forced to be resourceful. They focus on challenges really matter. They learn to learn from their mistakes. When times are tight, entrepreneurs take small steps to test ideas then expand the successful ones. They gain powerful insight from their mistakes.

Last week, I was busy, as Valdis Krebs would say, "closing triangles" between leaders in Oklahoma City and Lexington, Kentucky. First, you need some background. Beginning in 1993, I worked with the Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma City to design a new economic development strategy. In the past, Oklahoma City, like many other cities, defined economic development in terms of recruitment. The main focus of their efforts was to identify a large companies and try to recruit them to the area.

At a time when our business leaders in Cleveland are pursuing gambling, business leaders in Milwaukee, St. Louis and Indianapolis have their priorities straight: They are focused on innovation.

For the past week, I have looked in more detail at the dashboard developed by the Fund for our Economic Future. The Fund's economists have done a good job in isolating factors associated with regional growth.

Here's an interesting collaboration between the Cleveland Clinic and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Read more.

One of the major challenges in Northeast Ohio is a lack of collaboration and alignment.

This dynamic is slowly changing, however. Here's some evidence of the shift. Team NEO, the region's's economic development organization, has formed a partnership with two major port authorities. The agreement establishes a structure to share prospects opportunities in a cooperative way.

A good discussion appears this morning in the Akron Beacon Journal on the emergence in Akron/Canton of a new effort to promote networks of entrepreneurs. The mere fact that the meeting took place -- and the published transcripts appear in the paper-- provide some sense that this effort will succeed. Read more. Read the transcript. The newspaper even includes audio clips of the proceedings.

A new report outlines the future for small and mid-sized manufacturers.

The Future Success of Small and Medium Manufacturers: Challenges and Policy Issues outlines two important trends that are shaping the future of these smaller manufacturers.

In the middle of all the talk about Case stumbling, we might remind ourselves what a good research university can do to strengthen a regional economy. In the past couple of weeks, here's what's been happening down the road in Pittsburgh.

For several years, I worked and lived in Louisiana, so I still keep touch with friends. Lou Burnett, an old newspaper man, writes an excellent newsletter on what is happening, especially in the northwest part of the state, around Shreveport.

The County's Blue Ribbon Task Force officially ended today, and we began the process of implementing the County's new economic development strategy. The County is taking an important step to support a new approach to economic development in our region: economic development that is privately-led and publicly supported.

The latest issue of Business Week highlights social network analysis and points to the work of our colleague Valdis Krebs. Read more.  As we have been saying for some time, Valdis (a CSU grad) is an international expert on a remarkably important field for Northeast Ohio: innovation.

Wisconsin is learning the lessons of the Irish Miracle. Simple enough: education, innovation, collaboriation. We know the path ahead. But somehow, we are not executing very well, according to this insightful commentary. Read more.

Nortech gets a star in my book for forging a new collaboration between our Nano-Network and an affiliate organization in New Mexico. Read more. Learn more about the partner here.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has released a new report on the impact of global competitiion on our cities. The picture is mixed, with the biggest challenges facing the Midwest. Read more.

As the article notes: "[D]eclines in manufacturing due in part to outsourcing will contribute to a softening of the nation's overall output, with blows to cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh."

Civic leaders in Gladwin County, MI are pulling together the threads of an economic development for the firtst time.

The local chamber has been the epicenter for these efforts. From the looks of this article, the chamber has managed an inclusive process. It's a lesson that some chamber executives in much larger organizations here in NEO can learn.

Here's an interesting article on the growth of the Internet. Read more.

Note the listing of the top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2006.

Georgia is trying to move to the front edge of sustainable business development with events like Sustainable Businesss Day. Learn more.

First Curve thinking leads you to strategies that achieve scale through consolidation and merger. (One problem with this approach: as an Indiana business executive told me this week, "I have never seen a company 'cost cut' its way to greatness.")

Nobel laureate James Heckman wrote an important opinion column for the Wall Street Journal. In it, he emphasizes the importance of investing in early child care for disadvantaged families as an economic development strategy. He notes:

Here's an dynamic innovation from Akron: Possibly the first partnership of its kind between an Israeli incubator and a U.S. city. Read more.

Time Magazine has an interesting interview with Washington University psychologist R. Keith Sawyer, author of a new book, < ahref="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195161645/sr=1-1/qid=1137371171/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4262859-7362514?%5Fencoding=UTF8">Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation

Tim Stearns, Director, Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, passed this note on to a network of economic development professionals to which I belong:

In an important partnership, the Babson College and London Business School are conducing a valuable line of research into global entrepreneurship: the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

Some interesting articles appeared this week on the consequences of globalization and the opportunities of innovation.

Max Baucus, an influential U.S. Senator was over in India telling his audiences that the outsourcing of white collar jobs is inevitable. Read more.