April 19, 2012

1. Rural Economic Development & Employment April 19, 2012

2. My Talk Today Thanks to Nancy Arnold & the Team at the University of Montana • Let’s Start with a Rural Story • Understanding Rural Economic Development Outcomes • The Role of Human Talent in Development • Value of Economic Development • Components of Economic Development • An Economic Development History Level • Keys to Success

3. A Story from Rural Kansas

4. A SMALL TOWN SUCCESS STORY Atwood & Rawlins County, Kansas

5. Atwood & Rawlins CountyKansas – Success Story Very Rural – Very Isolated Northwest Kansas – Wheat Country Too Small to Succeed Chronic & Severe Depopulation

6. Historical Population Trend Line for Rawlins County, Kansas

7. Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income & Employment (1960-2008)Rawlins County, Kansas

8. Net MigrationRawlins County, Kansas Source: Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, Migration Data

9. USD 105 School EnrollmentRawlins County, Kansas Source: Kansas Department of Education & Kansas USD 105, 2010

10. Atwood, Kansas Wrap Up Keys to Success Community Reinvestment & Building Smart People Attraction Strategy Entrepreneur-Focused Economic Development Community Philanthropy KFB Report – Search for Solutions, The Future of Rural Kansas

11. The Global Challenge • Understanding Rural Development Outcomes • Role of Human Talent • Great Recession/Reset • Value of Development • Components of Development

12. Global Competition In today’s global environment both individuals and communities must have economic relevance rooted in genuine competitive advantages.

13. At Least Four Rural Americas Remote Rural Great Plains Eastern Washington Urban Adjacent One-Third of Rural Pottawattamie County, IA Micropolitan Trade Centers Kearney, NE Tyler, TX High Amenity Aspen, CO Finger Lakes, NY

14. Desired Development Outcomes Broadly HeldCommunityWealth EconomicOpportunityFor Careers Development investments should foster and economy that creates opportunities for meaningful and living wage careers for all residents of a community. Development efforts that are able to nurture and grow communities that afford wealth formation or assets that provide personal and community choice.

15. Human Talent is the Key

16. Human Talent Based Development Innovation Competiveness Creativity Human Talent Prosperity Civic Es Diversity & Resilience Social Es Business Es

17. Great Recession Most significant economic event in our life times! A new economic and social world will emerge from this recession.

18. Great Reset There is new space in our economy and society for creativity and innovation that can lead to a new round of economic and social progress and prosperity. There is strong evidence from the Long Depression of the 1870s and the Great Depression of the 1930s that this is and can be the case with the Great Recession. This is called the Great Reset!

19. The Reset Process Crisis Unraveling Prosperity Opportunity Space New Ventures New Innovation

20. Components of Development Human Development… The foundation of development begins with a focus on people and their development. Fostering human talent through education, personal support growth and workforce development can enable a modern competitive and prosperous economy. Community Development… Next comes community development and investments into infrastructure, housing and other amenities like parks and recreational opportunities. Community development creates positive climate for both people and ventures. Economic Development… Sustainable economic development is only possible with related investments in human talent and the community. With these in place a community can grow its economy. Rural Iowa… Believe it or not this old home is the center of remarkable development in rural Southwestern Iowa.

21. Development Tipping Points • Starting with WWII • Employment Shifts • Natural Resources • Business Attraction • Entrepreneurs

22. Development Tipping Points Local Education Local Health Care Local Basic Shopping Leadership & Institutions Peers Rural communities that are experiencing challenges often have high rates of depopulation, poverty and/or unemployment that can impact their ability to sustain local access to key attributes essential for development. Once these thresholds of decline are reached a community can devolve rapidly further undermining its internal capacity for renewal and development.

23. World War II – A New Start Industrialization Before World War II the U.S. was already a major industrial nation. But the war took the U.S. and its economy to an unprecedented level of industrialization. How We Make A Living During this period Americans went from working for themselves and small employers to working for large corporations and governments. Industrial Location American industry also began to migrate from core cities to more rural areas during the war and then accelerated following the war. • Rural to Urban • Migration • Despite the relocation of manufacturing to rural America, the overwhelming migration was from rural to urban, swelling the population of cities at the cost of rural communities.

24. Employment Shifts – 3 Waves Pre-World War II Self-Employment – Smaller Local Employers World War II into the 1990s Large Corporations, Government & Non-Profits 1990s through Today Swelling Self-Employment & Smaller Ventures

25. Rural America’s 3 Economies Natural Resources Ag – Mining – Energy – Timber – Fish – Waste - Tourism Business Attraction Branch Plants – Logistics – Call Centers - Corridors Entrepreneurs Necessity - Opportunity

26. The Entrepreneurial Pipeline

27. Local Responsibility! Unlike almost any other mature economy in the world, the United States places the primary responsibility for development in the hands of local communities whether that is tiny Mullen, Nebraska with less than 500 residents or the Los Angeles basin with millions of residents.

28. Key Opportunities & Challenges Opportunities Core Industries Regional Economy New Residents Reset Opportunities Marginalized Human Talent Asset based or opportunity focused development is recommended and requires a community taking the time to truly understand their genuine opportunities for development. Challenges The Past Bad or Weak Leadership Conservatism Lack of Outside Support Chronic Decline Identifying, empowering and growing local leadership that can help their community understand and embrace needed change is the keystone to successful and sustained trend line changing development.

29. Key Leadership Attributes Visionary Leadership Consistent Empowering Leadership Transition Leadership Development Effective Organizations Communities with effective leadership are also communities that can raise new capital to financially support desired and needed investment into both community betterment projects and economic development.

30. A Closing Thought Jim Jenkins Callaway, Nebraska Beth Stube Dickinson, North Dakota

31. Wrap Up Questions & Discussion Thank you for your time, interest & consideration. Don Macke & the RURPI Team don@e2mail.org www.energizingentrepreneurs.org