Thursday, December 31, 2009

“Report to Obama shows intelligence lapses persist - KARE” plus 4 more

“Report to Obama shows intelligence lapses persist - KARE” plus 4 more

Report to Obama shows intelligence lapses persist - KARE

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:25 PM PST

HONOLULU -- U.S. security chiefs briefed President Barack Obama on Thursday about missteps in the lead-up to the attempted Detroit jetliner bombing as lawmakers joined the White House in racing to find out what went wrong.

The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Jan. 21 hearings as part of an investigation to begin sooner. "We will be following the intelligence down the rabbit hole to see where the breakdown occurred and how to prevent this failure in the future," said Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, top Republican on the committee. "Somebody screwed up big time."

Few questioned that judgment, even if Obama's fellow Democrats rendered it in more measured tones. Vacationing in Hawaii, Obama received an preliminary assessment ahead of meetings he will hold in Washington next week on fixing the failures of the nation's anti-terrorism policy. Administration officials said the system to protect the nation's skies from terrorists was deeply flawed and, even then, the government failed to follow its own directives.

Obama spoke separately with counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who announced she was dispatching senior department officials to international airports to review their security procedures.

Despite billions of dollars spent to sharpen America's eye on dangerous malcontents abroad and at home, the creation of an intelligence-information overseer and countless declarations of intentions to cooperate, it was already clear that the country's national security fiefdoms were still not operating in harmony before the attempted bombing Dec. 25.

The preliminary assessment is part of a continuing, urgent examination that officials said Thursday is highlighting signals that should not have been missed. One likely outcome, they said, was new requirements within the government to review a suspicious person's visa status.

Officials are tracing a communications breakdown that would have had grave consequences except for the attacker's fumbling failure to detonate an explosion and the quick response of others on the flight. Now Obama, like George W. Bush before him, is struggling to get the nation's disparate intelligence and security agencies on the same page.

In the heat of hindsight, even Obama and some fellow Democrats are excoriating a system they thought was on the mend in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Democrats are joining a chorus led by Obama in declaring the government's intelligence procedures in need of repair. Among them, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said that when the government gets tipped to trouble as it did before a Nigerian man boarded a Detroit-bound jet with explosives, "someone's hair should be on fire."

Instead an anxious father's pointed warning that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had drifted into extremism in Yemen, an al-Qaida hotbed, was only partially digested by the U.S. security apparatus and not linked with a visa history showing the young man could fly to the U.S.

That was one prominent lapse the review is addressing, said U.S. officials familiar with the process. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public.

The State Department has said it followed the procedures laid out in regulations adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that require it to share potential threat information in an interagency process led by the National Counterterrorism Center.

In this case, the potential threat was in the form of the father's warning expressed to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, on Nov. 19, that Abdulmutallab was falling under the influence of extremists in Yemen. The information was passed to Washington the next day in a so-called Visas Viper cable identifying potential terrorists.

While meeting the standards set out in the regulations, the cable did not contain supplementary information, such as the fact that Abdulmutallab held a valid U.S. visa, the officials said. Although that detail could have been found by looking in other databases, officials said the review is likely to make the reporting of a subject's visa history mandatory.

The State Department received no request to revoke Abdulmutallab's visa, spokesman Ian Kelly said. He said that in the post-Sept. 11 era, State normally relies on an interagency screening system to advise the department of visas that should be revoked based on terrorism-related concerns, although it has the authority to do so on its own.

The department's visa and reporting procedures are being examined as part of the government's review, Kelly said.

Other clues were missed too, such as conversations between the suspect and at least one al-Qaida member that U.S. authorities are studying now. The form of the conversations, whether written or by phone, has not been disclosed and it is not known whether U.S. officials intercepted them before the attack or found them later.

For the second time in two months leaders are acknowledging "systemic" security lapses due in part to the government's failure to sift through and fully share intelligence.

