Economic Development: Quality of Place and Job Growth
South Berwick has begun a community conversation about economic development. (See earlier article about this initiative.) To stimulate thinking, knowledge, and ideas the 236 diner will be offering information and links to a variety of research, reports, and case studies about economic development. This is the first in that series.
Quality of Place and Job Growth: A New and Needed Maine Investment Strategy, a report by the Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place was released in May. The Council was appointed by Governor Baldacci in 2007 in response to the Brookings Institution study: Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Place that recommended a three-fold strategy for Maine’s sustainable prosperity: 1) investing in product and service innovation, 2) streamlining government at all levels, and 3) revitalizing our towns and cities while protecting our rural landscapes.
The Council’s report makes the case for protecting and promoting our quality of place as a way to build Maine’s economic prosperity for the future. The report’s recommendations arise from the changing Maine economy. In the past, Maine’s economy was tied to resource extraction and the use of natural resources as inputs for manufacturing. Now Maine’s economy focuses more on services, from fast food jobs to highly skilled service jobs like computer programming and design. Today’s manufacturing jobs in Maine, whether in lumber, paper, boats, or biomedicine, require much greater worker skills so it means that Maine is in worldwide competition for people who can create and sustain this 21st century economic development.
In this report, the Council asserts that Maine’s chief economic asset in this competition is our Quality of Place. They use the metaphor of the value of one’s home to describe how we need to protect and enhance our Quality of Place:
To understand what this means, think of your home in Maine. You may like your home because it’s in a historic neighborhood near cultural amenities, or because it’s in a quaint town surrounded by open space and recreational opportunities. You may like your home because you enjoy farming or gardening, because you love being by the coast or near a lake, or because you are inspired by your scenic views or your relationships with community members.
Our homes in Maine represent many values to us, just as do our historic downtowns and Maine landscapes of all kinds. But at times in our lives, a home’s primary value becomes its economic one: we want to move and need to sell. How do we market our home? We fix it up, paint it up, polish it up, to show it in its best light. We attract prospective buyers by touting our home’s architecture; its neighborhood or town location; its access to cultural, recreational, or community amenities; its views of sunsets, mountains, or open fields. We need to distinguish our home as of better quality than others we’re competing with for a sale.
That’s what we need to do for Maine’s future prosperity. We must attract new “buyers”— visitors, retirees, businesses, and skilled workers — to Maine. Our distinctive, competitive advantage in a world that has become one giant economic neighborhood is Maine’s spectacular, place-based, natural and built assets. Maine’s principal advantage in today’s global competition is our Quality of Place. We have majestic mountains, unbroken forests, open fields, wild rivers, pristine lakes, a widely-celebrated coast, picturesque downtowns, lively arts and culture, and authentic historic buildings. We must learn to think of them as the basic infrastructure of Maine’s future prosperity.
So, we must look to our historic downtowns, cultural amenities, forests, fields, mountains, lakes, rivers, and coast — and access to them — as resources we must husband and market to keep and attract business, skilled workers, visitors, and retirees. To market these place-based assets effectively, we must ensure investment in their well-being and improvement. We must learn to think of them as the basic infrastructure of Maine’s sustainable prosperity — much as our highways and bridges are among today’s basic infrastructure, requiring continuing maintenance and investment.
In today’s economy, prosperity comes from the ideas, talents, and energy of people. Skilled workers, entrepreneurs, tourists, and retirees can go anywhere. Where they choose to work, visit, and live depends on personal preferences and the appeal of their destination. Maine’s advantage in this global competition for people is our Quality of Place.
They then describe how the three strategies recommended by the Brookings Institution to achieve sustainable prosperity for Maine work together.
These elements do not operate separately, independent of one another, but only as a system. That is, while each element is important in its own right, the power of the three together — their ability to achieve the goal of sustainable Maine prosperity — lies in their connectedness to and mutual dependence on one another.
This is how systems work in real life —from the human body and families to the solar system —each organ, each member, each planet influences the other; and change in any one, positive or negative, results in certain change to the others. So, when we invest in Quality of Place, we are investing in jobs and innovation; when we streamline government, we make Maine more attractive to investment; and when we invest in innovation, we strengthen Maine’s Quality of Place.
Historically, we focused on needed investment in jobs and equipment, in the fond hope this would bring a high quality of life as a secondary benefit. Today, we know it works both ways: when we safeguard and strengthen our quality places, we increase the likelihood of attracting the investment and people we need. In fact, unless we protect those places, the investment and people are likely to come not at all!
The report then goes on to make recommendations about what should be done to protect, strengthen, and build economic opportunity upon Maine’s Quality of Place assets, both natural and built.
