Thoughts on the Economic Development Luncheon

I had mixed feelings concerning the luncheon we had regarding economic development in the M-Club building on campus. The University was gracious enough to host the event with several people from the community in attendance. My biggest personal complaint would have to be that it seemed too much like it was patting ourselves on the back. The comments were almost glowing without addressing the pitfalls we still need to overcome. Numerous awards were given out for no real reason. Another criticism arose from Steve Rogers who writes a column for WCBI in Columbus. [link to story, scroll halfway down] His opinion was, given that one of the recurring statements made was our need to embrace regionalism, we didn't have anyone from the region at the event (Clay, Lowndes Counties for example)

On a positive note, I do believe the event was a great refresher course for the county in trying to keep us all on the same page on what needs to be done. Five very renowned speakers gave brief talks about what we should do. To recap some:

Gray Swoope (Executive Director - Mississippi Development Authority) brought up 5 points:
1. Define what determines success
2. Give professionals the tools they need and don't keep changing our agenda for them
3. MSU will continue to play an even greater role in economic development
4. Strategic planning is a must, but useless if its not implemented
5. Teamwork is vital

Phil Paradice (Regional Director, Atlanta - Economic Development Administration) mentioned that investors don't want to go to areas that don't have clear, concise strategic plans and introduced Bobby Dennis who is the EDA representative for the area.

Del Boyette (President - Boyette Levy, Inc.) advised that we keep in mind that Starkville is different from much of the rest of the state largely due to the University and that therefore our opportunities will be different. He went on to say that the state of Mississippi itself loses if MSU/Starkville don't get along because many of the higher tech industries that come to this state will likely want to come here. He also said we should adapt our strategy with the times and economy and that we should focus on the TAP study recommendations. *more on that below

John Bradly (Senior Vice President - TVA Economic Development) suggested we establish a series of benchmarks to mark progress towards our goals.

Blake Wilson (Executive Director - Mississippi Economic Council) also gave a talk towards the end; however, by that time the event had gone overtime and I had to leave early.

At our table was a document outlining the recommendations of the TaP (Targeted and Prepared) study. This was done in conjunction with TVA. When the study is brought up, it's often stated that we were selected out of 47 communities for this. While on the surface that sounds great, in actuality the reason a community is selected for this type of study is because they aren't performing up to their potential, which is something I believe we should be mindful of. The study outlined several recommendations, which I'm including in a PDF format for reading and download. [TaP Recommendations] (And here is another document from a previous event with some notes) [Previous Econ Development Handout]

I like what an economic development group in Tupelo did. They had a series of goals they wanted to achieve, so they printed them out on a large poster size document, framed it, and put it on their wall so they were reminded each and everyday of what they were working towards. I think they even marked off the ones they accomplished. Gray Swoope said it best himself when he said that the best plan in the world won't do any good without implementation, which, given we now have a recommended plan from the TaP study, should have been the theme of the event.