Think Outside the Box

While thinking about economic development in this area, it occurred to me that it all boils down to really two things that we must do: (1.) we must identify the assets in our community, and (2.) we have to successfully market those assets.

When I say "assets" here, I do not mean assets in the normal sense of the word. I'm not talking about city or county-owned trucks, equipment, or buildings. I'm talking about those things that are very valuable, yet perhaps intangible, and I'm also talking about aspects that are truly unique to our area.

For example, I read a fact the other day that I hadn't realized myself growing up in southern Indiana. Did you know that southwestern Indiana is within a 12 hour drive of 70% of the U.S. population? It is.

Now, the first thought that popped into my mind was the obvious trucking, logistics, and distribution center potential for this area. After all, if a trucker can haul most anything to most everyone (at least 70%) within 12 hours, this would make a good spot to warehouse goods until needed elsewhere. We have acres of space.

Although trucking, logistics, and distribution opportunities are very viable and important parts of our economy, I think those are really just skimming the surface.

What if we were to peruse the annual reports of, say, a credit card company and find that they have their billing center in Des Moines, Iowa? With our geographic "asset" here -- being within 12 hours of 70% of the U.S. population -- let's say we study the mail service to both places and find we could receive and deposit the payments they receive each month two days quicker on average. Now, to you and me personally, receiving and depositing money two days earlier is insignificant. BUT, to a large corporation that processes hundreds of millions of dollars a month in payments, it means to them that they have significantly more "cash float" for their own business as well as potentially much more interest earned on the amounts received those two days earlier each month. Perhaps, these two days would even be so significant to them that the extra cash float and interest earned would pay for the buildings and facilities for them to build here.

In any event, how much better of a phone call or solicitation letter would it be to this credit card company (or any other company you want to insert here) if we approached it from the standpoint of, "We noticed your current center is in Iowa, and we figure we can get your payments deposited in the bank two days earlier because of our geographic location in the U.S. By the amounts shown in your annual report, we figure that your company can build a building and facilities here and still save money. Here's all of the facts, numbers, and calculations."?

Or, do you think the following may work better: "We're a nice place to live and raise a family, and we really need some jobs."? Being a nice place to live and raise a family is great, but there are more than a thousand other small communities in the United States saying the exact same thing. Are they good places to live and raise a family? Sure are. There are thousands out there besides Greene County, Indiana. So, what makes us so special?

What the first approach says to the company is that (1.) we want to work with you, (2.) we have something to offer, and (3.) we're pro-active and progressive. It's a win-win solution for them and us.

The second approach is just simply begging. There's nothing else to call it, but that.
What other assets do we have? Well, what about colleges? Yes, colleges. We live in a valley of colleges; Indiana is full of them. We have Hanover, Wabash, University of Indianapolis, Butler, Rose-Hulman, DePauw, Saint Mary of the Woods, Earlham, Indiana Wesleyan, Franklin, University of Evansville, and Marian. We have some excellent state schools, too, such as Ivy Tech, USI, ISU, IU, Ball State, Purdue, and Vincennes University. Those are just to name a few, as I know there are others, but most all of them are known nationwide (some even internationally) as excellent schools.

Why do I say they're an asset? Aside from being institutions of higher education that educate Indiana's offspring, they also are full of bright, energetic, and positive students. They lack something critical, though, and that's real world experience. How many times have you heard students complain that they can't get that first good job without experience first? What better win-win strategy could our community embrace than contacting these institutions to see if we could provide real world experience for the students in exchange for helping our community move forward by doing some of the leg work? The experience could come in the form of a large class project, a course focusing on our community in some way, a summer job, or an internship.
After all, weren't you wondering who would have time to look through all of those annual reports, to do research on how much two days means to a certain company, and make recommendations on which ones to contact from my suggestion above? How about some college students assigned to a project?

In fact, something just like that is starting with Marian College, my alma mater. In November of last year, you may have spotted the "Marian-mobile" roaming downtown Linton. (If you've seen it, you can't miss it.) In it were a business professor and the Dean of the Business School at Marian College. I contacted one of my former business professors last Fall with the ideas I've shared above, and he along with the Dean travelled to Linton to take a look around and discuss these with me.

I'm very proud to announce that this year the Foundations of Entrepreneurship course at Marian College will be studying the City of Linton in a section entitled, "Social Entrepreneurship," which is the concept that entrepreneurship is an economic and social good to a community. Social entrepreneurship subscribes to the concept that when entrepreneurship flourishes then the quality of life in a community benefits, as the professor explained to me in an e-mail.

The class will be broken down into teams to study this area, its available resources, and grant opportunities, among others.

Now, don't go off expecting economic miracles to happen with their final report to the City later this year, but do know that this is a very significant step in aligning the City of Linton with higher education in a win-win solution to help with the economic woes here.

It's also a model that I think should be expanded to other institutions with strengths in different disciplines, such as surveying, engineering, information technology, etc. What city or town here -- or the County for that matter -- couldn't use help in any one of these areas and more? I'd encourage others in our community with ties to colleges and universities to pick up the phone, write an e-mail, or visit with some former professors or others at these institutions and start the ball rolling on a better Greene County. Something may not be able to be immediately worked out, but with some time, patience, and planning, we can make this community an even better place to live and raise a family.