We need to cultivate our local economy.
Our nation is suffering its worst economy in 70 years. The auto industry, the backbone of Michigan’s economy for a century, is getting the worst of it. Our state will not be the same when it’s over. We cannot pretend these difficulties are not going to reach Traverse City. They are here.
But there is some good news. Every report you read about the “new” economy says that the drivers of future economic development are the knowledge-based businesses, such as insurance, finance and other professional services, that can locate just about anywhere. This area of the economy represents America’s highest growth area for good-paying jobs. This opportunity must be a priority for Traverse City.
Traverse City has assets to attract businesses who have a choice about where they locate. These assets include our water and the beauty of our surroundings. They also include Traverse City’s emerging “brand,” which is a blend of the traditional and the ultra-modern – think of the State Theater, or the businesses that have located at Building 50.
While one can be skeptical about government involvement in private business, this is a time for pragmatism. City government needs to to promote economic development. This will help provide opportunities for quality jobs that provide for an economically sustainable life and an enhanced quality of life for our citizens. It will also help increase Traverse City’s tax base, which contributes to our general fund.
The infrastructure spending outlined in this plan will help stimulate our local economy. The energy efficiency and renewable energy spending outlined in this plan will help stimulate our economy. Enhancing our waterfront will help us compete for what are likely to be fewer tourism dollars than have been spent in the past. And there are other things we can do:
New economy businesses - We need to provide the groundwork for new economy businesses to locate in our city. We should create a committee, in the city or the region, to make recommendations about what local government can do to provide an attractive environment for new economy businesses. Examples of areas to study would include upgrading local broadband infrastructure, fostering entrepreneurship, and ensuring that city representatives are business friendly.
The high quality of life that Travers City offers is attractive to the entrepreneurs and young professional workers of knowledge based businesses. The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce’s success in their Young Professional’s organization serves as an base to expand on.
TIF - If TIF is handled properly, it can be a true stimulus tool. Rather than borrowing against the general tax burden of our children and grandchildren like the federal government does, TIF lets our community borrow the future tax revenues of specific projects and use those captured dollars to build public infrastructure. That creates jobs, which we desperately need right now, and infrastructure we can use for years after it is paid for. This does not mean every TIF project should be approved. TIF dollars are public dollars, and the City Commission must be stewards of those dollars and only do the deals that are in the best interest of our residents. But it does mean that we need to evaluate these projects carefully, with an open mind, and with the understanding that we need economic development in our city more than we have in a long time.
Community development - We should continue the new office of community development, focusing on development in our entire city, including:
- Workforce housing
- Corridor development (8th, 14th, Woodmere, Garfield)
- Identifying obstacles to economic development in Traverse City and using our resources to overcome those obstacles.
- Partnering with local non-profit and grass roots groups to tackle issues where they have expertise and the ability to organize citizens.
Downtown - We need to continue the good things that have happened downtown. Downtown is our signature area. Along with our waterfront, it is what people remember, and why they come back. Most of the other taxing units in the region contribute to the TIF plans for downtown. The result is that for every dollar the city puts into downtown, other taxing units contribute another 93¢. The question we must ask, and continue asking, is how we can leverage this regional contribution on projects that, while located downtown, benefit the whole city. Effectively connecting the waterfront to downtown and the Bayfront Plan are good places to start. Downtown and Traverse City must continue to be innovative in making our community more inviting for visitors who spend money in our local businesses. Examples include more accessible restrooms and ground floor retail throughout downtown.
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October 30, 2009 at 2:53 am
Mike Coco
As pointed out above, lightning fast and reliable internet connectivity is a key element to today’s economic development in attracting businesses, knowledge based economy workers, young professional families and entrepreneurs.
While Traverse City’s primarily telecommunications providers are actively making investments in their systems in other areas, Traverse City does not appear to be on their radar. In dozens of areas around the country, AT&T is rolling out their U-verse IP based products, which include internet speeds of up to 18 Mbps (they currently only offer DSL speeds of only up to 6 Mbps in TC today, and some areas have only their slower speeds available). Charter Communications has rolled out Docsis 3.0 in some areas with speeds up to 60 Mbps (with only 16 Mbps service available in part of TC today).
While they do not service TC, Verizon is rolling out their Fiber-To-The-Home services called “FiOS” offering speeds up to 50 Mbps (with room to grow those speeds over their fiber optic lines). Comcast is offering 50 Mbps services. Cablevision began offering 100 Mbps service in New York City.
What would help Traverse City is to have AT&T and Charter invest in their networks here in TC. Our community needs to encourage such investment from our local providers. Another option could be a Fiber-To-The-Home network financed privately, publicly or via a public-private partnership.
What electricity did for economic development 100 years ago and the interstate system did 50 years ago, the internet is doing today. Competitive internet connectivity is a key piece of the puzzle in economic development and attracting the types of business and jobs that will provide good wages (with benefits) for our citizens.