Job Recruiters Refocus Efforts, Target Companies That Meet Local Needs

‘A plentiful supply of jobs which pay a living wage can’t be gained unless companies have the revenues, products, markets, and workers to make it possible.”

At first glance, this simple statement by economic policy analyst David S. Harrison of the University of Washington sounds almost too obvious to merit a second thought.

Granted, an employer can’t pay fair wages and benefits if income is inadequate. It goes without saying. So what?

Just this: If this simple truth is so glaringly obvious, why do so many communities suffer the consequences of spurious growth?

Growth that uses up infrastructure (schools, parks, arterials, etc., etc.) but doesn’t pay enough taxes to replace them.

And growth that uses up workers but doesn’t pay a fair wage or benefits, then dumps onto the community the responsibility for its workers when some stumble.

“The more obsessed economic development practitioners become with delivering services which impact this equation, the more successful they will be,” asserts Harrison.

He is chairman of the Northwest Policy Center at UW. Writing in the think tank’s newsletter, Harrison and executive director Paul Sommers report that enlightened economic development groups now realize they must target only a few key industries.

“By focusing on specific sectors,” writes Sommers, “these organizations are developing the expertise necessary to ensure that their programs make a meaningful contribution to the economic vitality of their state or community.”

Appropriately, the Spokane Area Economic Development Council has recently awarded a contract for a definitive study.

“We went on a national search and found a consulting firm to help us target which industries are best for Spokane and how to develop a recruiting, retention and expansion strategy,” says the council’s president, Bob Cooper.

A researcher with the Pace Group has already started work on an “appraisal” of the community. More on this later.

Meantime, analyst Harrison advises, “As successful sectoral development efforts grow, community leaders will do well to subject each to a five-part test. Unless each question can be answered in the affirmative, plans should be adjusted.”

The No. 1 question: Will the jobs pay a living wage?

Harrison emphasizes that “economic development entities must save their targeted efforts for clusters of companies which can afford to pay a family wage. Workers in these jobs keep a community strong, paying taxes to support schools and other community services, and patronizing the local grocery, hardware, and dry goods store.”

No. 2: Will the targeted efforts capture the community’s true strengths?

“Communities must seek to build on their existing attributes,” says the expert. For example, “Proximity to major markets remains a major factor for companies whose products generate high shipping costs.” Processors and manufacturers often benefit from proximity to major raw materials.

“Misunderstanding its competitive advantage,” cautions the analyst, “puts any community in an impossible position.”

No. 3: Will the jobs created match citizen needs?

In this regard, Harrison discusses what would have been the impact on open space, infrastructure and services of a small community (presumably Post Falls) had it won the recent contest for a multibilliondollar Micron plant.

“It is much more appropriate,” opined the analyst, “for a community to tailor any new job creation efforts to the nature of its existing economic problems, including unemployment or underemployment of its resident. Creating new jobs will not solve employment problems unless local workers are provided training to fill them.”

No. 4: Will the sector targeted advance quality of life?

The question speaks for itself.

No. 5: Will the economic returns be lasting?

Harrison points out that companies “lured from the outside may waltz out the same door they came in.

“Communities must be careful in their dealings with footloose companies, which can milk a town for tax advantages and other financial assistance while already dreaming of a new suitor.”

But if they pick the right targets and design strategies to hit them, says the expert, “economic development practitioners can become their community’s most important researchers.”

Next Wednesday: What will the economic development consultant’s “appraisal” say about Spokane?

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel’s column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.