Wednesday, August 12, 2015
In the past weeks I’ve talked with you about Lawrence County’s budget problems and the immediate actions they require. This week, I want to discuss what we’re doing to find long-term solutions and avoid the kind of crisis we’re in now.
Good financial health for families and local government will be achieved with more and better jobs in our community. Most everyone understands what economic development is, but not the work that goes into it.
Tennessee counties and their incorporated cities are required by state law to form Joint Economic & Community Development (JECD) Boards and share the cost of economic development. Our partners are Lawrence County, Lawrenceburg, Loretto, St. Joseph, and Ethridge. Contributions are based on population – Lawrenceburg, for instance, pays a higher percentage of the annual budget than St. Joseph.
The Board uses its budget to support the economic development work of the Chamber of Commerce, and plays a role in its strategic planning process. The City of Loretto also supports the South Lawrence Economic Development Association (SLEDA), a proactive effort to find prospects suitable for that community.
There are general steps in the process of industry/business recruitment that are the same for every prospect, but the specifics are as varied as the companies themselves.
When company officials decide to move or expand at a new location, they already have a region, their building site/ facility and workforce needs in mind. They begin their search online and the Chamber’s website, SelectLawrence.com, does a good job of presenting information about doing business in Lawrence County. Much more can be found online from our school system, hospital, city, county, and local media websites, and from sites like Facebook. There’s no way to know how many prospects eliminate our community with a simple internet search.
With their short list in hand, a company might contact an agency like TVA or the state’s Economic & Community Development Department to help them learn more about and visit those communities. Others, though, might choose to take that step themselves and even come to Lawrence County without contacting anyone.
A prospect’s need for secrecy can’t be overstated. Every company has competitors, and a leak about growth plans can give the competition an advantage. Some companies may not be growing, but downsizing by combining several operations into one new one. Those companies, understandably, want to inform current employees in their own time frame. A third reason? “Because they say so,” says Chamber President Ethan Hadley. Prospects always want to keep their plans close to the vest, and they call the shots.
One of a prospect’s first requirements is an available building site or existing building. Speed is topmost in a prospect’s mind and they choose the place where they can get their business up and running the fastest. That’s why it was important to have the sites at Team Lawrence Park “shovel ready,” with every possible pre-construction task complete. Zoning and other permitting tasks are finished, and utilities are available at every site.
Our spec building will allow a company to get their business underway even faster. Its 40-foot ceilings and other design elements make it suitable to a wide range of industries, but it is basically a shell where the tenant can make the final choices themselves. Several other buildings are available across the county, and all are featured on the Chamber website.
Another factor is our workforce. Larger prospects may consider an employment pool from surrounding counties, but the community they choose as their new location is most important. A prospect might even visit existing industries’ human resource personnel to ask about labor and management relations, work ethic, drug-related issues and productivity.
If the workforce lacks enough skilled workers to meet their needs, a community college or technical school may join the conversation. Incentives from the community and the state of Tennessee can include training dollars to help prepare future employees for those jobs.
When communities with similar sites and/or buildings are vying for a prospect, incentives may make the difference. The state can offer tax credits; grants and low-interest financing; utility discounts; and tax exemptions. Communities can offer tax abatement incentives (an agreement to lower a prospects’ property tax on real estate and equipment for a certain number of years) because the benefit to residents and resulting tax proceeds can more than make up the difference.
What can ordinary citizens do to help economic development? Stay positive about our community – you never know who might be sitting at the next table in a local restaurant, or reading Facebook posts. We all have relatives who live across the country – ask them to let you know if they hear anything about local companies’ expansions and pass word along to the Chamber of Commerce. Finally, help keep our community clean. Garbage on our roadsides is not only unattractive; it speaks volumes about the people of Lawrence County, and that’s our top selling point.
