Future Economy Council Meeting #20 - (January 13, 2011)

Terry addressed an update of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments information delivered to us last year by Taylor Dellinger. Not a whole lot of information has changed pertaining to the numbers.

Danny gave updates about the Legislative Issues conference that would take place on 1/20/2011. He then addressed the upcoming Chamber Annual Meeting that is designed around Creativity and Innovation. He addressed the unveiling of Catawba County’s Portal Website that Houston Harris played a major role in designing around Live, Work, and Play. One message and one marketing brand designed around start something here, it is the greatest place to begin or begin again.

March 11, 2011 – a big Economic Strategic planning session at the Simulated Hospital to develop a jobs plan for Catawba County using the facilitation and technology of the Collaborative Labs of St. Petersburg College. They will be a satellite branch of this facility at the Former Ryan’s Steakhouse where the Manufacturing Solutions Center was initially going to be located.

Danny went into the Brainstorming process in association with Tom Shea. Houston touched on the Creativity Institute at the McColl Center in Charlotte. It was a six week process involving innovative artists who are nationally recognized. Exercises enabled individuals to use art to communicate a thought and go through the creative process. It wakes things up in you that may have been asleep for a while. This enables you to bring those things out. Houston went into his Free Range Chicken Thinking Theory in association with this process.

Danny spoke about the Innovation 2010 conference held in October and Andrew Hargadon’s Presentation. It isn’t about the idea. It is about taking an idea and connecting it with other things that may already exist and that is what creates value. As I interjected, one of the things that is going on around here is that we aren’t looking to our past resources and how we can put those together for future needs. That is the mash-up process. The Higher Education consortium that put this event together developed under the ideas and theme of what the Future Economy Council had asked them to do.

The Edison Project has come out of talks with CVCC and they will engage in an event in April or May. The Chamber will also form a competition for later in the year. These applications will be taken until May. It will be narrowed down by August and an event will take place in September that will award a cash prize and pro bono services to help get the idea off the ground.

Terry brought up the subject of Social Media involving his endeavors with the government. He stated that this fits into the Mobile Governance model. London, England has utilized this for economic growth. Smart phone technology can be utilized with government databases and integrated to make information more efficient and purpose driven. Terry states that we need to know what people need.

Weak Signals – Rick Smyre’s Weak Signal report based upon World Wide basis. Terry asked about weak signal opportunities and challenges associated with Catawba County. I stated that this is the reason why we need to have more dialogue between FEC sessions. We decided to move forward with a Linked In site as a path of least resistance.

Houston reintroduced his discussion of a website that will allow ideas to build momentum and move forward. You post a problem and it must be accompanied by your idea of a solution. There will be a voting mechanism associated with this and this process would allow for the building of a consensus. It is Houston’s desire that this to be a regional process.

Terry added that there is a similar system in place in Manor, Texas. It is a sort of gaming format with 4 levels associated with scrutiny and feasibility. Houston stated that this could be done in three weeks, if the arrangements were brought into line to move forward. Terry stated that there is an opportunity here in association with land-use and competing in the social media and citizen interaction arena. How do we get ideas funneled into a mechanism that people can start using. This would be used to study issues about business, government, social, and cultural issues.

Harry went into a discussion that we had had recently involving the issues of tolerance and receptivity towards cultures and diversity. The world is evolving and if we are going to be a world wide culture, we are going to have to be open to opportunities from a lot of different areas. People look at this area and wonder if we are really receptive. Are we going to be able to get into a global mindset in something less than a generation? We don’t want to see a vibrant Hickory 30 or 40 years down the road, we’d kinda like to see something happening quicker. We’re all middle –aged white men. How do we expand this? How do we get to where when people look to Catawba County they see a welcome mat and an open door?

Terry went into numbers presented by Taylor in the past and the areas that were most successful over the last several years. Wlimington, Raleigh, and Asheville were looked to as areas of cultural diversity that have succeeded.

We had a discussion about the surveys that have us at the bottom of the rankings. I asked Danny about his participation in the Gallup-Healthway study. He basically told us that they had given him an overall view of wellness and asked him to help find other people in the community to discuss how they personally defined wellness. I stated that we need to climb in the numbers. I believe that we need to re-engineer these numbers. I spoke about a weak signal being the fact that with the increased costs of higher education that you may see a contraction in the UNC system as fewer people are able to enroll.

