Regional is the operative word in rural economic development, according to Mark Drabenstott, Director of the RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness.  Drabenstott gave the keynote opening speech at NECA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.  He suggested that organizing by region is imperative in today’s global economy.  He suggested that we are in, “a global economics Olympics,” and that to increase income and job growth, then rural economies cannot be solely commodities based.

He suggested that the existing commodity farm programs might have hindered the development of the kind of entrepreneurial economy necessary to spur the innovation that will provide long-term competitive success.  He provided some interesting statistics showing that rural areas lag behind the metro areas in most measures of income and job growth. 

A regional approach is his recipe for rural economic growth.  A region provides the opportunity to create a critical mass.  To prosper, regions must:

–          Craft a regional strategy

–          Build robust regional governance

–          Deliberately pursue innovation

–          Grow a lot of entrepreneurs

Creating a strategy that takes into account a region’s competitive advantages, identifies its assets and maps a strategic direction will help align public and private investment and clearly define the help required from the State and/or Federal Governments. 

He pointed out that, although broadband is important, it is what you do with it – the applications if you will – that are the most important to a rural area.  He also suggested that independent telcos are in the unique position to influence regional leaders and be the King Author of their communities, since their exchanges often extend beyond political boundaries. 

His talk was very thought provoking.  The one question I did not ask, but would have like his opinion on, is the influence of weather and geography on economic development.  I am convinced that these factors probably play more into Silicon Valley’s development than anything our regional leaders have done.  His talk on economic development and exploiting assets made me think of our Silicon Plains video we produced on Mitchell, South Dakota.  In that case, the biggest asset seems to be the critical mass of skilled engineering talent that Mitchell has managed to draw.