Daily Reporter, 11.20.09
Business parks, tax breaks and other tried-and-true perks just aren’t enough anymore, say economic development officials struggling for new ways to attract and retain companies.
Governments still must provide cash incentives to lure companies or stop them from moving, but the importance of work force training, strong school districts and arts and culture is increasingly on the minds of people responsible for luring development.
Municipal leaders in Wisconsin are wracking their brains over how to replace the build-it-and-they-will-come industrial park model, said Ed Huck, executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities.
Service jobs are becoming more common and important than the manufacturing jobs that communities created in business parks, he said. But attracting white-collar workers — many of whom can work at home instead of an office — takes a different type of carrot, he said.
Business parks, tax breaks and other tried-and-true perks just aren’t enough anymore, say economic development officials struggling for new ways to attract and retain companies.
Governments still must provide cash incentives to lure companies or stop them from moving, but the importance of work force training, strong school districts and arts and culture is increasingly on the minds of people responsible for luring development.
Municipal leaders in Wisconsin are wracking their brains over how to replace the build-it-and-they-will-come industrial park model, said Ed Huck, executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities.
Service jobs are becoming more common and important than the manufacturing jobs that communities created in business parks, he said. But attracting white-collar workers — many of whom can work at home instead of an office — takes a different type of carrot, he said.