Steve Ivester spoke about the App State regional campus and his anxieties about the fact that this seems to not have taken hold. Danny stated that the local campus is up to 800 students and it is doing great. Harry stated that he doesn’t think it is education per se. He believes that the local issues that we face involve culture. We have the right business climate. The ancillary things related to culture and wellness are negatively impacting the area. How do we change the culture about opening up the welcome mat?

Ivester talked about the Hickory Small business Council and the fact that in many ways we don’t even realize that they exist. I interjected that they have not yet come up with their ideas that they want to put into the public arena. They are holding everything close to the vest until that happens. Alan will participate in anything outside of that entity and is willing to grab ideas.`

Danny talked about the Economic Development opportunities surrounding the Manufacturing Solutions Center and the Practice Nursing Facility and opportunities involving the housing of these students and fulfilling their living needs. Terry mentioned in Savannah, Georgia they are utilizing hotels for dorm space and it is uplifting these areas.

We also talked about the possibilities of teleconferencing in the future. We also talked about the formation and flow of topics under the Linked In site.
We came to a conclusion that we need to incorporate more people into the group. We also have chosen that we need to make it easier for people to participate. We definitely want to bring younger people and more cultural diversity in the group.

Kevin Spencer wanted to know what the focus of the group is. Are we trying to completely remake ourselves or are we looking to remarket what we have? Harry stated that we are talking about and/both. I stated that we have a trade war going on in this world. Kevin interjected that part of that is coming back and he added some of the successes that he has had in placing these companies. I added that we do need to look at the issue of fair trade and we should not completely dismiss manufacturing and some people think we should get completely away from manufacturing. I am not saying that we have mandated that. Kevin interjected that that seems to be the consensus that manufacturing has brought us to this point. Manufacturing has killed us.

I added that I don’t think that it is healthy, when I look at what Jim Rice said back in the 1970s, he said we needed to diversify the area and we never did. We lucked into the cable and it took up the place of the hosiery and stuff that was leaving and it took up some of that capacity in the 1990s, but as soon as that left, it left this big canyon that we have to fill here. We have got to have communication with our leaders in the State and federal government that it is more than just talking points. We need to fight to bring fair trade and manufacturing back to the united states and we will benefit from that.

Harry responded to the issue of both/and. We need to get people to look at Hickory, like we are doing with this portal website. We must do that and we cannot fail to do that, but that is not enough. We have good business fundamentals. But, sometimes we shoot our foot with some things. In a diverse world we are not going to have everything in common with our neighbors . We have got to say that if you want to bring something a little different that we are open to that within certain rules.
Dan St. Louis added that he is getting tons of inquiries from businesses around the world that want to relocate here. He can’t keep up with them. We are starting to build something and we do need to market ourselves better. We don’t want to give up what we’ve got. We aren’t as bad off as we think we are.

Danny finished by stating that he is trying to make stuff happen, because we lack visionary leaders with the government. Is it the Chamber’s responsibility to do this? There is nobody doing this and that is frustrating. There is no sense of urgency here to fix anything. We have hit rock bottom and we couldn’t go any further down. We have to keep the faith and make sure that we stay together and broaden the group. We lost Facebook, not because of our quality of life, but because we are a tier 2 and not a tier 1 (Economic Develop Incentives with the State of North Carolina).

I asked again that e form a mission statement to take to the public. Some simple message that we can give to the public about what we are all about. Danny added that he can’t understand why the top Business Executives won’t participate in this group.
Harry added that we are looking at two separate things business and area. We are talking about the Future Economy Council of Catawba County. We are thinking about Catawba County. The younger people he has spoken to don’t give a hoot about Catawba County. They are more interested in their work and lifestyle than they are about Catawba County. We have to make our area more amiable to these people, because businesses can locate (and operate) anywhere. The ancillary things need to come together and they are up to the standard that people want to have.

Ron Valentini added that when you are putting information out there to get input from the citizenry, what is even more important is whoever is receiving that information, are they open to something they don’t believe in, but yet they are receptive? I think that is important. If a person is willing to make themselves vulnerable, open and receptive to… that might work, as opposed to being closed minded. Terry added that economics have opened people’s minds and government is now having to work together to provide services. The climate has changed.