Column: Our economic future is what we make it

By David Kennard
News Journal

Success is relative.

It is odd that local businesses consider 2009 a good year based on the fact that they didn’t have to lay anyone off. But these are the times we live in.

In today’s paper you’ll find four sections of VisionQuest that paint an honest and mostly positive picture of the challenges we face.

Mansfield is not alone in its climb out of the economic mire we’ve been thrust into.

Crawford County faces similar challenges.

While both counties are looking at rough years of recovery ahead, each will likely take different approaches.

Richland County’s diverse job base will help in its recovery. And unless a white knight comes to the rescue to fill the chasm left by a mostly gone GM, we can expect that recovery to take years.

Crawford County, on the other hand, has an economy based largely around agriculture.

Agriculture, while seasonal, provides stability year after year. Farmers spend — or invest money — to keep producing annually. Much of that money goes to support other businesses all around the area. Growers also tend to be a relatively stable bunch that like to spend money locally.

The ag industry, however, has been hurt largely by tighter regulations that cut into profit margins. This will force producers to look at new technologies and creative methods.

In Richland County, manufacturing will continue to be a strong part of the local economy, but manufacturers will likely never carry as much weight as they have in the past, not as long as the global economy continues to reward cheap labor and substandard merchandise.

Instead we will see successes on a smaller scale. Those manufacturers who will succeed will be those that capitalize on local assets and adapt quickly to customer demands.

In a roundtable discussion here at the News Journal a couple of weeks ago, Gorman-Rupp president Jeff Gorman showed real insight when he said our community must focus on building on our greatest assets.

“There’s a tremendous amount of positive assets here that other communities would kill for,” he said. “(L)ook at our infrastructure, you look at our logistics location, our low cost of living and housing, our local higher education, our numerous recreation, arts and cultural attractions, water, regional health care center, etc. — the list goes on and on.”

Without question, some of our greatest assets are our workers. We can only hope that in the months and years ahead, employers will find ways to judge their success not in jobs saved, but in jobs created.

David Kennard is managing editor of the News Journal. Call him at 419-521-7204 or e-mail dkennard@nncogannett.com.