When it comes to making friends, flashing wads of cash might be one strategy.
For better results, you might try good grooming and dressing attractively.
Better yet, you could make sure you’re someone who is fun to be around.
Could that same advice apply to economic development? That’s the recommendation from a study released last week by Ball State University.
For too long, Indiana communities have been throwing money at industries in an attempt to lure new jobs.
Instead, we should be spending some of that money to make our communities more appealing places to live and work.
We also should invest in education and training to make us the kind of people employers would love to hire.
The study’s authors put it this way; “Current economic development policies, many of which date from the 1960s, have failed to generate significant population and income growth in most Indiana counties. A focus on human capital and quality of place should replace existing economic development efforts at the county and municipal levels.”
The authors get even more specific on how to go about pursuing those goals. They suggest:
• improving the quality of K-12 education;
• developing “quality of place” as a way to attract skilled people;
• improving the responsiveness and efficiency of local government;
• “developing local infrastructure to support healthy lifestyles” (That could mean providing recreation opportunities, as well as strong health care systems.); and
• “focusing on regional development.”
Some of those points are precisely the mission of the Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority, which made a sales pitch in Indianapolis last week. The authority is seeking $42 million in state funding for nearly 70 quality-of-life projects in our 11-county region.
It would be great if northeast Indiana wins the competition for state dollars, but we should move forward with as many projects as possible even if we don’t.
We also should work to promote and maintain the advantages we already have. In its mediocre ratings for the qualify of life in our region, we think the study overlooks some of our strengths.
No region of Indiana can match our lakes. People flock to our lake area for weekends and vacations. They might like to live here full time, if we can find ways to make that financially possible.
Few regions of Indiana can match our transportation assets of two interstate highways and two major railroads. Those are good for industry, but also for ease of personal travel and commuting.
In sharp contrast to many parts of our nation, we have plenty of water and few natural disasters.
The study concludes that Indiana is not keeping up with the rest of America in population growth or quality of life. Its advice is that we should spend more money and effort on improving ourselves and our communities and less on give-aways to industries.
In life and industrial recruitment, attracting your friends — not buying them — is the best answer in the long run.