Read the full report: Quality of Place and Job Growth: A New and Needed Maine Investment Strategy, Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place, May 2008.
Read the Council’s First report: People, Place, and Prosperity, 1st Report of The Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place December 2007
Tags: Economic Development
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Quality of Place is just another “feel good - do nothing” indicator drummed up by the governor’s office to give Mainer’s something to be proud of. The Governer’s report makes many references to “investing”. when government refers to investing, that means one thing…. taxing. Who going to pay? The people? Existing businesses?
The reality is if you walk through a comparable town in New Hampshire you’d be hard pressed to see a difference. Historic Downtowns, quaint neihgborhoods and bustling small business.
The major difference is the business climate, New Hampshire consistently rates in the top 5 business friendly states, while Maine is consistently on the bottom.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I read it differently. My understanding of the report’s argument is that quality of place has to go with streamlining government and working innovation. The recommendations in the report seems to be about using structures we already have in order to make sure we have the quality of place that attract the kinds of people and business investment that we need. What I took from it when thinking about South Berwick is that we have already have many of the qualities that could attract businesses and workers. I hope we can figure out how to articulate them better and how to use them to get businesses to locate here.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Nick,
No, if you read this closely (and follow the links), this is not about just “feel good,” it’s about money and the future. It’s about towns like South Berwick being well positioned to attract businesses that will prosper in the 21st century economy. As for taxes, our tax base will be healthy and (as a result of that), local taxes could even be more modest here than in towns that have less “quality of place.”
In other words, according to this analysis that Molly’s sharing, South Berwick is in a better position than many other towns, and if we are smart enough to protect our quality of place, we will have an advantage in the future economy– yes, even though we are not in New Hampshire.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
My concern is what people will consider protecting our quality of place.
To belive that a bunch of mom and pop shops in existing buildings will provide any real tax relief would be folly.
There has to be an increase in business which includes erecting new structures to provide more jobs, as well as additional property and business tax.
The town of South Berwick should not be the largest employer in the town of South Berwick.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Molly and Wendy,
I read and understood the piece just fine, but the fact remains that the tax burden placed on business by the state of Maine is out of the town’s control. “Investing” in anything means funding has to come from somewhere… Even though we may disagree about what constitutes “desireable” business development neither of our objectives are realistic as long as Maine’s reputation as a business un-friendly state remains.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Nick, I will be posting a report on Maine’s business taxes soon that analyzes how they impact business development. They are definitely an issue and need to be dealt with. On the other hand, I don’t think that should stop South Berwick from planning for the future and trying to take advantage of every opportunity.
Dave, you bring up a good question: what is the goal of economic development? You mention two things, broadening the tax base and bringing in jobs. I see two other goals.
One is to have a more active local economy. Any business, whether it is a sole proprietorship in someone’s home, a small shop, or a bigger business, brings a ripple effect. For example, say an energy audit company that employs two people moves into one of the empty storefronts on Lower Main St. They may hire a local graphic artist to design their marketing materials, they eat lunch at the local restaurants, maybe they hire someone like me to design their website, they hire a local person to do their accounting, etc. That kind of business to business commerce benefits all of the other businesses and keeps the economic engine going.
The other benefit of economic development could be to have more goods and services local so that we don’t have to drive so much. At current gas prices the cost of getting somewhere for a needed purchase or service is a factor. I think this is particularly important for retired people who are on a fixed income who don’t venture out to other towns for work.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Molly,
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the small businesses, I just don’t think they are the complete answer.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:37 am
Dave
My point exactly, much as we would all like it, there is no one simple answer that will magically make low taxes, good jobs, a vibrant economy, and a town full of businesses that we all think are great. That’s why I hope we can look at every single possible alternative and weigh the upside and downside of each and work to come up with plans that will move us toward goals that create the most benefits.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
Molly,
One of the things we need to look at which does go along with the quality of place idea is what we can bring to downtown that will attract other businesses and tourist to come to South Berwick.
Right now, there is not alot of draw for that.
It is nice for people who need it to have a local pharmacy, as well as the convenience of the Nature’s Way market.
I don’t believe we should be trying to get rid of these businesses, or the others that exist downtown. I do believe we need to have some locations that will work to draw more people in, and give them a reason to do business in our town.
One of the big ticket items we need to focus on is already in the works, and that is the parking situation.
The sooner the St Michaels property could be used for additional parking, the better positioned we will be to attract more business.
Another thing that need to be looked at is the traffic flow downtown.
It seems that first thing in the morning, last thing in the evening, and on weekends, the 236 /4 split at the island is generally backed up.
