Ethiopia Sustainable Agribusiness Incubator – ESAI (2012-2016)
ETG, in collaborating with its Ethiopian partner, PCI, designed and established the Ethiopia Sustainable Agribusiness Incubator (ESAI)—funded by the USAID—whose objective is to transform Ethiopian agriculture sector-by-sector through the establishment of a multi-faceted innovating and incubating business whose primary mission consists of transforming agribusiness value chains and enhancing their competitiveness. The incubator was designed according to the time-tested best practices of successful agribusiness incubators worldwide. Experience reveals that working with and through change-oriented companies is the most efficient way to bring real innovation and value-added initiatives into the market. Therefore, ESAI works along the entirety of the agribusiness value chain with a dual focus to identify and support existing pioneer firms as well as to stimulate and promote emerging entrepreneurs.
ESAI accomplishes competitive transformation first at the enterprise level and subsequently at the sector level. It achieves its objectives by:
i) Identifying promising agribusiness value chains with significant untapped growth potential;
ii) Analyzing the underlying economics of these chains;
iii) Undertaking strategic interventions in each chain which afford the greatest breakthrough gains;
iv) Engaging pioneering business leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to test strategic interventions along multiple trajectories.
ESAI focused initially on three value chains with high potential for growth: Honey, Sesame and Dairy products. ESAI analyzed each sector in depth in order to pinpoint propitious targets for intervention in the market. Such targets may exist in the area of inputs, production, packaging, transportation, processing, distribution or marketing; they may involve complementarities between several value chains, they may imply coordination between the private and the public sector and they may occur in the domestic, regional or global market. ESAI seeks out pioneer companies and entrepreneurs to test alternative business models, create economies of scale and scope, experiment with apt new technology, and work to realign public policy with sector interests.
Mexico: Tabasco in Action (2002-2004)
During 2002-04, ETG helped to launch the cacao cluster and supported the development and implementation of the cacao cluster’s main initiative—the transition to organic cacao. By 2005, more than two-thirds of all cacao production in the state was certified as organic cacao.
Mexico: Transformando Campeche (1996-98)
In April 1996, business leaders in the state of Campeche, Mexico arranged funding for and launched a 3-year cluster-based economic strategy project. This unique, private sector-led project had three phases: Phase I provides a diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s economy, while in Phase II ETG staff developed strategic options for Campeche’s future using a process-intensive, working group approach. In the third and final phase of the project, specific initiatives were launched under the guidance of the consulting team, which includes Mexican sub-contractors with direct experience from the Chihuahua Siglo XXI project, in addition to ETG staff. The private and public sectors developed a joint, focused vision of the state’s future and the means for implementing that vision. Since 1998, Campeche has achieved a major transformation of its primarily agriculture and fishing economy into a diversified one with a boom in both 1) tourism (tripling the number of tourists to the region between 1997 and 2000), and 2) light industry (8,000 new industrial jobs from 1997-2000, the highest growth (48% increase) in Southeast Mexico.
Chihuahua, Mexico: Mexico’s First 21st Century Economy (1992-95)
The Chihuahua Siglo XXI Project was launched in 1992 as a long-term, comprehensive effort to design and implement new economic development strategies for Chihuahua. In 1992, the ETG team with DRI/McGraw-Hill examined the external and internal economic environment for the state, developed a vision of a new kind of economy to guide the decisions of policy makers and leaders in the private sector and developed strategies and tactics for moving the economy in new directions. Then, via a comprehensive set of “cluster working group” meetings, ETG staff assisted group participants in identifying a set of concrete action initiatives on trade, investment, education, infrastructure, finance and other issues. These initiatives are still in the process of being implemented under the leadership of the project organization: Chihuahua Siglo XXI. The transportation and distribution cluster was one of nine clusters identified. A transportation/ distribution cluster working group was formed and five new action initiatives emerged from a six month intensive working group process, including: a joint purchasing collaborative among trucking companies, the formation of a trucker’s credit union (bank), the development of a new local airline with direct passenger and freight connections between Dallas/Fort Worth and Chihuahua airports. Chihuahua created a very pro-active and positive business climate and became one of Mexico’s leading states in job growth, foreign direct investment, and high tech infrastructure.
Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative (2000-01)
ETG, in collaboration with its brother company, ECG, and the Institute for Biotechnology Information (IBI), and the Smith Group, developed an analytical and participatory approach to assessing the needs, market potential, and feasibility of developing the proposed multi-use biotechnology facility in Pasadena. The overall goal was to enhance the growth of biotechnology industry in the Pasadena regional economy by recommending a state-of-the-art design and defining the mission, role and structural attributes of the new Center. The project team worked with the California State University client team and other regional bioscience industry stakeholders. The strategy process combines innovative analysis of niche markets with collaborative participation by regional industry, institutions, and public entities in the design of the new biotechnology facility. The Pasadena Biosciences Innovation and Training Center was implemented in 2003 and now is known as the Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative and is closely related to the California State Universities Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB).
Long Beach, California: Defense Conversion and Incubator/Technology Park (1995-96)
Professional with ETG (then a unit of DRI/McGraw-Hill) were asked by California State University Long Beach to develop a conversion strategy for the Cabrillo Navy base. The approach used here was to analyze the surrounding industry clusters in Long Beach and Los Angeles and determine their status, growth and requirements for expansion in the region, then use their requirements to shape a research and technology park complex that would leverage the core competencies of the University. The project provided an economic rationale and design for development of the converted base facilities to new uses. This plan is now being implemented, and ETG went on to design components of the park being developed. In addition, ETG developed the first cluster analysis of the City of Long Beach, and demonstrated how their cluster structure sets the stage for future economic development investments. In a follow-up study with Long Beach we are helped to design a demand-driven regional business incubator that utilized ETG’s approach of avoiding “physical” incubators when not necessary and emphasizing “virtual” incubators wherever possible to accelerate enterprise formation by overcoming market gaps in business services, market information, technology “downstreaming”, production partnerships and financing.
Bratislava Innovation Park (1993)
Under contract to the US Agency for International Development members of the ETG project team undertook an unusual assignment to prepare the economic rationale and business plan for a science park for Bratislava, Slovakia. This effort paralleled that of an EC group, but reached a different conclusion. The project team applied principles of economic development to the planning of a technology park that stress the importance of developing industrial clusters as a means for enabling economic growth in regions, and, the emphasize that soft and hard economic infrastructure of accessible technology, available skills, adequate financing, and appropriate physical infrastructure is essential to cluster development. In applying these principles, the project team achieved the following: (1) Evaluated the economy to identify the “seeds” of potential clusters. In doing this, the team identified an emerging information technology cluster comprising over 200 small software companies, and mixture of restructuring hardware and systems firms. (2) Assessed European and international information technology markets that Slovak and Bratislava firms could reasonably compete in, directly or through partnerships–which could drive the region’s future economy forward. (3) Assessed the responsiveness of the regions economic infrastructure to the information technology industries. This identified specific business service needs for the emerging information services cluster. (4) Prepared a business plan that would lead to the creation of a “virtual” innovation park rather than a physical science park. This concept enables establishing a service management business that will broker and provide services needed by the information technology industries, manage a network of existing real estate across the city to “incubate” companies to a point at which they require new and larger facilities. At the point at which the domestic demand and capabilities have grown, the new business organization (Bratislava Innovation Park) would actually become a development partner and core service provider in an actual technology park. The project concluded with provision of a business plan, implementation plan and identification of private investors for the new organization.