"Networking"

The job market is extremely tough especially during this economic recession. In the latest figures from Tennesse's Department of Labor and Workforce Development the unemployment rate dropped to 9.8 percent. While this is better than the 10.6 percent posted last year, this still means that 59,300 people are unemployed.  Just recently the Peabody posted a job opening for a position in its public relations department. This opening recieved 700 applications. Shortly after the Peabody posted an opening for a position as an administrative assistant. This is like finding a "needle in a haystack". The problem with the Internet is that if you find a job there with your name written all over it, there are 500 other people finding it at the same time. Networking is an essential tool for finding jobs and is responsible for 80 percent of white-collar job placements today, and successful job finders should spend 40 to 50 hours a week doing just that (1). Since networking is so important for finding and getting jobs, I believe it is extremely important for colleges to post the locations and occupations of alumni in order to help students locate job opportunities. I believe it is important for small community colleges to offer classes that teach students networking skills and interview skills because students that attend these schools tend to not have the alumni networking opportunities that students recieve from attending a four year school.


 http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/14/seeking-needles-in-haystacks/

The Pyramid Revitalization- Category Killer?

In chapter 5 of our book, Big Box revitalization was discussed. The Big Box store is typically a store equivalent to Target, Wal-Mart, or K-Mart. Large stores like these have been crowding suburban areas for quite some time and are a favorite of consumers because they are a one stop shop. Other stores that are well liked by the public are what are known as "category killers". These stores are much like Big Box's but they specialize in one certain product area. One store that I would consider to be a category killer is Bass Pro Shops. Recently the development of Memphis's downtown Pyramid has been discussed and finally it has decided to allow this chained category killer store to occupy the large downtown building. While the overall plan for the development of the Pyramid does not only include Bass Pro Shops, the store will serve as the anchor for the large building. As stated in the reading, inner cities are often understored and the development of a downtown superstore will not only provide economic stimulus but it will also provide a number a jobs for low skilled workers that might happen to live in the area. After reading the pro's and con's to big store additions, do you think that the development of the Pyramid will thrive or take a dive?

This is a link to more information about the development for the Pyramid.

Sectoral Strategies

In many situations job creation or the number of people employed in a certain job, field, or sector is a measure of success. The more jobs that people hold the more positive benefits can be seen in that sector of the economy and the economy at large. In More Than a Link in the Food Chain, authors mentioned the multiplier effect. This theory states that with an increase in demand for a certain product the creation of additional economic activity will occur from the indirect business it creates for local supplier industries. In addition, the induced impact of spending income from direct and indirect employees is also considered. Simply put, if a company employs 15 people, it can be assumed that because of their business with buying goods and services necessary to run their business, they support another X amount of jobs. Furthermore, both the direct and indirect employees spent their income on various items in many different venues, thus employing X more people. It is interesting to consider this trend and how it relates to current unemployment rates, improving the economy in a city or town, and strengthening the economy as a whole. In an article published in the Commercial Appeal earlier this month, stated that the Labor Department said its survey of employers identifies a net gain of 151,000 jobs in the month of October, the most jobs added in (one month) in the last 5 months. However, the jobs gained were concentrated in only a few sectors, including retailers, temporary agencies, and restaurants. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sectors continue to lose jobs. Consider the fluctuation in jobs lost and gained through the lens of Sectoral strategy. What actions or strategies could these gains and losses reflect?
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/05/us-added-151000-jobs-october-more-expected/

Operation Blue Crush Attributed for a Drop in Memphis Crime

According to a recent article in the Commercial Appeal, “the number of serious crimes in Memphis dropped more than 8 percent in October compared with the same month last year.” In addition to this, from January through October of this year, the number of serious crimes has fallen more than 12 percent for the same period last year. MPD reported drops in “part one crimes” which include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, auto theft and larceny in all precincts except the Union Station precinct (which is the precinct that Rhodes falls within). These drops have been attributed to Operation Blue Crush, which, according to its website, stands for Crime Reduction Utilizing 
Statistical History. This project is a partnership between MPD and the University of Memphis, which began in 2005 and utilizes statistics to guide the department’s fight against street crime. Essentially, the system has helped identify “hot spots” of crime, which can then be better monitored. Monitoring is generally in the form of video surveillance but can also include more police in the area. MPD deputy chief Jim Harvey compares this to the way crimes used to be mapped in another recent article:

"Back in the '80s, we had crime analysis at each precinct. It was a map on the wall with a plastic overlay and we put dots on the map by hand to see where crime was happening," Harvey says. "The problem with that was we couldn't see what was happening across borders into other precincts or into the county. We were looking at two weeks worth of dots on a map."

Another news source sites bike cops as a contributing factor in these drops in crime rates. The Blue Crush project has allowed MPD to better determine where bike cops could be the most useful. These types of cops have been utilized primarily in the downtown area around Court Square Park and have dealt primarily with issues of panhandling.

Two interesting tidbits:

This video produced by Operation Blue Crush serves as an advertisement for the program and seems to utilize a sense of fear to deter crime.

It is interesting to note that these drops seem to contradict the recent Forbes article, which once again ranked Memphis as the number one most dangerous city in the country.

Operation Blue C.R.U.S.H.

A recent article in the Commercial Appeal reported on the decline of crime in Memphis since the implementation of Operation Blue C.R.U.S.H. in 2006. The Blue C.R.U.S.H. (Crime Reduction Utilizing Statistical History) program was created by the Memphis Police department in an attempt to improve the safety of the city, which was at a very low point [1]. The crime prevention program targets crime "hot spots" based on statistical history collected by the MPD. In some of these spots, white and blue, mechanical crow's nests are visible that are used as a deterrent for crime. The crime rate has been reduced more than 27 percent in the first ten months of 2010, as compared to the first ten months in 2006 [2].

Memphis, TN has been a regular inhabitant of the top ten worst cities for crime in the past decade. The declining crime rate is a healthy start to improving the city overall. Blue C.R.U.S.H. has created a steady decline in the city's crime rate, and has shown no signs of reaching a plateau.

[1] http://www.memphispolice.org/BLUE%20Crush.htm

[2]http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/01/stats-show-serious-crimes-memphis-decline/