Notes on Economic and Community Development
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I attended the International Economic Development (IEDC) conference at Atlanta’s downtown Hyatt Regency. For those of you who missed the event, here’s what I think you should know.
Regionalism is growing increasingly important. In his lunchtime speech, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Economic Development Administration Ben Erulkar stated that communities must work together to be competitive. This is good advice from an agency whose focus is on regional approaches to development, where political boundaries are transcended and the interconnectedness of communities is embraced.
Richard Florida, author of "Whose Your City?" and "The Rise of the Creative Class," identified 40 mega-regions in the world that account for 18% of the global population, 66% of the output, and 9 out of 10 technological innovations. Taking a lesson from certain developing countries could be helpful here in the U.S., he noted. Emerging-market nations do not develop all at once throughout the whole country; rather, certain regions within that country become competitive. This is how China and India developed – their success largely hinged on specific regions that became competitive in the world marketplace.
Companies are making enormous impacts in their hometowns by supporting the competitiveness of citizens. For example, in what is called the "El Dorado Promise," Murphy Oil Company made $50 million available so that every public high school graduate in El Dorado, AR, can receive free tuition at the college or university of their choice – anywhere in the nation. There are a few stipulations, like maintaining a 2.0 GPA and taking a certain number of credits, but no other strings are attached.
As a result of the promise, 94% of El Dorado students are attending college, up from 67% that were attending before the promise was announced. That is incredible.
Sustainable innovation is alive and well in towns across the U.S. The Mayor of La Grange, GA, spoke at the conference about an innovative system to reduce methane gas emissions in their landfills. They have produced a system to vacuum the methane gas that naturally occurs as a byproduct of landfills and sell it to local companies that need the methane in their operations.
By doing this, the city raises revenue and reduces the environmental impact of its landfill. This project, as well as similar revenue-raising projects, has allowed the city to avoid levying property or income tax on its citizens.
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