October 17, 2008 : Economic Development
Dr. Bruce Mann of the University of Puget Sound leads a group discussion on the major trends and issues impacting leaders of cities like Puyallup and Sumner.
Our first full Friday seminar not only came off without a hitch but was also engaging, informative and spot-on with today’s news headlines. The Institute’s October 17 session on economic development was led by Economics Professor, Dr Bruce Mann of the University of Puget Sound, and Washington State Senator Jim Kastama. Both presenters provided thoughtful ideas and ways of approaching key economic development issues facing cities like Sumner and Puyallup. The framing question guiding the day (and the Institute as a whole) is how local community leaders can address and learn from these significant challenges and opportunities to improve their communities.
The work of Richard Florida was a feature of the day. Dr. Florida is a professor at the University of Toronto and a prolific writer on trends and issues surrounding urban regeneration. The dynamic qualities of a ‘creative class’ that helps reenergize communities is the center of Florida’s work and was elaborated on by both Dr. Mann and Senator Kastama.
A recent quote by Florida relates well to the community planning underway in the Puyallup and Sumner region: “…it’s not just big cities that are creative. The people in big cities are looking to get away to “smaller, more manageable cities and towns. Certain smaller towns, cities and rural areas actually have higher levels of creative economy than many major urban centers.”
Senator Kastama provides up-to-date information on the new Washington Economic Development Commission to Institute participants.
In Senator Kastama’s presentation, as reflected in his PowerPoint slides, he juxtaposed the current economic challenges facing Washington state with the need for thinking about maintaining and building on our state’s creative and innovative culture for the future. He proceeded to outline the ‘changing nature of our state’s economic development’ while providing strategies for enhancing our creative and innovative climate in Washington.
One very exciting new state venture described in detail by Senator Kastama is the formation of the Washington Economic Development Commission (WEDC). The WEDC intentionally focuses on integrating innovation to economic development policy and practice. More on this new program will coming out soon.
Dr. Mann’s afternoon session perfectly complemented Senator Kastama’s morning work. Dr. Mann laid out a set of emerging issues impacting (or most likely to impact), urban areas, along with their related policy implications. Using Richard Florida’s work on urban regeneration, Dr. Mann led small group discussions around each of these emerging issues. The issues included:
1. Green Space Planning and Management
2. Eminent Domain
3.Infrastructure Improvements and Maintenance
4. Mass Transit
5. And Land Use
Teams discuss emerging issues and current trends, and their policy implications, based on the research of Dr. Richard Florida.
Teams learned more about each of these topics from a variety of perspectives and related them to specific situations facing Puyallup and Sumner. An interesting example of a dilemma that came up included the notion of using incentives or regulation to implement/create change. Do leaders use incentives to change behavior and initiate action or regulate and mandate to achieve desired ends? Selecting an approach, or a blended approach, of incentives and regulation often falls within the decision-making domain of the leader.
An interesting new book that addresses decision-making challenges is the book Nudge: Improving Decision About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
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