Economic Development - Diversify the Local Economy

There is high reward / high risk with large employers.  The high reward is obviously lots of jobs, and hopefully decent wages and benefits.  Large private employers can be large property taxpayers, providing revenue to cities and school districts that help them provide services to its citizens.  But, like so many things, there are high risks associated with them as well.  If they go out of business or re-locate from the community, those jobs and tax revenues disappear. 

In order for a community to thrive, it needs a diverse employment base.  St. Cloud was recently noted in a business quarterly as having an expanding creativity industry.  It, in fact, is larger than the number of jobs in the IT industry.  We have lots and lots of students attending our local colleges and universities that decide upon graduation to leave our area.  They either don't see an opportunity here or have decided that St. Cloud is not for them.

We should do more to promote opportunity for our students.  It should be easier for a graduate to see the local opportunities (i.e. job openings or start a business) that exist here.  We should be much more supportive of young (or old) entrepreneurs.  There are pieces in place, including the Anderson Entrepreneurial Center, but we need a more coordinated effort to bring them together.   That's a void, I believe, the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation and the St. Cloud Economic Development Authority can and should address. We live in a knowledge era and our economy is becoming more knowledge-based.  These are the jobs that we should be seeking.

We should also be doing more to find out what smaller employers in our community need in order to expand.  If a several small employers add a few workers each, that can quickly add up.  To start with, we need to inventory and survey them.  If eliminating or reducing red tape helps, let's look at that.  First, though, we need to identify the issues / opportunities and determine the best way forward.  Together, in a private / public collaborative effort.