In the year before the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage in November that killed 13 people, a joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI learned of the Army suspect's repeated contact with a radical cleric in Yemen who encouraged Muslims to kill U.S. troops but did not relay the information about the major to superiors.

The government overhauled the intelligence system in 2004, creating the office of national intelligence director as part of it. The goal was to ensure that information pulled from a multitude of intelligence sources and sometimes hoarded by one agency reaches authorities who are capable of penetrating the white noise of information and acting on genuine threats.

"The act set up a process to transition from a 'need to know' culture to a 'need to share' culture, but the Christmas bomb incident is evidence that we have much work to do," said Harman, who leads a House homeland security panel.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: "The Christmas Day incident revealed some serious failures in our nation's system of security."

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Washington Times slashes staff; sports section out - KARE

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:25 PM PST

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Times slashed its staff by more than 40 percent and will eliminate its sports section and most local coverage in 2010, shifting its focus to politics, business and investigative reporting.

The 27-year-old newspaper announced the latest round of layoffs in its Thursday edition and said the last sports section would appear Friday. Among those let go was the newsroom leader, Managing Editor David Jones. Another round of cuts was made earlier in December, and the newspaper published its last Sunday edition last weekend.

The paper will publish a new weekday print edition starting Monday. It will focus on the newspaper's core strengths, including politics and cultural issues, President and Publisher Jonathan Slevin said Wednesday in a statement.

"Our market-based, forward-looking plan is both a response to the recessionary economy, continued downward financial pressures on the news industry and our transition into a 21st century multimedia enterprise," Slevin said.

The layoffs hit some high-profile beats, including journalists covering the Justice Department, Congress and foreign affairs.

The newspaper announced several management changes, though it's not clear who will oversee the newsroom operation. Christopher Dolan was appointed Wednesday as national politics editor and Brett Decker as editorial page editor. Jeffrey Birnbaum, the managing editor for digital operations, resigned that post but will continue as a columnist.

During his last day at the office, Jones said Thursday that his staff had been working under a cloud of uncertainty for about two months.

"In spite of that, they've been very professional," he said. "They've come in every day and broken big stories. ... They've put out a product that I'm really proud of, and I'm proud of them."

The Times did not break down the cuts, but laid-off staffers described what they learned from colleagues.

Several departments at the newspaper are being all but eliminated, said photographer Allison Shelley. All nine staff photographers were cut, along with the assistant managing editor of photography, she said. Only two photo editors will remain.

The graphics and Web department staffs were cut nearly in half, and nearly all metro reporters were laid off, Shelley said. Only six copy desk editors would remain, she said.

While newsroom cuts had been expected for weeks, the photography layoffs came as a surprise.

"I don't think anyone expected the entire staff of shooters would be laid off," said photographer Katie Falkenberg, who worked at the Times for three years.

In the sports department, the entire staff of about two dozen journalists was cut, staffers said. The revamped publication would include some sports features, though, according to the publisher.

"We worked hard to put out what we thought was a really good section that stood up to (The Washington Post) and anyone else, despite our lack of staff," said Mark Zuckerman, who covered baseball's Washington Nationals for the newspaper. "We were the No. 2 sports section that acted like a No. 1 sports section."

Washington Redskins beat writer Ryan O'Halloran announced the section's fate Wednesday on Twitter.

"Times sports section is kaput," he wrote. "Make sure to call and cancel subscriptions after Friday."

On Thursday, Redskins owner Dan Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen made a rare appearance in the media room at the team's headquarters to present personalized jerseys to O'Halloran and Times colleague Dave Elfin.

The Times is often viewed as the conservative alternative to the much larger Washington Post. It was founded in 1982 and funded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church.

The new print edition will be sold at retail outlets and newspaper boxes in the Washington area for $1. The current weekday edition is 50 cents.

Officials said the local print edition will be distributed for free to "targeted audiences," including some federal government offices. At-home and office delivery will be offered at a premium price. The paper dropped its Saturday print edition last year with editors citing low circulation.

