Take a new look at economic development

The buzz around town is all about jobs and economic development. What's missing is an honest discussion of what works and what doesn't.

First, any realistic vision of our future must focus on economic vitality. This is much more than property development. Economic vitality in Sisters surely encompasses a sense of shared prosperity, thriving downtown storefronts, busy tradesmen and professionals, a steady stream of visitors and shoppers, newcomers moving in with their assets and professions. A community where people want to visit, live and work will be economically viable.

Second, we need to analyze realistically what is most likely to bring about such broad-based vitality. From the worldwide history of economic development, and from the experience of other little towns, we can confidently conclude that construction and physical capital - buildings, industrial parks, machines - cannot ensure sustained prosperity in Sisters. Ultimately, it is people, their skills and the social fabric they create that ensure economic vitality. The real question is how to attract people.

Successful communities take a hard, honest look at what they do best and then play to those strengths. Sisters has two special assets - one natural, one human-made. We are surrounded by stunning forest and mountain wilderness, pristine rivers, and a multitude of outdoor recreational choices. We have a charming downtown, a close-knit community, great schools, a creative community of musicians and artists and craftspeople of all sorts. In short, we have a natural and social milieu that people want to visit, relocate to, and invest in.

Instead of playing to such strengths, city leadership over the past two years has systematically played to weakness. They have doggedly focused on chasing industries with tax breaks, easing development along the highway entrances, and bringing in surplus property on the periphery of town. Their model has failed to create jobs, attract new businesses, retain existing ones, or fill vacant buildings.

What would leadership that really understands economic vitality do?

First, it would not spend scarce taxpayer money on dubious light industrial promotion schemes and top-down, EDCO-style business attraction, on consultants with vague mandates and accountability, and on giving special breaks to a bank and a developer by waiving certain planning fees.

Second, it would embrace the fact that tourism is the lifeblood of Sisters, and that tourists choose our town because it is unique, inviting, vital - not because it has industries and drive-through facilities.

Third, it would understand it is quality of life that actually brings businesses to Sisters. The Ford Institute cites a survey showing that over 70 percent of new businesses moving to Bend in the early '90s did so because the owners liked their vacation experience. These people bring expertise, experience, and money. They don't come here to create jobs. But their coming here is what creates jobs.

Fourth, it would persistently focus on preserving and enhancing those assets that underpin quality of life in Sisters - things like keeping the downtown attractive, supporting business there, making it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, expanding parks, playgrounds, bike paths and other public greenspace, protecting our natural surroundings from development, improving our schools and keeping kids safe, increasing affordable housing, beautifying the gateways into town, installing aesthetic wayfinding signs, promoting diverse artistic creativity, and respecting the tenets of good governance - including transparency and integrity.

Finally, it would replace the polarization and secrecy that has come to define city leadership with openness, a sincere desire to hear all voices, mutual respect, and a search for compromise.

Alone, none of these actions may seem consequential. Pursued together and systematically, they make the difference between economic vitality and stagnation.

Chuck Humphreys is a PhD economist and former member of the Sisters Planning Commission.