John Frey is a Montgomery County Commissioner and can be reached at john.frey@montgomerycounty.in.gov.
As we have planned, strategized, created and worked on our comprehensive and thoroughfare plans, our end goal of commercial/retail and residential growth has been front and center. We want to grow our community in our own way. Growing business and residential is vital to that overarching goal. We will grow tangibly — with new roads, new buildings, water, sewer, broadband, etc., but there are also intangible components of a plan which aren’t always as obvious to those not familiar with the processes involved in economic development. I thought it might be a good time to give a bird’s eye view of what economic development is and discuss a few of the intangible components which must come together in order to have a successful program.
Last week, I attended a presentation which Cheryl Morphew, economic development consultant for the city and county, gave to the Redevelopment Commission. She spelled it out nicely. Afterall, she is an expert in this area and has seen many communities such as ours thrive as a result of a well-planned program. There is too much to include in one single article, but today I want to highlight some of the variables, which Morphew pointed out in her presentation, and that come into play when creating an economic development plan.
First, economic development is not only focusing on jobs and business; it is a foundational process involving many variables, all of which are unique to the specific community involved. Economic development is the creation of jobs and wealth to improve the economic well-being of a community: it’s creating programs and policies to improve a community’s business climate; and is ultimately the facilitation of long-term investments which lead to overall community prosperity. Businesses in a community are broken down into two categories: base industries and service industries. Base industries are those which produce, export and sell their goods outside the community, thus bringing in new dollars which in turn increases the total dollars that circulate within a community. Montgomery County examples include LSC, Nucor and Pace Dairy, to name a few. Service industries are businesses which sell goods that circulate existing dollars within a community. Examples here would be our local retail and dining businesses. We are fortunate to have a nice mix of both types of businesses in our county. There are three components which are vital for a good Economic Development program: economic development, community development, and workforce development. They all go hand in hand and a program won’t work well if any are missing.
The obvious component people think of with economic development is having ample businesses with jobs to support a community. This is a vital piece of the puzzle. But what about the people which are needed to fill those jobs? What about providing quality affordable childcare and early learning opportunities to the people who want to work those jobs? What about having appealing and affordable housing for those people so they want to work and live here? These are some of the intangible pieces of the economic development puzzle which though not as obvious to some, are absolutely essential to creating a successful program. These are the pieces which need to come together to form a whole, complete, successful, thriving community.
In our community, childcare and workforce are two of the most significant intangible concerns and much time has been spent on finding solutions to fit our needs. We need people to fill jobs so companies can expand. We need affordable quality childcare, so both parents in a household with youngsters can work. Early Learning Indiana did a study in 2018 about the economic impact of lack of childcare in Indiana and Montgomery County was estimated with a negative $4.9 million impact on the economy. Think about the possibilities we have in front of us when we find a solution to this issue.
The great news is that we have some tremendous folks working on solutions for these issues. More great news? These people are thoughtfully creating strategies and plans for real solutions. They are researching, surveying, and involving people who can help. There is nothing haphazard about their planning process. Simply put, they are doing it right. And, while there is no bad news, if we want to do it right, it will take time. We need input from our community; we need time to create workable solutions; we need to look at the issues as a part of a larger plan. And we will.
Folks, so many terrific things are happening in our community and I couldn’t be more excited or proud of the efforts. I am proud to call Montgomery County my home and I will continue to work hard alongside my colleagues, friends and neighbors to make it a better place to live.
John Frey is a Montgomery County Commissioner and can be reached at john.frey@montgomerycounty.in.gov. And check out the Commish Facebook page @montgomerycountycommish.
To learn more about the 2018 Early Learning study, visit https://earlylearningin.org/new-report-finds-indiana-loses-billions-due-to-lack-of-access-to-child-care.
