Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 19, 1993 TAG: 9306280263
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Considering that they're wearing blinders and working with one hand tied behind their backs, the economic developers do a pretty good job.
If only pretty good were good enough.
To be sure, marketing efforts - by the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, New River Alliance and local governments - have never been more aggressive, sophisticated or regional.
The marketers enjoy a good array of assets to sell, from low costs and a strong labor force to local scenery and cultural attractions. They also have successes to cite, such as First Union's decision to locate regional headquarters in the Roanoke Valley.
Even so, a merely adequate economic development program won't do. Not anymore. Not when other regions - competitors - have gotten their acts much more seriously together.
Not when this region is buffeted by forces that are raising the stakes, transforming the environment and stiffening the competition for jobs growth.
Forces such as business consolidation, which saw a North Carolina institution this year swallow Dominion Bank. And niche marketing, which spelled the Sears catalog center's demise. And military cutbacks, shrinking employment at the Radford arsenal. And, above all, the disappearance of high-pay/low-skill manufacturing jobs, evident throughout the region.
No, this place needs a very good economic development effort, and we don't have one now. If we did, however fashioned and funded, you can bet it would not lack:
Adequate sewage-treatment capacity. This is about as basic as you get. For three years, the valley's wastewater treatment plant has been operating under a consent decree because it is over capacity. Does anyone imagine that a state-imposed moratorium on new connections would not hurt economic development? Why are the localities taking so long to agree on a cost-sharing formula for expanding capacity?
A good supply of ready-to-go properties. Yes, the mountains are an impediment. But as Ned McElwaine, Botetourt County's assistant administrator, notes: "If you don't have the sites, you can't get the prospects here to see what you can offer." Why aren't local officials pursuing revenue-sharing agreements to develop sites, with roads and utilities in place, in the rural counties surrounding Roanoke?
Regional cooperation. Notice anything about the above two items? Both require a level of governmental coordination exceeding that of, say, the former Yugoslavia. If the disparate localities got their resources together - sharing costs and benefits of an expanded economic development effort - wouldn't every jurisdiction in this region be better off?
A business community that has its own act together. Some trends are encouraging, such as the creation of a total-quality-management council. But, meantime, business support for the regional economic development partnership has been waning, and relations among fragmented chambers of commerce still reflect the broken-mirror spectacle of local governments. Can anyone explain, for instance, why the Salem/Roanoke County and Roanoke Regional chambers are producing separate newcomers' guides to the valley?
A regional economic strategy. The Roanoke Valley Business Council's proposal to forge a strategy is still in its infancy, but the idea makes obvious sense. A well-crafted plan could help governments and economic development agencies coordinate efforts, pool resources and align themselves to go after realistically achievable niches in the global marketplace. The question is: Will the strategy's formulators marshal enough political support to render the thing meaningful and useful?
A can-do spirit. There is now no want of energy or enthusiasm for squabbling or naysaying. Instead of waiting for others to lead, and focusing on every hurdle, why not hear Mark Heath, former head of the valley partnership and now chief marketer for the Charlotte region? "There is," he says, "a can-do spirit in North Carolina. If it's moral and legal, we'll find a way to do it. Down here, reining people in is the problem. In Virginia, lighting a fire under people is the problem."
Lighting a fire around here would help; so would taking off the blinders and handcuffs. People need to spread kindling under public officials, encourage them to do better - together. They need to do this because merely adequate economic development affects not just officialdom and businessmen, but everyone whose fortunes are tied to the region's destiny.
by CNB