Crossing boundaries
This interview with Drew Page, the president of the Athens-Clarke Economic Development Foundation, was an interesting and worthwhile read.
What stood out to me was Page's mention of something that is rather obvious and something I've advocated for quite a while ... that the political boundaries of Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County, as well as other surrounding counties, aren't where the dollar flow ends. Our economies are already tied together and building a more comprehensive regional economy doesn't necessarily mean reinventing the wheel, but simply getting on the same page (Oconee County Commission Chairman Melvin Davis said roughly the same thing on "The Tim Bryant Show" last Thursday as he alluded to the cooperation and partnerships involved with the Beer Creek Reservoir) ...
We have a working relationship with all of our neighbors (Oconee, Barrow, Madison, Oglethorpe and Jackson counties). We had a prospect in last week and we entertained this prospect with my counterpart from Oconee County, and we showed them both counties at the same time. The idea being that the labor force primarily would come from those two counties so it didn't matter to us where the company located as long it located in one of those two counties. I think you'll see more of that. We do some of that with Oconee County. We're talking about the possibility of a joint Clarke, Barrow, Oconee effort to try (to look) at doing some things on a regional basis that we've never done before. We all know that the labor force is going to be multi-county oriented. But we're going to have to look at industrial sites as a multi-county situation, too, which we've not done in the past. ...
... we'd love to erase that Clarke and Oconee County line, because most industries and companies don't recognize its location anyway. Dollar bills and jobs don't recognize political boundary lines. ... Most people today are not real concerned about which political subdivision their employees are going to come from or live in as much as they are which political subdivision is the primary facility going to be in. Who is going to service it? And in that regard, Clarke County has an advantage because it has a fire department and those kinds of things that Oconee County will eventually get but not for a while. So Clarke County has an advantage on location. Schools certainly play a role in economic development process, but we're more interested in the regional education outlook than we are in a single jurisdiction.
This, to me, seems to be the most appropriate way of looking at this thing. If a company locates in Oconee County or Jackson County, there's going to be a good amount of skilled labor drawn from the neighboring counties, Athens-Clarke County included. You're going to see increased investment and revenue increases in those neighboring counties because more folks are employed and more folks have disposable income.
I already spend money in both counties. I shop at Publix off Atlanta Highway for my groceries, but routinely visit Lowe's and Wal-Mart just across the Oconee County line. I eat breakfast almost every Wednesday morning at the Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Road, and then eat lunch regularly at Food For The Soul smack in the middle of Athens-Clarke County.
A healthy Oconee County means a healthy Athens-Clarke County, and vice versa. The more we begin to see things this way, the better and more diverse our economies can grow.
What stood out to me was Page's mention of something that is rather obvious and something I've advocated for quite a while ... that the political boundaries of Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County, as well as other surrounding counties, aren't where the dollar flow ends. Our economies are already tied together and building a more comprehensive regional economy doesn't necessarily mean reinventing the wheel, but simply getting on the same page (Oconee County Commission Chairman Melvin Davis said roughly the same thing on "The Tim Bryant Show" last Thursday as he alluded to the cooperation and partnerships involved with the Beer Creek Reservoir) ...
We have a working relationship with all of our neighbors (Oconee, Barrow, Madison, Oglethorpe and Jackson counties). We had a prospect in last week and we entertained this prospect with my counterpart from Oconee County, and we showed them both counties at the same time. The idea being that the labor force primarily would come from those two counties so it didn't matter to us where the company located as long it located in one of those two counties. I think you'll see more of that. We do some of that with Oconee County. We're talking about the possibility of a joint Clarke, Barrow, Oconee effort to try (to look) at doing some things on a regional basis that we've never done before. We all know that the labor force is going to be multi-county oriented. But we're going to have to look at industrial sites as a multi-county situation, too, which we've not done in the past. ...
... we'd love to erase that Clarke and Oconee County line, because most industries and companies don't recognize its location anyway. Dollar bills and jobs don't recognize political boundary lines. ... Most people today are not real concerned about which political subdivision their employees are going to come from or live in as much as they are which political subdivision is the primary facility going to be in. Who is going to service it? And in that regard, Clarke County has an advantage because it has a fire department and those kinds of things that Oconee County will eventually get but not for a while. So Clarke County has an advantage on location. Schools certainly play a role in economic development process, but we're more interested in the regional education outlook than we are in a single jurisdiction.
This, to me, seems to be the most appropriate way of looking at this thing. If a company locates in Oconee County or Jackson County, there's going to be a good amount of skilled labor drawn from the neighboring counties, Athens-Clarke County included. You're going to see increased investment and revenue increases in those neighboring counties because more folks are employed and more folks have disposable income.
I already spend money in both counties. I shop at Publix off Atlanta Highway for my groceries, but routinely visit Lowe's and Wal-Mart just across the Oconee County line. I eat breakfast almost every Wednesday morning at the Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Road, and then eat lunch regularly at Food For The Soul smack in the middle of Athens-Clarke County.
A healthy Oconee County means a healthy Athens-Clarke County, and vice versa. The more we begin to see things this way, the better and more diverse our economies can grow.
posted by Jmac at 4:50 PM
6 Comments:
..."Schools certainly play a role in economic development process, but we're more interested in the regional education outlook than we are in a single jurisdiction."
And there you have it, the reason why poverty will be forever entrenched in Athens-Clarke County.
