[EDAWN Column for the Reno Gazette-Journal for Sunday, August 14, 2011]
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) closed its fiscal year June 30, 2011. As a public/private entity, we offer an annual year-end-economic development report that resulted in 17 new or locally expanding companies, including five headquarters, 670 new jobs and a one-year economic impact of $134 million. There’s more to the story than the numbers represent. These 17 companies are just the businesses that EDAWN and partners directly aided. While EDAWN is a catalyst entity, focused on providing customized client service, each project takes many partners to secure.
There is more context to be considered in this economic “snapshot.” The report is a static picture of a dynamic process. The one-year impact is $134 million. Compound that over years of operation and you see the long-term benefit from these companies’ investment in our region. Each new company exports most of its goods and services outside the market yet consumes goods and services from other local companies. The employees of that primary company, and the workers from vendor/supplier businesses, make local purchases thus fueling our economy long-term. For each new/expanded business two more outcomes occur: 1) our local self-esteem grows; and 2) companies outside Greater Reno-Tahoe will consider relocating or expanding here. Some industries, geothermal for example, attract new vendors and suppliers. A true industry cluster is shared businesses that create an interdependent network. So this year-end snapshot is really a freeze-frame from a 3-D movie. It is a never-ending story – much like the evolving economy we live in daily.
There are two lines of thought that add further context to this snapshot of what the investement of these 17 companies mean to our region. One is, as a non-profit with the primary mission to grow the economy and benefit the regional community, it’s gratifying to see what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit. We report these “wins” to be accountable for our collective efforts and to create success stories that build confidence in our region as a place for companies to want to invest. The second line of thinking is “Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you are right!” Reporting on the manufacturers, distributors, business and financial service and clean energy companies, when taken in proper context, helps our collective community believe that we can rebound from this economic malaise and create jobs again.
These reports aren’t intended to be overally optimistic. It wasn’t a great year. Yet, our communities need to celebrate every success, regardless of size, to remind us that good things can happen with hard work, persistence, collaboration and confidence. We know the difference between factual and aspirational. We try to blend the two. Having lost nearly 40,000 jobs across the region in recent years according to unemployment reports, we are painfully aware that 670 jobs is barely a dent in working to recover and grow our economy. So we report these successes with, as former UNR President John Lilly often said, “A cheerful dissatisfaction.” We want to muster the collective strength and faith to continue to make a difference for our region and everyone in it – together.
[Chuck Alvey, CEcD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of EDAWN
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada]