The Times has said it would cut staff as it aims to improve its multimedia presence, which includes the paper's high-traffic Web site and its radio program, "America's Morning News."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Goodbye 2009! World ready for a more hopeful 2010 - YAHOO!

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:46 PM PST

PARIS – Paris jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in New Year's festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.

From fireworks over Sydney's famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to "The Noughties" — a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for "zero" and evoking the word naughty.

In New York City, hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered in chilly weather in Times Square to usher in the new decade. Organizers were preparing 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of confetti that will be scattered when the New Year's Eve crystal ball drops at midnight.

Fireworks were set off at about 6 p.m. and the gigantic ball was lowered into place in preparation for midnight. Many people wore conical party hats and 2010 glasses that blinked colorfully, and some were jumping up and down to keep warm — the National Weather Service said the temperature will be in the low 30s and forecast snow for around midnight.

Las Vegas prepared to welcome some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip and toasts at nightclubs from celebrities including actress Eva Longoria and rapper 50 Cent.

Even as some major stock market indexes rose in 2009, the financial downturn hit hard, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

"The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year's Eve address. "Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal," he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her people that the start of the new decade won't herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country's most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.

At midnight in Rio de Janeiro, about 2 million people gathered along the 2.5-mile (4 kilometer) Copacabana beach to watch a huge fireworks display and listen to dozens of music acts and DJs.

The multitudes came mostly dressed in traditional white clothing, a nod to the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomble but a custom followed by nearly everyone as it is thought to bring peace and good luck for the coming year.

Officials said about 12,000 police were on duty during the New Year's Eve party in and around Copacabana to provide security.

Dressed in white and holding a glass of champagne in his hand, visitor Chad Bissonnette, 27, a nongovernmental group's director from Washington, D.C., said, "This year was the toughest I've experienced — for the first time as an American I saw many friends lose jobs and businesses in my neighborhood close regularly."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hailed events in 2009 like the inauguration of the United States' first black president, and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.

"The great message from 2009 is that because we've been all in this together, we've all worked together," Rudd said in a New Year's message.

Australia got the some of the festivities rolling, as Sydney draped its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers near the harbor bridge.

Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.

Venice revelers rang in the New Year with wet feet as high tide on its archipelago peaked just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city — including the St. Mark's Square.

The last year also offered its reminders of the decade's fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.

"In late December we were reminded at this decade's end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism," he said.

The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor — though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.

In a more upbeat theme, the Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights along its latticework. It was seemingly retro in style, but decidedly 21st century as it showered the Iron Lady in a light show billed as more energy-saving than its usual sparkling lights.

Police blocked off the Champs-Elysees to vehicle traffic as partygoers popped champagne, exchanged la bise — the traditional French cheek to cheek peck — or more amorous kisses to celebrate the New Year.

Spain rang in the start of its six-month presidency of the European Union with a sound and light show illuminating Sol square in Madrid and images from the 27 member states projected onto the central post office building.

Partiers braved the cold — and a shower from sparkling cava wine bottles — in traditional style by eating 12 grapes, one with each tolling of the city hall bell.

Despite frigid temperatures, thousands gathered along the River Thames for fireworks were fired from the London Eye attraction just as Big Ben struck midnight — an hour after continental western Europe.

Europe and the Americas may have partied harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar; China will mark the new year in February.

Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying "518" sounds like the phrase "I want prosperity."

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year's Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith's feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.

Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year's in Austria just isn't complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm — and stalls selling the little porkers did a good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap.

Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna's Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.

Some festivities went awry.

In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune — but some carry that belief to extremes.

At Zojoji, one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large "2010" sign glowed from the center.

Tokyo's Shibuya area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang.

In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or "even in Santa Claus dress," Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said.

In Stonehaven, on Scotland's east coast, the fireballs festival — a tradition for a century and a half — saw in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences.

In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warned those attending not to wear their best clothes — because "there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky."

