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Economic development has traditionally been a "behind
the scenes"
activity, leaving the spotlight on the results. We haven't worried
too much about people knowing what we do, or felt the need
to publicize our activities more. Why should we? Isn't it obvious
that we do good work? Aren't we helping people to get and
keep jobs? Aren't we helping put money in the community budget
so they can pay for things like welfare, parks and recreation,
drug programs and after-school programs? What could
be a more necessary activity than economic development?
Isn't it obvious? Doesn't everyone know how
important we are?
Well, to find the answer consider that the state
policy makers
eliminated the California Technology, Trade and Commerce
Agency. Another
clue comes from a list provided by a California county.
Faced with a large budget shortfall, the county has been faced
with deciding what programs are a priority. A policy statement
issued by the county executive put "essential countywide
public safety, health and welfare services" mandated by
state law as the top priority, then programs that generate income
to pay debts and expenses as second. Third priority went
to municipal services, including sheriff's patrols and investigations.
The difficult choices facing the county board
supervisors are
stated in the seven spending priorities, ranked in descending
order below
municipal services:
. "Safety
net" programs for the homeless, mentally ill and
other groups in need.
. General
government functions, such as the Board of Supervisors
and the bureaucracy.
. "Quality
of Life" programs, such as neighborhood assistance,
parks and economic development.
. Prevention
and intervention programs, including alcohol
and drug treatment services.
The ranking does not reflect the amount of money
recommended, therefore
the lowest rank does not mean no funding. Rather
the policy is intended to guide in recommending specific budget
items in next year's spending plan. But where is the revenue
plan?
This changes the question to: "What's wrong with
this picture?"
Economic development is definitely a factor in quality of
life, but when did that become its defining factor? Health care
is also a factor in quality of life, but no one would put it in
the same
category as parks and recreation. Aren't all the priorities
a quality of life issue? Everyone of those priorities requires
funds, but economic development generates funds and benefits,
including producing more sales tax and reducing welfare
costs. Economic development is a tool for gaining the resources
to fund all these other categories, so how does it end up
at the end
of
the priority list?
Well, unfortunately, that would be our fault. If
people do not truly
understand how we affect their lives on a daily basis, how can
we expect them to make the economic development field a priority?
We have had the luxury of staying behind the scenes and
not worrying about public relations - until now. With budgets
being
strained, we have to face the fact that more than ever we are
competing
against other programs for resources, and that means we
need to be more aggressive about the value of economic development.
It's not enough to state that E.D. is an investment.
We need to measure the effect of our efforts in a
way that any business
person can understand. And we need to build our reputation
in the public as an essential ingredient in creating a strong
"quality of life" so that when we come up on the priority
list we are
seen as a necessary tool and not an end product.
We need to start crowing about our achievements, or
we mayend up as Christmas dinner! |
