We should put a moratorium on spending any more money for “experts” in the following areas: 1.) Community branding, 2.) Business attraction, 3.) Community market studies.  For all the money we’ve spent—and I think it may be upwards of $200,000 in the Montgomery County area—for these “experts” in the last 20 years we have little to show.  We can do better. 

Community Branding - These “experts” tell us to clean up our towns, fix our streets, and to make sure our way-finding signs clearly show visitors and new people how to find our businesses and attractions.  Usually, they tell us we need a “theme” to attract visitors, but that we have to determine the “theme” ourselves. 

Business Attractions – These “experts” tell us they have the connections to attract all manner of businesses to make our communities thrive again; manufacturing, restaurants and shopping.  They can even find a grocery store to come into a small town that hasn’t been able to support one for years. 

Community Market Studies – These “experts”, depending on how much we pay them, use all many tools, i.e. credit card transactions, surveys and polls to tell us how much “leakage” we have in money that our citizens are spending away from home. 

It’s time to think about things differently in how we attract people and businesses to our area and quit spending money on these “experts” while we’re doing it.  A friend of mine nailed it several years ago when he said “The best way to attract people and businesses to a town is be entrepreneurial and innovative and develop the local economy from within.” 

If you think of the really “hot” areas of the country regarding economic development; Austin, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Northwest Arkansas and others, you’ll notice many don’t have “themes”.  They have entrepreneurs and innovative people that are doing all kinds of cool stuff.  The cool stuff first attracts people looking for the “experience” and then businesses who want to get in on the action. 

The best “theme” for any community or area is to become known for the innovative entrepreneurs that solve problems in new and creative ways.  This movement starts by developing an entrepreneurial mindset in all of our commercial, private, public and government institutions.  Everyone in an area can learn to be innovative and entrepreneurial.  Once that starts to happen, we can create the solutions ourselves without spending another $200,000 on “experts”. 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.