___

Associated Press writers Bradley Brooks in Rio de Janeiro, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna, Harold Heckle in Madrid, Daniela Petroff in Venice, Rohan Sullivan in Sydney, Jay Alabaster and Tomoko Hosaka in Tokyo, Cara Anna in Beijing, Gregory Katz in London, and Jim Gomez in Manila, contributed to this story.

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Let the fireworks begin! New Year's revelers ready for better times in ... - INFORUM

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:25 PM PST

Paris jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in New Year's festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.

From fireworks over Sydney's famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to "The Noughties" _ a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for "zero" and evoking the word naughty.

In New York City, hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered in chilly weather in Times Square to usher in the new decade. Organizers were preparing 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of confetti that will be scattered when the New Year's Eve crystal ball drops at midnight.

Fireworks were set off at about 6 p.m. and the gigantic ball was lowered into place in preparation for midnight. Many people wore conical party hats and 2010 glasses that blinked colorfully, and some were jumping up and down to keep warm _ the National Weather Service said the temperature will be in the low 30s and forecast snow for around midnight.

Las Vegas prepared to welcome some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip and toasts at nightclubs from celebrities including actress Eva Longoria and rapper 50 Cent.

Even as some major stock market indexes rose in 2009, the financial downturn hit hard, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

"The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year's Eve address. "Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal," he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her people that the start of the new decade won't herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country's most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.

At midnight in Rio de Janeiro, about 2 million people gathered along the 2.5-mile (4 kilometer) Copacabana beach to watch a huge fireworks display and listen to dozens of music acts and DJs.

The multitudes came mostly dressed in traditional white clothing, a nod to the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomble but a custom followed by nearly everyone as it is thought to bring peace and good luck for the coming year.

Officials said about 12,000 police were on duty during the New Year's Eve party in and around Copacabana to provide security.

Dressed in white and holding a glass of champagne in his hand, visitor Chad Bissonnette, 27, a nongovernmental group's director from Washington, D.C., said, "This year was the toughest I've experienced _ for the first time as an American I saw many friends lose jobs and businesses in my neighborhood close regularly."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hailed events in 2009 like the inauguration of the United States' first black president, and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.

"The great message from 2009 is that because we've been all in this together, we've all worked together," Rudd said in a New Year's message.

Australia got the some of the festivities rolling, as Sydney draped its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers near the harbor bridge.

Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.

Venice revelers rang in the New Year with wet feet as high tide on its archipelago peaked just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city _ including the St. Mark's Square.

The last year also offered its reminders of the decade's fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.

"In late December we were reminded at this decade's end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism," he said.

The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor _ though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.

In a more upbeat theme, the Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights along its latticework. It was seemingly retro in style, but decidedly 21st century as it showered the Iron Lady in a light show billed as more energy-saving than its usual sparkling lights.

Police blocked off the Champs-Elysees to vehicle traffic as partygoers popped champagne, exchanged la bise _ the traditional French cheek to cheek peck _ or more amorous kisses to celebrate the New Year.

Spain rang in the start of its six-month presidency of the European Union with a sound and light show illuminating Sol square in Madrid and images from the 27 member states projected onto the central post office building.

Partiers braved the cold _ and a shower from sparkling cava wine bottles _ in traditional style by eating 12 grapes, one with each tolling of the city hall bell.

Despite frigid temperatures, thousands gathered along the River Thames for fireworks were fired from the London Eye attraction just as Big Ben struck midnight _ an hour after continental western Europe.

Europe and the Americas may have partied harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar; China will mark the new year in February.

Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying "518" sounds like the phrase "I want prosperity."

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year's Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith's feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.

Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year's in Austria just isn't complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm _ and stalls selling the little porkers did a good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap.

Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna's Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.

Some festivities went awry.

In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune _ but some carry that belief to extremes.

At Zojoji, one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large "2010" sign glowed from the center.

Tokyo's Shibuya area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang.

In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or "even in Santa Claus dress," Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said.

