Mike Knutson at the Rural Learning Center reads MinnPost.com's really good "Rural Minnesota: A Generation at the Crossroads" project and emphasizes the need for rural leaders to figure out what young adults are thinking:
I hope that the articles inspire more rural leaders to begin holding conversations with young people in their own communities. Not only will it provide more concrete information, but it's a great way to build a relationship with them.
And we should never forget the power of relationships in the process of improving our communities [Mike Knutson, "MinnPost: What Are Young Adults Thinking?" Reimagine Rural, 2011.06.09].
Meanwhile, Madison's "leaders" on the Lake Area Improvement Corporation miss the conversation-relationship boat. Local young adult Ashley Allen signals his enthusiasm for promoting new local economic development strategies, and LAIC board member Mike McDowell responds with this wet blanket:
I will bring your thoughts to the LAIC Board as we are beginning to think about retail and other issues. However, retail expansion most often follows population and income growth &ndash and this is part of chicken and egg issue for Lake County and most of the other counties we work with in the region. Thanks for providing your thoughts [Mike McDowell, comment, HCPD blog, 2011.06.08].
Let's see what that LAIC board member comment might sound like in an alternative universe where leaders really listen and engage citizens in the process:
Ashley, you have some good thoughts. Can the LAIC help you plan your public event? Can we help you set up a meeting space? Be sure to let me know when your first meeting is; I'll make sure at least some of the board members join you to get ideas.
Recruiting more retail to Madison is a challenge. The more people like you we can get to participate in identifying our needs and resources, the better chance we have of meeting that challenge. The board's next meeting is next Friday, 10 a.m. at the Depot: would you like to come talk to the board? We'd be glad to hear your ideas, ask you some questions, share some information about our past efforts on retail. We can also talk about ways to put your ideas into action. We'll be glad to have your help.
---hypothetical response from hypothetical LAIC board member who gets community participation
Carry on conversations, build relationships: that's what citizens want. That's what communities need to succeed.
He may be technically right that population/income usually foster retail, but in our case Madison's population has remained flat for years and we've pushed people to seek more sophisticated alternatives. He's dead wrong we should sit on the sidelines and wait for retailers that would make our community prosper until they show interest in us. If anything we should have given a TIF to a larger grocery. That Coburn's Siedschlaw mentioned could be promising. HyVee will probably never come here. http://www.cobornsinc.com/
Adding retail stores is almost always the first thought, but it gets the cart in front of the horse. Retail mostly moves money from Peter to Paul in the local community with a chunk of it going to out of state or country corporations.
Manufacturing, software development, colleges, etc bring money into a community which can then flow to retailers.
But they don't want to come to an undeserved community. People have expectations which is why in some undeserved areas of cities they work hard to bring in retailers as we should do here.
Chickens, eggs... arrgghh! (Hey, Wenk's used to have lots of eggs here, and we lost that, too!)
Colleges, Doug mentions... any chance we could recruit some private community college? Or build a magnet fine arts academy?
What we need in Madison is an economic summit of sorts, a brainstorming planning session in which we look forward for the next ten years and decide what employers, retailers and services would best enhance growth and population retention. LAIC should be involved, DSU and our schools, the City should fund the event, industry and retail along with housing should all be part of the effort. We need to set goals of which type of employers we want to attract, what type of retail and service businesses are most needed in Madison and how to get them and how we can enhance our educational opportunities through our school system and University along with parks, the arts and recreation goals. I think people in Madison have a lot to say and much to offer in ideas and assistance.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191007080948640
Tuesday, June 28 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Madison Public Library
Citizens for bringing a Big Retailer to Madison, SD
Please join us for our first meeting to discuss Madison's retail future. The meeting will be held at Madison's Public Library from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. This will be an open format, so if you are unable to attend the meeting, please come sometime during the scheduled two hours to express your thoughts and opinions to the group. If you are unable to attend, but would still like to be involved, please email us at MadisonSouthDakota@gmail.com today!
Our Agenda will be:
1. Introductions
2. Organize volunteers, gather names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
3. Open discussion on thoughts and feelings
4. Define short term goals
5. Draft an open letter to be sent to City Commission, the LAIC, and Chamber of Commerce
6. Plan next meeting
The meeting room at the library can hold 48 people according to fire code. I was told it comfortable seats 30. Let's see if we can pack the room for our first discussion moving and get moving on bringing a big retailer to Madison, SD.
I agree with Rod 100%. I also received a packet of information from John Goeman today. You two are a great father/son combo and your passion for this town is impressive. It is great to see some of our business leaders working hard for Madison!
With that being said, I do want to discuss briefly the feedback I have received over the past few weeks. I have had many people tell me they appreciated the letter to the editor and the effort I am making to organize our group. However, a stunning number of people have also said that they are not hopeful it will work and have told me I am wasting my time. I am also surprised there has been no follow up letters sent to the editor of the Madison Daily Leader. 10 years ago there would have been at least 5 letters discussing the pros and cons of our idea within a week. Have Madison citizens just given up on public debate?
I do not feel discouraged at this point. In fact, I am still motivated that we can make this happen, despite the apprehension of some. I think we can find 25-50 enthusiastic citizens that can help organize this movement and bring attention to this subject. We will hopefully develop and carryout a progressive agenda that moves our town's retail future forward.
It starts with an honest and open discussion on Tuesday, June 28th. I hope you will all be able to attend. If you cannot make it, please submit your thoughts to us through email at MadisonSouthDakota@gmail.com today!
While we may come up against some resistance and general feelings of doubt, I feel we can prevail and help boost Madison's economy through securing new large retailers.
I am not surprised by the feedback, Ashley. Some thanks, more pessimism—that's the general tenor I've heard in response to various suggestions for reform and progress over the past few years. I take that as a sign tha tmany of our neighbors are far too accustomed to decline, failure, and closed-door decision-making.
Let's surprise them. I look forward to recording and reporting on a productive conversation June 28.
Recruiting Big-Box Retailers as an Economic Development Strategy - A guide for our discussion.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/citizens-for-bringing-a-big-retailer-to-madison-sd/recruiting-big-box-retailers-as-an-economic-development-strategy-a-guide-for-dis/223453104339191
http://www.rurallearningcenter.org/
Don't get discouraged! Read the June 10 post. Change is hard - tough - and well worth it!
Madison is so far behind the game. While most local people want more, it's important to look at who wouldn't want change and what mechanisms are used to prevent it. Because we already shop at HyVee, Walmart, Target, smaller retailers not in SF might be just the thing. Ones still large enough to keep people local. Colton Lumber was going to open here at one time. Too bad that fell through. Talk about a smaller business that is competitive. Not everything has to be truly big box to add the big box benefits mentioned in that article.