Families concerned with the education of their children will be more than happy to "cross boundaries" into Oconee, Jackson, Madison & Oglethorpe.
On the bright side, Larry McKinney is gone.
One challenge in pursuing a regional effort is attracting industry which is appreciative of local strengths and conditions. Put simply, we cannot put a chicken plant in Jackson County and expect such to make a meaningful impact on third generational poverty in Athens. Why? Workers move great distances to be near chicken plants which means another chicken plant (though they are decent jobs with benefits) means importing more poor to the region while failing to assist the poor we already have. This has happen several times in other parts of Georgia.
My concern over putting so many eggs in the regional basket is that Oconee, Oglethorpe and Jackson do not share same attributes of Clarke such as downtown, UGA and major federal and state programs and therefore, cannot make the same pitch. Additionally, they do not have the same parameters on their economic development such as white kids with dred locks protesting anyone who dares move their factory to town.
If we continue to have sticks for prospective industry in the form of land issues, neighborhood complaints and the overall hostile attitude toward many manufacturers in Athens, we should think of how we pitch our carrots as well. It is entirely ok for us to have ground rules for businesses that want to come here but we also need to do a better job of pitching the benefits to those who have yet to learn what makes Athens great.
We need a deep and meaningful exploration of our strengths. We’re good at educating people. We do a good job at extending hospitality to large groups. We’re creative in a bunch of ways. To quote an ad I saw from our mayor “Anywhere USA or someplace special?” When it comes to pitching our potential to businesses, I’m going with someplace special.
And if the idea would be to make Athens a bedroom community for Jackson County factory workers, you'll have find additional revenue to make up for the fact that residents typically cost more in services than they pay in taxes. The gap is often made up through businesses which put in more than they take out.
I think there are some good opportunities in pursuing regional efforts with neighboring counties. I also think it is important to find Athens answers to Athens problems, namely economic development and its effect on the impoverished.
One challenge in pursuing a regional effort is attracting industry which is appreciative of local strengths and conditions. Put simply, we cannot put a chicken plant in Jackson County and expect such to make a meaningful impact on third generational poverty in Athens.
Agreed, to an extent.
Agreed in the sense that one has to be appreciative of the local circumstances and environment in economic recruitment, and I would suggest that any county involved in the regional efforts is cognitive of this.
But the chicken plant analogy, while understandable, I think could be flawed in the sense that almost any industry, aside from specified ones (like, say, the recent push for the biosciences), has the very real potential to draw workers from surrounding areas. If there's a great place to work in, say, Jackson County, then workers from the surrounding counties and perhaps beyond are going to look to work there.
Which is why any part of a regional economic approach, as you note, has to be aware of the strengths of particular locales. Doing this can lead to a more diversified economy across the region - not one built solely on chicken plants or the biosciences - but one that offers a little bit for everyone.
If we have these parameters on Athens-Clarke County development, as you suggest, why not fit those parameters with the type of development that suits here, showing how that is a strength to our regional economy and then work with Oconee County to land this type of industry and Jackson County for another type of industry.
I understand that's a rather rudimentary simplification of the process, but it's one that seems rather logical, doesn't it?
Your perspective about the chicken plants analogy is interesting however I disagree. Sure, biosciences would draw workers from a surrounding region but those are not the same workers that would work in a chicken plant. First, most biotech companies employ relatively few (and often highly skilled workers) while a chicken plant might employ 1400 low skill workers. In a project I worked on in Montezuma, we specifically did not pursue the poultry industry because it would attract relocating workers rather than provide jobs for the local poor.
I think your simplification of regional development is an appropriate one. This process should be simple and, most of all make actual sense. I think we have conditions for people to come to business in Athens which is our right and that such conditions paired with our unique strengths should be integrated into an overall plan for the city’s economic development. My concern is that the region may not be as motivated to draw businesses and residents to Athens as much as the other way around so asking them to lead the charge will not substitute for our own economic development activities which we are not currently doing.
Several years ago, AACOC Chairman Ed Graham launched a program called vision 20/20 which would be a multi year dialogue for planning economic development for the next two decades. Even then, some light was shed on the oft promised gifts of biotech and Graham (retired from J and J) showed the more realistic results and challenges of taking on biotech super sites like the research triangle. The 20/20 program should be restarted so that we can have the type of dialogue and resulting strategy that will turn into actual jobs for people in Athens. What we need is a plan and strategy for Athens. No more depending on the State or region, we need a real strategy for our town and people who know what they are doing to carry it out.
When I reread your comment about I see I misunderstood that you were excluding biotech so please disregard my comparison between biotech and chicken plants. I agree that Athens strengths can be synergized with local counties but I am concerned that if too many residents are driven to Oconee County and businesses driven to Oconee, Jackson, Oglethorpe and Madison what will be left in Athens is an economy full dependent on the University. Economic Developers have warned about Athens becoming a donut hole and the development at each corridor paired with the recent “Thanks, but no thanks” from the industry we believe we’re destined to recruit makes me concerned that the donut could turn into a reality.
Again, I think we need stronger local efforts and less reliance on state and regional efforts as the main pitch for Athens. If we want to be like just any other county then we should keep doing what we’re doing and wait for whatever scraps the state throws us. But if we want to get ahead of job recruitment for Athens with the industries we want and will allow, we need to get serious about our local economic development with our own strategy.
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