In Stonehaven, on Scotland's east coast, the fireballs festival _ a tradition for a century and a half _ saw in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences.

In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warned those attending not to wear their best clothes _ because "there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky."

___

Associated Press writers Bradley Brooks in Rio de Janeiro, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna, Harold Heckle in Madrid, Daniela Petroff in Venice, Rohan Sullivan in Sydney, Jay Alabaster and Tomoko Hosaka in Tokyo, Cara Anna in Beijing, Gregory Katz in London, and Jim Gomez in Manila, contributed to this story.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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One for all: ‘Smart Market' has yet to blossom, business leaders say - Central Penn Business Journal

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:53 PM PST

The Smart Market Pennsylvania Southcentral brand is designed to give potential outside investors a feel for the region's strengths and midstaters a regional identity.

But apart from those involved with the marketing effort, next to no one at home knows much about the initiative regional economic development groups established in 2003. And the effort to push it to outside investors never took off, said Robin Fitzpatrick, a member of the Smart Market's board of directors.

A big problem is a lack of funding, but it also comes down to busy schedules and a disjointed marketing approach, Fitzpatrick said.

The Smart Market board of directors is composed of the heads of the member regional economic development organizations. Fitzpatrick is president of the Adams County Economic Development Corp. It started with seven membership groups and today there are nine. Members include the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & Capital Region Economic Development Corp., the York County Economic Development Corp., the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County and the Lebanon Valley County Economic Development Corp.

The Smart Market brand is supposed to show outside investors the strengths of Central Pennsylvania and surrounding counties collectively. When the region is looked at as a whole, its demographics are more impressive to investors who might not consider doing business here otherwise, the Smart Market board of directors said.

The effort is similar to the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its Affiliates, and the Penn's Northeast initiative that economic development groups, municipalities and businesses from five northeastern Pennsylvania counties are involved with to promote the region to investors.

The PRA showcases the Pittsburgh region's economic development services, quality of life, industries and gives investors regional demographic data, and Penn's Northeast works to do the same.

In neighboring New York, the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center is an example of how the Finger Lakes region banded together to create a collective economic development tool that promotes the northern New York area's strengths, which includes business incentives, project financing opportunities, properties, winery and other cultural attractions that parlay into the region's quality of life.

The Finger Lakes region is renowned for wineries and natural beauty. When you visit the center's Web site, pictures of mountains, lakes and grapes are in the forefront next to links to pages that detail the region's business incentives, project financing opportunities, properties, winery and other cultural attractions.

Smart Market promotional materials don't give much of a cultural perspective that could give investors a feel for what they and their employees can find here in terms of quality of life.

But the materials tout that 40 percent of the U.S. population is within 500 miles of the region, and that the midstate's population of 2 million-plus equals 60 percent of Canada's population. The Smart Market promotes the region's business sectors, including technology, manufacturing and biosciences, and it speaks highly of the midstate's transit systems and infrastructure. The initiative's Web site also lists the midstate's 33 higher educational institutions geographically and higher education institutions that are in member counties surrounding Central Pennsylvania.

The Smart Market Pennsylvania Southcentral name gives investors a geographical feel for the area, said David Black, president and CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & Capital Region Economic Development Corp.

It might have been more effective if the name focused on one city to give investors even a more exact feel for where the Smart Market is, Black said. But the midstate doesn't have one dominate city such as Philadelphia to hang its hat on; it has three medium-sized cities, he said. They are Harrisburg, Lancaster and York.

"The pragmatic problem of that is picking one city name or one county name," Black said.

If the group had chosen another name, outsiders probably wouldn't have any idea where the area was, Fitzpatrick said. For example, regional people know what the greater Harrisburg region encompasses, but outside investors probably don't, Fitzpatrick said.

The Smart Market brand hasn't resonated well throughout the midstate, Black said. But it has been useful from an economic development point of view, he said. Taking the brand to trade shows is an effective strategy, however, because decision makers are there, and representatives can get a few minutes of face time with them to promote the region, he said.

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