America’s new economy under construction region-by-region
By Bill Settlemyer
President and CEO, Setcom Media Inc.
It’s not a bad thing to live in a city that’s rated as one of top five destinations by readers of magazines like Travel+Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. For one thing, I can visit my own city any time and not worry about high airfares.
But I don’t always stay put. Recently, my wife and I made our annual trek to Santa Fe, N.M., another top-rated destination. Like Charleston, Santa Fe has history, charm, unique scenery, great restaurants and a character all its own.
And like the Charleston region, Santa Fe is trying to figure out how to grow its economy. In 2003, they commissioned a study by AngelouEconomics to help guide future economic development. If the consultant’s name sounds familiar, it’s because the same firm completed a study in 2004 for the Charleston region.
The two cities’ economies are fundamentally different. Charleston sits in the middle of a tightly integrated region which will soon have more than 600,000 residents. Santa Fe is New Mexico’s state capital, a relatively small town barely an hour’s drive from much larger Albuquerque, the business hub of the state.
You can find the AngelouEconomics report for Santa Fe by clicking on the “About” tab at www.creativesantafe.org. If you’re already familiar with the report prepared for our region, you’ll recognize similarities in the recommendations but also many differences, mainly because Santa Fe’s economy is both smaller and less diverse than ours. Yet basic issues such as education, work force development and the need to preserve the physical and cultural character of the area parallel concerns addressed here.
The wave of the present
How is economic development playing out around the country? Not surprisingly, the underlying strategies being pursued by states and regions have a lot of similarities. Harvard professor Michael Porter’s industry cluster strategies are on just about everyone’s plate. The basics are pretty simple: Inventory your current assets and strengths and play off those as you try to grow your local economy. Easier said than done, but it makes a lot more sense than unfocused efforts to “create more jobs.”
Other themes have begun to emerge with consistency. One is that it’s a lot better in the long run to “grow your own” rather than just pursuing the old strategy of recruiting big employers from out of state or overseas (what some call “buffalo hunting”). The new consensus is that the emphasis needs to shift much more towards supporting entrepreneurship and organic growth based on a region’s strengths and current assets.
Another common theme is that innovation has to become the watchword in every business activity. That means building a culture of creativity, intellectual curiosity and a relentless drive to excel. And it’s important to understand that innovation is not just about technology, but extends to the everyday executive process of business management and strategies.
Finally, no region or state can afford to do less than pull out all the stops to support and improve education at all levels. We also need better alignment between education and work force needs. As I noted in a recent column, there are many good job that require a few years of technical training beyond high school but do not require a four-year college degree. Far too few high school graduates are entering the pipeline for these types of jobs, yet businesses are clamoring for more qualified workers with this level of training.
Growth is where you find it
A recent The New York Times article described an initiative in upstate New York anchored by the Albany NanoTech complex, a research and development center at the state university in Albany. It sounds good, and those involved report some notable successes. Yet according to the article, this type of initiative comes with a warning label:
“… (N)urturing high-technology hubs, development experts say, is tricky, and simply making big investments in factories and labs is no guarantee of success. The real goal, they add, is to build gradually a network of people and companies with technical, design, financial and entrepreneurial expertise—one that pursues a whole range of high-tech opportunities instead of being dependent on a particular product, factory or industry niche.”
Out west, a different vision is being pursued. In May, economic development, university and community leaders in Northern Colorado announced “a new initiative to create and promote clean, renewable energy opportunities that could help increase the region’s energy independence. The Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster will serve as a clearinghouse to connect entrepreneurs and major power users with researchers and government officials, encouraging innovation, new job creation and investment in the region.”
It’s a fair guess that there are hundreds if not thousands of similar initiatives under way around the country. Looking at the big picture, this is exactly how the United States is going to wage the battle to maintain our position in the global economy. This is “working smarter” on a societal scale, and that’s what it will take to ensure that we don’t become economic road kill in today’s hyper-competitive environment.
Here in South Carolina, we’ve got the beginnings of some real momentum on innovation-based economic development. But let’s not kid ourselves, either. If we’re going to play in this game, we’ve got to play to win. We’ve got to give it all we’ve got, all the time, and then some. Are you in the game?
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