Its helpful to watch government in action and see how the many different aspects of small town (or large) come together to create investment leaning localities. Economic development isn't just money alone as it requires a base/community to build on (..and the infrastructure that serves and can encourage and/or limit growth.). That base comes from the community and matching local needs to global market opportunities so as to draw new investment and new opportunities for local peoples new and old alike. When government, industry and communities align there are many doors that open in such a way as to potentially foster net positives for everyone.
Anyways, read through some of the tid bits below and see if that resonates or doesn't resonate with you. Its about exploring ideas and seeing what seems to make sense.
Meeting Effectiveness: |
| Coffee & Culture Escanaba 23' in the Wooded Pathway Art Gallery Its my hobby gallery. |
16 minutes is a pretty short meeting by any account! I think the city record for effective speed governance was like 7 minutes and in that meeting they improved their environment significantly by investing in 100's of new garbage cans (Our environment is important, clean rivers, clean streets, you know the things we live in and eat out of. Microplastics Research.). In this meeting and agenda they exploring concepts related to wastewater systems, municipal customers, MDOT, energy optimization, fire clean up, etc.. (Just FYI there was a big fire in which local firefighters did a great job tackling as a coordinated team. I suggest we support them and encourage the youth to get involved. They put their lives at risk for the rest of us. Credit where credit is due. If you know me, I will tell you what think if you ask politely.)
Transparency and Government:
Good governance is open, answers questions, provides information and works with public and private stakeholders. For example, the Feb 2, 2023 Agenda offers insight into costs, pictures, drawings and information so and so forth related to the meeting content and options available to the city. Anyone can read it! Interested community members, investors and current businesses can look at the information and have reasonable understanding of the necessity of choice (i.e. meaning they agree they would have came to a similar conclusion because they can see the info.).
All of their meetings are on online so people can watch and ponder the changes in their community. Furthermore, they provide contact information on Escanaba's Webpage to give local residents direct access to their government officials (btw they will answer if appropriate. When was the last time you saw that? That's old world charm!)
They also have all of the other meetings available virtually if you want to grab some popcorn and turn off the reruns of Days of Lives (General Hospital used to be pretty good. I like South Park.). Its the type of stuff you would see in a Digital Nomads land where people want to stay connected to and part of this fresh water pearl in the U.P. Escanaba Meetings. (Escanaba is like Little House on the Prairie in a time before expensive taxes and super expensive houses you often find closer to the larger cities. We are a small and attractive alternative for remote workers. Its one of the most affordable places to live still today. That's the way we Yoopers like it! If you can't chop a tree you will never truly be free!)
I found this OECD information on the Young and Open Government. All in all I think they would meet an inclusive and open government perception that is actively seeking new ideas and engagement with the public and youth. There may be some lessons to be learned for those in governments in other places and venues. Learning organizations seek to improve wherever they can. Nothing wrong with seeing democracy work from its root. It just requires people who care enough to contribute to communities and to the nation! Not hard because we can model that here for your leaning pleasure! 💁
Good Governance Leads to Investment:
Good governance brings additional investment because people trust the information and the decisions being made. When the information is available and people seem committed to the community's success, it creates higher levels of stable interest draw. This is one reason why marinas, local community generated investment, industrial development, hotels, tourism, events, etc. are swinging in the town's favor. The little people can really make amazing things happen when their eyes are set just over the horizon and we find a path through the minefield of 'nay sayers' and 'self interested sorcerers' who cast spells of doubt. (Sorry, I sort have this running joke with my poetry and strategic alignment to emerging trends. :( Axis Mundi)
(If you have been reading for a while I have been engaged in research on economic clusters. Predicted a 23/24' would have high growth back 2020 based on industry adaptation. It was published. :) Thus far it is panning out to be somewhat ball park accurate. No formulas have been created yet other then an initial amebic one to develop a frame. What is possible is if the community reconnects to the global market in a meaningful way we may also find tertiary benefits such as rising incomes for Middle Class members, more young people sticking around, expansion of opportunities, lower crime rates, thriving community actives, quality of life improvements, etc. Economic and community health can come together in this theory. In general, there many compounding factors but these are going to be associated depending on effective government, industry, and community interactions. Think micro transaction with macro outputs. Feel free to quickly discard....as its just theoretical dribble....dribble...)
I will rank the area as "investment leaning". Meaning that if it continues to develop things like its webpages, strategies, infrastructure, entrepreneurship draw, investments, target driven marketing, tourism etc. it could lead to much larger growth. i.e. sparking a cluster. Clusters ae not about size, its about efficient use of resources that compliment and enhance each other in a helpful way that ramps up innovation and market leading outputs. How? This is done by putting the right components into the same pin head to spark a growth catalyst as they interact and connect on micro transactional levels and find cross industry value (i.e. intrapreneur/entrepreneur). That is based in part on investment precursors of a locality. More on that later.... In theory anyway, let us wait and see what happens.
If I was an interested investor (s), I might explore ways to invest in a local industry before the upward curve (Maybe but optimistic. A definite possibility. Possibly but not guaranteed. 🤔).
You may be interested in this article on effective investment from a global perspective.....
Effective Multi Level Invest OECD 19' (Entrepreneurs, SME, etc.)
If your a little inspired by the possibilities of doing something helpful to a community feel free to reach out with your investment ideas. Delta County Chamber of Commerce.
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