" Economic Development is a process by which a community creates, retains and reinvests wealth and improves the quality of life " ( David Dodson)
" Sustainability- a community's capacity for economic development and growth that can be managed and contained within its ecological, economic and social environments while meeting its current needs without jeopardy to future generations' capacities to fulfill their needs " ( D.K.Curry)
Allegany County faces many obstacles in trying to create a better future:
1. A lack of attractive jobs
2. Migration of the young out of the area to more urban areas offering more job choices and broader social options
3. A need for Workforce training and development
4. An aging population creating a greater need for health care services and Senior housing and assisted care living facilities
5. Roads, and streets are in disrepair. Inadequate access to public transportation
6. Outdated telecommunications and information systems for much of the county and surrounding areas
7. Outdated and decaying infrastructure such as municipal water and sewer systems.
8. Substandard housing
This list could go on and on. There are no easy answers or quick fixes, but we can not expect growth without preparing for it first. Prior to determining the solutions, we need to make sure the problems are clearly identified with the symptoms that caused the problems. We need to first profile the needs of our county, then develop a Master Strategic Plan, created with the help of all citizens. Without citizen support, no plan can succeed. We absolutely have to restore the citizens' confidence and find ways to manage risk. We also have to develop a marketing and outreach plan. We need a realistic appraisal of future opportunities and competitive positioning
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Bill,
Thanks for your efforts to bring the issue of economic development (ED) to public attention.
In my experience, ED efforts are primarily focused on drawing new businesses into a locality or support for the expansion of existing businesses.
IMO, we need to take this a step farther and begin to develop new industry ourselves based on local strengths.
I suggest we persue some of the following actions:
(1) Establish an innovation incubator to develop new products that could be produced locally.
(2) Set-up a volunteer development group of skilled individuals to refine and offer solutions for bringing ideas to fruition or production.
(3) Explore co-op or employee owned businesses to produce goods.
These are some basic concepts that may afford us more control over the economic growth of our area.
One final thought... We assume young people leave our area because they can't find good paying jobs. I believe the opportunity to become involved in interesting and challenging work endeavors may carry equal or greater appeal.
Steve
Steve,
Good to see some innovative thinking.I think we need to step back and do a study to see what really is availabe for us.We have lots of limitations, so we need to work with these limitations.
Steve,
Have you given any thought to the product to be manufactured? I'm sure there are plenty of building available. Unemployed with few skills could be taught the needed skills, thus lowering unemployment, and educating our workforce at the same time
Post a Comment