Monroe County has many community assets in which it can take pride--now it's time to capitalize on those assets. Such was the message delivered this morning by small town economic development guru Jack Schultz to a packed assembly of local business and community leaders.
During the course of his talk, Schultz highlighted Monroe County's "great prospects"--citing the second lowest poverty rate in the State of Illinois, its generally clean and prosperous appearance, and quaint Main Streets in Columbia and Waterloo--against the reality that 9,000 residents (62%) drive out of county every day to work, one of the highest rates anywhere. Creating more businesses and more jobs to keep those commuters closer to home "isn't just an opportunity for business growth and increased tax revenues," Schultz observed, "but it's also an opportunity to get more people involved in Little League, schools and other community activities."
His challenge to those assembled was to take the same kind of vision that drove relocation of the Village of Valmeyer following catastrophic floods in 1993 and to apply that kind of thinking to other economic developoment initiatives. Schultz's talking points were supported with success stories he has culled from small towns across America from Leavenworth, WA to Lebanon, NH.
Schultz, the award-winning author of Boomtown USA: The 7-1/2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, was the keynote speaker for a forum organized by the Monroe County Economic Development Council. The Council has also formed a LinkedIn group ("Know Jack") to keep up discussion around the strategies Schultz shared today.
