» Monthly Archives: July 2010
US Chamber: NIMBY cost energy projects $560 Billion and 250,000 Jobs
A flawed permitting process for energy projects is the main contributor to roughly $560 billion in lost direct and private investment and 250,000 jobs, according to testimony delivered by U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President William L. Kovacs before a joint meeting of the Senate and House Western Caucuses. “The ‘Not In My Back Yard’ folks ...
more »
Highway politics hit aggregate industry hard
By Christopher HopkinsSenior Vice President for Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group The U.S. aggregate mining industry is hurting, our highways are crumbling, and Congress is making both problems worse. The recession certainly has caused great pain within the aggregate industry, due in large part to the crash of both the housing market and ...
more »
Whither UK housing – does the Coalition Government have a clue?
By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting Group Fact No 1 – The UK remains in the grip of a housing crisis. Demand remains high (we’re dying older, kids want to move away from Mum and Dad earlier, we’re divorcing more often and immigration has grown considerably). But supply has dwindled down ...
more »
Saint Consulting In JV With German Partner
HINGHAM, MA — July 20, 2010 — The Saint Consulting Group has formed a joint venture with PKS, a German economic and political consultancy based in Berlin, to expand its services to include Germany. The agreement enables both companies to offer clients proven political campaign skills to win approvals for real estate projects ...
more »
Coalition planning reform: no big bang; change by a thousand cuts
By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting Group So when New Labour came to power, we had a ‘big bang’ planning reform moment: a green paper, much debate, a Bill and finally the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. In outline, this legislation tried to do two things at once: it dramatically ...
more »
Post Match Analysis: basic maths, campaign realities of UK Coalition Government
(Editor's Note: In the home stretch of the first 100 days of the UK’s Coalition Government, Nick Keable starts a three-part series that will look at how we got here, the impact of the new Coalition Government on planning reform and whither national housing policy.)By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting GroupThe ...
more »
The changing landscape for real estate development strategy: Part 5 Competing outside the box
By P. Michael Saint, Chairman and CEO, The Saint Consulting Group So, how do companies use the planning process to raise barriers to entry into a geographic market? Some participate in the local planning process in ways that seek to limit the areas where new competitors are allowed to locate. Some seek to ban new ...
more »
Changing landscape for real estate development strategy: Part 4 gaining competitive advantage
By P. Michael Saint, Chairman and CEO, The Saint Consulting Group The competitive landscape is changing. Increasing government laws and regulations make it possible for some firms to win while their competitors lose, by expanding the competition beyond the traditional boxes. See Wharton Business School Professor Richard Shell’s outstanding book, Make the Rules ...
more »
Changing landscape for real estate development strategy: Part 3 thinking outside the box
By P. Michael Saint, Chairman and CEO, The Saint Consulting Group
Business strategists constantly urge executives to “think outside the box.” And these days many retailers, hospitals, mall owners, and other business owners are doing just that.
In the past, competitive strategy was limited to what was inside the box. You competed on price, ...
more »
Changing landscape for real estate development strategy: Part 2 using new weapons
(Understanding the changing landscape for real estate development strategy is a natural topic for Mike Saint, who founded The Saint Consulting Group in 1983 and has led its growth to become the world’s largest political land use consultancy. This week The Saint Report continues a series on this changing landscape) By P. Michael Saint, ...
more »