ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A rising tide lifts all boats

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy used this phrase in reference to a major economic development project.

The popular belief is that the President’s speech writer, Ted Sorensen, first saw this phrase on a sign. It was the slogan for a regional chamber of commerce, the New England Council.

How do those words apply today, to Adams County?

In 2007, when a group of community leaders and stakeholders gathered around a table to discuss the idea of forming a nonprofit economic development council, we quickly adopted the mantra that “What is good for Othello is good for Ritzville, etc.”

That theory also applied to Hatton, Lind and Washtucna.

The realization made it possible for business and community leaders from throughout the county to agree that working together was the best possible way to be successful in any effort to improve our economy, improve the quality of life here and attract new employers with good wages.

Before that, we were stalled a bit. The atmosphere was more competitive than collaborative. Each entity in Adams County was, for the most part, working independently of the others.

Since then there have been improvements. The formation of the Adams County Development Council (ACDC) resulted in the creation of a diverse board of directors, 21 members to be exact.

The bylaws of ACDC require that one third of the board’s membership is government representatives. Another third is business and industry representatives. The final third belongs to community stakeholders.

What is the mission?

“To enhance, retain and attract commercial, industrial and agricultural growth, development and diversity within Adams County and its cities, towns and ports.”

At every level, national, state and locally, by all definitions, economic development primarily focuses on the following areas: business retention and expansion, business recruitment, workforce development and asset development (infrastructure).

Maury Forman, Ph.D. is a Senior Manager for Washington State Department of Commerce. Forman is considered an authority on community development and entrepreneurship. He approaches it this way: Why do economic development? To:

• Create jobs

• Raise incomes

• Increase tax base

• Help local industries

• Stabilize the economy

• Avoid obsolescence

• Develop resources

• Revitalize community

Economic development is a slow, methodical process that requires vision, teamwork and a passion for improving our communities for the long haul.

In order to successfully attract new business and industry, there needs to be collaboration among agencies and communities.

A regional example is the work done to support the construction of a new Connell Interchange. This is a railroad interchange used by BNSF and Columbia Basin Railroad, the short line railroad company that serves Bruce Industrial Park, Othello’s food processors, Gavilon Grain at Schrag and numerous Grant County businesses.

About 60 companies are sending and receiving product along the short line railroad. They all depend on a smooth and timely transition at the Connell Interchange in order to move product to market.

The proposed project has had support from numerous agencies including several port districts, Adams, Franklin and Grant County governments and the economic development groups as well. Major support of this collaborative effort came from the 9th and 13th Legislative District leaders. They came onboard and have been working in a coalition with all of the others since December of last year to find a way to make this major infrastructure upgrade possible.

It has been a true grassroots effort.

There’s potential for local agencies within Adams County to enjoy similar successes via collaboration.

As a team, we can solve a variety of infrastructure challenges, making it possible to successfully attract a new food processor or our first distribution center. Either one, or both, will offer highly skilled jobs with salaries well above the average wage here.

Recruiting large employers is a challenging task, it can be accomplished with patience and perseverance. Business recruitment is extremely competitive. Every city, county and economic development group is pursuing new business and industry.

In the past year, ACDC, Adams County and the partners have worked hard to elevate awareness about Adams County and hone our skills. The complexity of economic development is difficult to articulate in 1,000 words or less.

What we know, is that we are a bit behind the curve as aggressive and successful economic development efforts in Grant County, Spokane County, Yakima County and the Tri-Cities have produced numerous projects that have resulted in positive economic impacts.

Organizations in those regions have been actively marketing their communities, business incubators, entrepreneurship centers, retail centers and industrial parks for decades.

In the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, we have found that there is much to be learned from those successful entities while we work to identify our priorities and move forward to spawn careful, well planned growth and job creation. We thank them for serving as mentors as we build our program.

Interested in participating or learning more?

Stay tuned. This is just an icebreaker column. I will provide regular updates on our progress. Next time, let’s talk about small business startups and the active entrepreneurs already doing great things here. Small owner-operator establishments are a cornerstone to a rural community’s revitalization.