A new study from the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University confirms an approach that more government and business leaders have been adopting across Michiana.
That is: For economic development to be successful, strategies have to focus on attracting people, not just businesses, to a region.
Traditional economic development has concentrated on courting large employers such as factories, the Ball State study notes. Such operations are considered to be “footloose” because their locations aren’t dependent on local demand for their goods and services. But, according to the study, less than 1 percent of all jobs are with such footloose firms.
In the modern economy, an area’s economic fortune is much more likely to hinge on the skills of its workers. That’s why, the study states, economic development groups should shift their thinking toward efforts that will attract highly skilled workers to their communities.
Business groups in Michiana haven’t stopped marketing the region to companies looking for sites to build distribution centers, factories or other large employment centers. And local governments haven’t stopped offering tax abatements or spending tax dollars on new infrastructure to help lure such investments.
But they have concentrated more on revitalizing parks and downtowns, and building trail systems and recreational amenities in an effort to make the area a nicer place to live.
“It’s a unique recipe that leads to successful economic development. That includes both the quality-of-place aspects and the business-recruitment aspects,” said Regina Emberton, president and CEO of Michiana Partnership, an organization that works on economic development for north-central Indiana and southwest Michigan.