April 19, 2012

Rural Economic Development & Employment

My Talk TodayThanks to Nancy Arnold & the Team at the University of Montana

• Let’s Start with a Rural Story• Understanding Rural Economic Development

Outcomes• The Role of Human Talent in Development• Value of Economic Development• Components of Economic Development• An Economic Development History Level• Keys to Success

A Story from Rural Kansas

A SMALLTOWN

SUCCESSSTORY

Atwood &Rawlins County, Kansas

Atwood & Rawlins CountyKansas – Success Story

Very Rural – Very IsolatedNorthwest Kansas – Wheat Country

Too Small to SucceedChronic & Severe Depopulation

Historical Population Trend Line for Rawlins County, Kansas

1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

5,500

6,000

6,500

7,000

7,500

8,000

1,623

6,756

5,241

6,380

6,799

7,362

6,618

5,728

5,279

4,3934,105

3,404

2,966 2,875 2,846 2,765 2,690 2,601 2,557 2,536 2,466 2,425 2,519

Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income & Employment (1960-2008)

Rawlins County, Kansas

Net MigrationRawlins County, Kansas

Source: Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, Migration Data

USD 105 School EnrollmentRawlins County, Kansas

Source: Kansas Department of Education & Kansas USD 105, 2010

Atwood, Kansas Wrap Up

Keys to Success

Community Reinvestment & BuildingSmart People Attraction Strategy

Entrepreneur-Focused Economic DevelopmentCommunity Philanthropy

KFB Report – Search for Solutions, The Future of Rural Kansas

• The Global Challenge

• Understanding Rural Development Outcomes

• Role of Human Talent

• Great Recession/Reset

• Value of Development

• Components of Development

Global Competition

In today’s global environment both individuals and communities must have economic relevance rooted in genuine competitive advantages.

At Least Four Rural Americas

Remote RuralGreat Plains

Eastern Washington

High AmenityAspen, CO

Finger Lakes, NY

Urban AdjacentOne-Third of Rural

Pottawattamie County, IA

Micropolitan Trade CentersKearney, NE

Tyler, TX

Desired Development OutcomesBroadly HeldCommunity

WealthDevelopment efforts that are able to nurture and grow communities that afford wealth formation or assets that provide personal and community choice.

EconomicOpportunityFor Careers

Development investments should foster and economy that creates opportunities for meaningful and living wage careers for all residents of a community.

Human Talent is the Key

Human Talent Based Development

HumanTalent

Competiveness

CivicEs

Social Es

Innovation

BusinessEs

Diversity & Resilience

Prosperity

Creativity

Great Recession

Most significant economic event in our life times!

A new economic and social world will emerge from this recession.

Great ResetThere is new space in our economy and society for creativity and innovation that can lead to a new round of economic and social progress and prosperity.

There is strong evidence from the Long Depression of the 1870s and the Great Depression of the 1930s that this is and can be the case with the Great Recession.

This is called the Great Reset!

The Reset ProcessCrisis

Unraveling

Opportunity Space

New Innovation

New Ventures

Prosperity

Components of Development

Human Development…The foundation of development begins with a focus on people and their development. Fostering human talent through education, personal support growth and workforce development can enable a modern competitive and prosperous economy.

Community Development…Next comes community development and investments into infrastructure, housing and other amenities like parks and recreational opportunities. Community development creates positive climate for both people and ventures.

Economic Development…Sustainable economic development is only possible with related investments in human talent and the community. With these in place a community can grow its economy.

Rural Iowa…

Believe it or not this old home is the center of remarkable development in rural Southwestern Iowa.

• Development Tipping Points

• Starting with WWII

• Employment Shifts

• Natural Resources

• Business Attraction

• Entrepreneurs

Development Tipping Points

Local Education

Local Health Care

Local Basic Shopping

Leadership &Institutions

Peers

Rural communities that are experiencing challenges often have high rates of depopulation, poverty and/or unemployment that can impact their ability to sustain local access to key attributes essential for development. Once these thresholds of decline are reached a community can devolve rapidly further undermining its internal capacity for renewal and development.

World War II – A New Start

IndustrializationBefore World War II the U.S. was already a major industrial nation. But the war took the U.S. and its economy to an unprecedented level of industrialization.

How We MakeA Living

During this period Americans went from working for themselves and small employers to working for large corporations and governments.

Industrial LocationAmerican industry also began to migrate from core cities to more rural areas during the war and then accelerated following the war.

Rural to UrbanMigration

Despite the relocation of manufacturing to rural America, the overwhelming migration was from rural to urban, swelling the population of cities at the cost of rural communities.

Employment Shifts – 3 Waves

Pre-World War IISelf-Employment – Smaller Local Employers

World War II into the 1990sLarge Corporations, Government & Non-Profits

1990s through TodaySwelling Self-Employment & Smaller Ventures

Rural America’s 3 Economies

Natural ResourcesAg – Mining – Energy – Timber – Fish – Waste - Tourism

Business AttractionBranch Plants – Logistics – Call Centers - Corridors

EntrepreneursNecessity - Opportunity

The Entrepreneurial Pipeline

Local Responsibility!

Unlike almost any other mature economy in the world, the United States places the primary responsibility for development in the hands of local communities whether that is tiny Mullen, Nebraska with less than 500 residents or the Los Angeles basin with millions of residents.

Key Opportunities & Challenges

OpportunitiesCore Industries

Regional EconomyNew Residents

Reset OpportunitiesMarginalized Human Talent

Asset based or opportunity focused development is recommended and requires a community taking the time to truly understand their genuine opportunities for development.

ChallengesThe Past

Bad or Weak LeadershipConservatism

Lack of Outside SupportChronic Decline

Identifying, empowering and growing local leadership that can help their community understand and embrace needed change is the keystone to successful and sustained trend line changing development.

Key Leadership Attributes• Visionary Leadership• Consistent• Empowering• Leadership Transition• Leadership Development• Effective OrganizationsCommunities with effective leadership are also communities that can raise new capital to financially support desired and needed investment into both community betterment projects and economic development.

A Closing Thought

Jim Jenkins

Callaway, Nebraska

Beth Stube

Dickinson, North Dakota

Wrap Up

Questions & Discussion

Thank you for your time, interest & consideration.

Don Macke & the RURPI Teamdon@e2mail.org

www.energizingentrepreneurs.org