This tends to force people to choose an alternate route, which is NOT good for business.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Dave, you wrote,
“the 236 /4 split at the island is generally backed up.
This tends to force people to choose an alternate route, which is NOT good for business.”
I agree with you on this, however, I would also like to add that having high traffic flow right at the point of service for these businesses can also be a Deterrent for potential consumers. If the area is not easily accessible with ample parking off street, many people may choose another option. Having the added parking at the St. Micheal’s property is a good start, but we really also need to redirect flow at that intersection in order to make it more pedestrian friendly. Just my two cents.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Mike,
I agree with you completely about making that section more pedestrian friendly. I have had many near misses when trying to cross to the Pizza parlor when people try to veer around the cars that do stop.
My point is that with the amount of through traffic constantly going past that section, people tend to find an alternate route instead of facing the backups. this means that people tend to avoid downtown which drives potential business away. So it seems we agree that the congestion is bad for business
Something needs to be done to even the flow of traffic.
Some months ago, there was mention of an alternate route to ease the down town congestion, but I haven’t heard anything since.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Dave,
I can’t help but comment on your insightful comments. It has been my view that the citizens of South Berwick are anti-progressive; not accepting modern functionalities that other communities enjoy. Is it too late now to reverse the vote against that traffic solution to route people from 236 to 4 that was proposed, what was it, fifteen years ago? Also, the parking issue has been an unaddressed issue which seems to be used as a check valve to keep too many people from over-using downtown businesses. I notice that Dunkin Donuts have potential customers who drive by because they can’t get onto their small property to patronize them. How does SoBo survive? People need to get in, get their product and get out, which is not happening in our gridlock. Where is the alternate route you are talking about? I’m concerned of the danger the children are in when vehicles they are in try to get onto route 236 after school. I believe the vast majority of constituants want South Berwick status-quo, otherwise why does every viable solution get voted down?
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:24 am
BAK4Coffee,
THe idea I had heard involved routing traffic around the downtown area by using and expanding existing streets which would dump the traffic onto 236 down by the middle school I believe.
I’m not sure I have all the information about this proposal, but I believe Molly has additional information.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:39 am
BAK4Coffee, other plans got voted down only because voters decided those really WEREN’T that viable. Voters realize that many towns get messed up when their planners aren’t careful to look at all the angles. Successful towns, though, plan carefully and come up with good ordinances, and that’s what South Berwick is trying to do now.
I like the part of Molly’s post that includes this expert advice for towns in Maine: “We must look to our historic downtowns, cultural amenities, forests, fields, mountains, lakes, rivers, and coast … as resources we must husband and market…”
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
May we return to Nick’s first comment for a moment? I think his point is well taken- there are lots of NH towns around us that are business friendly and doing well economically. There are also towns that are not doing as well.
What’s different when you cross the border….TAXES! Since 1997 Maine has been one of the top 3 states for per capita tax burden with an average of 13%. NH has been in the bottom 3 for that same period with an average of 8%. The national average for states during that same period was 10%.
Maine has one of the worst business climates, according to Forbes Magazine. We ranked 48th compaired to NH’s 14th. I mentioned this before on other threads- it’s crazy to pin the hopes of South Berwick’s future on attracting some new, big business to town. We’ll be lucky if we keep the small businesses that we already have!
Can anyone tell me what percent of the total state taxes are paid by York County? Is there any way that we, as a community, can reduce our tax burden without sending the profits to Augusta?
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Brian,
I have to agree, the taxes in Maine are out of control.
I would have to doubt that Augusta would let go of a tax cash cow like York County.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
No large, medium, or larger small business is going to seriously consider locating or relocating in Maine unless something drastic is done about the health insurance situation. Right now, unless an employer is going to provide insurance — and the employer plans available in this state are too pricey for most medium and small businesses — the only option is Anthem. Anthem has a complete stranglehold on the individual insurance market, and, as a virtual monopoly player, they have jacked the prices up so high that the policies are now at unaffordable levels for the vast majority of Mainers.
You can make all the changes you want to the traffic patterns, parking availability, but no matter what, you’re being knee-capped by the insurance situation. I know two businesses now considering moving out of York County, and across the border into NH simply to get better insurance coverage for all. And don’t kid yourself, in South Berwick, this is a crippler. Why would you start a business here if you could avoid it and give your employees some peace of mind by starting a few feet south in Rollinsford or two miles south in Dover?
If you really want to change the business climate in this town, focus on the insurance situation, talk to the state senators and the governor, and work to end Anthem’s chokehold. Work to open up the market to more than one company.