Amid the reports and cacophony of (seemingly) one bad economic news story after another, it's important -- perhaps essential -- to take time out to notice the good economic news stories out there.

And there are good news stories about business models, products, and services out there, because despite this period of extraordinary economic problems, the United States remains the most resilient, adaptable, and technology-advanced economy in the world.

An intelligent parking space system/service

One such good news story: smart parking technology, currently being tested in San Francisco.

This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation's first large trial of wireless sensor network that will communicate which spaces are free at any moment, The New York Times reported.

With many returning to work today after a Labor Day break, The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that where employees park reveals interesting insights about what companies and their employees value. In some companies, closer to the elevator is better. And management decides who gets to park closest -- although the winners in that competition vary among companies. And for some employees, the longer the walk to their desk, the better their health.

Simply put, the companies and employees described in this article have six parking lot values:

• Sales performance. Dave Beckman is the top sales executive at 200 employee San Diego, CA equipment-leasing company, Five Point Capital Inc. For the past two years, the 27-year-old's midnight-blue, 2006 Porsche 911 is parked in the spot closest to the its main entrance -- a perk the company awarded him for his strong sales performance. This makes his colleagues jealous and, the company hopes, will spur them to sell more so they can take his spot.
• Organizational rank. Although they're often empty since their occupants are at meetings away from the office, 12 spaces are allocated for top managers at MSW Research Inc. Those empty spaces are painful reminders for other employees that the company puts a distinctly lower value on the time of rank and file workers than it does on its executives'.