A few tasty morsels from what may very well be 1% propaganda, from the still unreleased study the Greensboro Partnership used for the 2012 Strategic Plan

"Collaborate with the Government Relations staff to develop a pro-business legislative agenda.

Develop creative strategies to fund infrastructure expansion and site development planning.

Utilize the Piedmont Triad Economic Development Council to explore ways to develop a regional
incentive strategy for high impact projects.

Support adjustments to state law/policy that will provide added flexibility and incentives...

Pursue and support the development of Greensboro’s center city in cooperation with Downtown
Greensboro Incorporated and the City of Greensboro.

Support the implementation of the Downtown Greensboro Economic Development Strategy, accepted
by City Council January 2011, with particular emphasis on the following:

• Continue partnership with the City of Greensboro to fund, design, and construct the
Downtown Greenway by 2017.

• Maintain and program Center City Park to a high standard of excellence as a means to
attract additional development.

Work with the City of Greensboro and other partners as they plan and deliver a signature corridor on
Lee Street/High Point Road from the Gateway University Research Park to the Koury Convention Center.

Engage and improve the collaborative relationship with elected bodies/officials with the objective of
using the community’s resources to pursue a long-term vision for economic development.

Maintain presence of a government relations professional and engage contract consulting assistance (as needed) in pursuit of favorable regulations and funding at local, state, and federal levels.

• Continued development and pursuit of the Greensboro Partnership State Legislative
Agenda.

• Development and pursuit of a Greensboro Partnership Local Legislative Agenda when
necessary and appropriate.

• Partner with the City and/or County to engage and work with federal lobbyist
representation for Greensboro/Guilford County.

• Continue support and pursuit of funding for completion of the Greensboro Urban Loop.

Partner with the City and/or County to engage and work with federal lobbyist
representation for Greensboro/Guilford County.

Continue one-on-one meetings with local officials on a quarterly/semi-annual basis.

• Continue inclusion of elected officials as guests at all Partnership events.

• Host events designed to highlight to the business community the efforts and important role
of elected officials in economic development.

Develop a political institute to educate current elected officials and candidates to local government
office on issues of interest and importance to the business community.

Support the establishment of a sustainable funding source for economic development

Facilitate the education between local government entities and the business community on the policies
and practices surrounding government purchasing to maximize the opportunities for local economic
growth.

Perform an advocacy role by creating opportunities for local, political, and corporate leadership to
interact with entrepreneurs.

• Create opportunities for entrepreneurs to gain access to local civic leaders in the nonprofit
and corporate community.

• Work with City of Greensboro, Guilford County, and Guilford County Schools to facilitate
and/or host roundtables and forums for conversations around issues and opportunities
affecting entrepreneurs.

• Act as a liaison for the entrepreneurial community with local and state government officials.

Consider ways to include entrepreneurial initiatives into the Partnership’s legislative agenda.

...the cost of available properties (noted on GEDA's web site) are relatively high compared to many of the benchmarked communities and on a national basis.

Without some form of incentive subsidy to help defray the cost of sites/buildings, Guilford County will be less competitive in the global arena when cost is a consideration for nearly every potential new location.

All unique calculations and computations from the original data were conducted by Garner Economics, who will gladly share methodology to clients upon request."

http://greensboropartnership.org/pdf/StrategicPlan2012.pdf

"...rent-seeking is an attempt to obtain economic rent

by manipulating the social or political environment

in which economic activities occur,

rather than by creating new wealth.

...spending money on political lobbying in order to be given a share of wealth

that has already been created.

...People accused of rent seeking typically argue

that they are indeed creating new wealth (or preventing the reduction of old wealth)

by improving quality controls,

guaranteeing that charlatans do not prey on a gullible public,

and preventing bubbles.

Many current studies of rent-seeking focus on efforts

to capture various monopoly privileges stemming from government regulation

of free enterprise competition.

The term itself derives, however,

from the far older practice of appropriating a portion of production

by gaining ownership or control of land.

...the expenditure of resources attempting to enrich oneself

by increasing one's share of a fixed amount of wealth

rather than trying to create wealth.

Since resources are expended but no new wealth is created,

the net effect of rent-seeking is to reduce the sum of social wealth.

Rent-seeking generally implies the extraction of uncompensated value

from others

without making any contribution to productivity.

...a more common example of rent-seeking is political lobbying

to receive a government transfer payment,

or to impose burdensome regulations on one's competitors

in order to increase one's market share.

...such behaviors may result in substantial social losses.

Studies of rent-seeking focus on efforts to capture special monopoly privileges

such as government regulation of free enterprise competition.

The term "monopoly privilege rent-seeking" is an often-used label

for the former type of rent-seeking.

Often-cited examples include a farm lobby that seeks tariff protection

or an entertainment lobby that seeks expansion of the scope of copyright.

It is important to distinguish between profit-seeking and rent-seeking.

Some will try to say that rent-seeking is a creation of wealth.

However, profit-seeking should be understood as the creation of wealth,

while rent-seeking includes the use of the power of the state or government

to distribute wealth between different groups of individuals."

Wiki