Some Success Stories

Most of the news from the Midwest's towns and cities these days is pretty grim: see the last posting for examples. But some places are making it and the secrets of their success deserve attention.

David Ivan, a regional extension director at Michigan State, has been paying attention. He is running a project out of MSU's Land Policy Institute to identify towns that are coping successfully with the demands of the new economy. (Go to www.landpolicy.msu.edu and search for "Can Small Towns Be Cool?") Funders have limited the search to towns of fewer than 125,000 people and Ivan is focusing mostly on towns smaller than 50,000.

The work isn't done yet, and I bet Ivan would appreciate any tips from readers ([email protected]). But so far, here are a few of his stars:

Michigan: Marquette, Saugatuck, Zeeland/Holland, Chelsea.

Minnesota: Houston, Grand Marais, Bemidji, Duluth.

North Dakota: Grand Forks and fargo

Iowa: Dubuque, Davenport and Fairfield.

Illinois: Galena, Normal, Bloomington, Peoria and Moline.

Ohio: Nelsonville and Upper Sandusky

Indiana: Columbus and Rochester

Wisconsin: Beloit, Mineral Point, LaCrosse.

From my travels, I'd add a few more, such as Pella in Iowa, Nauvoo in Illinois, Wausau in Wisconsin, Wooster in Ohio, Warsaw in Indiana, Kalamazoo, Traverse City and Petoskey in Michigan, and Thief River Falls in Minnesota.

I'd also question a few of Ivan's choices. Moline and Davenport are two of the five (sic) Quad Cities towns, and they're struggling to find a place in the post-industrial world. They're asking the right questions but so far don't have the answers. Beloit in Wisconsin benefitted from the largesse and leadership of a local billionaire named Ken Hendricks. But Hendricks died a couple of years ago, and Beloit seems adrift: the closing of the big GM plant next door in Janesville hasn't helped.

The towns on this hit list differ widely, as do the reasons for their success. Fairfield and Nauvoo are the target of heavy religious investment -- Transcendental Meditation in Fairfield, the Mormons in Nauvoo. Some are beneficiaries of enlightened philanthrophy -- Kalamazoo (the "Kalamazoo Promise") and Columbus are star examples. A few, like Pella, base their prosperity on old-line companies that have stuck with the town. Others, like Wooster, recreated economies after old-line companies left. Some have turned themselves into tourist meccas, such as Galena, Petoskey and Saugatuck. The schools in some tiny towns -- like Rochester in Indiana and Houston in Minnesota -- have gone in for on-line or high-tech education in a big way, to give their towns a chance of survival. Cluster economies are the root of some success stories: Warsaw is the center of the global orthopedics (artificial hips, knees, etc.) industry, and Thief Rivers Falls has leveraged its one natural resource, which is snow, to become to world capital of snowmobiles. Peoria, an old factory town, has found new leadership and is on the way to reinventing itself. Traverse City, set amid scenic beauty, cashed in on the second-home boom.

The current recession has been hard on the Midwest in general, and these towns have been hit. The second-home boom may be ended for the moment. Caterpillar in Peoria, Cummins in Columbus and Pella Windows in Pella have all had downturns. Tourism isn't great anywhere.

But all these towns have laid foundations for the future. The recession is driving nails into some civic coffins in the Midwest, but all these places look like survivors. 

Are there patterns among them? Dave Ivan thinks there is. In no particular order:  

Invest in downtown. Town centers are the communal heart. Too many Midwestern towns let their main streets go to seed. More than anything, this reveals a community that just doesn't care anymore. Who wants to invest in a town with a slum at the center? Columbus, Pella and Wooster look like the good places they are. Wausau may have economic problems, but you'd never know it from its beautifully rehabbed downtown.

Involve young people. Some young people will leave for college and not come back. That's inevitable. But those that stay are the town's future. Involve them early. Set up entrepreneurial mentoring programs in schools. Help students set up their own businesses, possibly in some of the many empty shops that disfigure so many towns. Get kids involved in civic and environmental programs, so they grow up caring about their towns. Link high schools with local community colleges.

Capital investment. Mobilize local money for civic projects. Set up an incubator building for small business. Persuade wealthy families to set up foundations whose funds could be used for venture capital for home-grown businesses. Some local philanthropists volunteer their money and shape their towns' future: more often, they have to be wooed.

Support entrepreneurs. It takes more than money. Train local bankers, lawyers and accountants to embrace new ideas, not scorn them, to give new businesses the support they need. Get businesses and schools working together.

Leverage local resources. Too many small colleges play no part in the life of their towns, or feel any commitment to revitalizing them: this has to change. Link with nearby colleges, even across state lines: this is what Fargo and Dubuque are doing. Get churches involved.

Work regionally. Towns near state lines should reach across those borders for help. Ignore county lines and band together in regions: Columbus works with 34 high schools in 10 counties.

Use the arts. Give artists subsidized space and let them go to work on public art. It may be the cheapest and most vivid way to revive a dormant and drab downtown. One town devotes 1 percent of its town budget to public art, and the result is on display daily. Columbus itself is an architectural museum. Historic preservation helps too. A town that ignores its past is unlikely to care much about its future. In Dubuque, restoration of the old downtown came first: IBM and 1,300 new jobs followed. 

Above all, get everyone involved. Too many towns have always been run by an old guard that shuns new blood and new ideas. Only projects that involve all citizens and community organizations will work. Sometimes government will take the lead. More often, citizens themselves take the lead. Government needs a seat at the table but not always the throne. 

For more information on rural development, visit the In the News section of the Global Midwest Web site.

Comments

[Carol Bedford]

Thanks for the Heads Up on this program at MSU. I will email David Ivan. He should consider Grand Haven, Michigan, as a city doing much to become a survivor under current economic and social conditions. More important I will call his list to our Mayor's attention as although this small city of 12000 is already doing things that relate to the patterns you have described, more can always be done. In addition, such a list is prescriptive and useful.

[Joshhovey]

Very surprised that Mr. Ivan left East Lansing off this list.

Aside from recently being named to Entrepreneur magazine’s top-10 list of “Best College Towns to Start a Business.” (http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/October/203418-4.html), they're also celebrating the 1 year anniversary of their new business incubator -- the Technology Innovation Center (TIC).

After a year, the TIC is full of start ups and the city recently opened up a incubator specifically for student businesses called The Hatch (http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/hatch)

These are great examples of a small/medium sized Midwestern city using innovation and entrepreneurship to pick itself up from the ashes of the auto industry.