What's the Big Idea?

I attended another economic development symposium today, this one at Foothills; part of it focused on the regional economic development zones (we're in the Mohawk Valley) and the CFAs (Consolidated Funding Applications). As I've noted recently, Otsego County is one of six counties in the region. Otsego County has had very limited success in the CFA process in the last three years, when hundreds of millions of dollars has been available for the right program applications.

When I got home from the forum, I wrote this note to Al Colone, one of the organizers:

You ended today's meeting with the suggestion that this may be an opportunity to start or continue a conversation. So – here are my thoughts –

I was struck by a couple of points made today. First, the importance of connecting projects to a vision. Second, the fact that our county has not done too well in the CFA funding cycles. I think these two things are related.

In my career, both professional and volunteer, I was engaged in creating and promoting vision as the fundamental element of any substantial change or growth. I found tremendous resistance to that, in all areas. People roll their eyes when vision is the topic; like the first President Bush, we have some really fundamental problems with 'the vision thing.'

It doesn't matter whether I think it's extremely important; what's vital is that those who assess our funding applications think it's important. So far, I haven't seen a lot of interest or activity in this area, and I think that's what we're missing.

The idea of a comprehensive application for an Edmeston economic development project – located between NYCM and Chobani – is brilliant. But when the small business owner in Edmeston asked, essentially, what might be next, the speaker offered a phone number. I'm anything but an expert in this area, but it seems to me that this isn't the way to do it. The way to do it is for the business owner get together with some folks in Edmeston – other business owners, residents; find the informal community leaders, and talk about this comprehensive plan for Edmeston. How could we best leverage these opportunities that have fallen in our lap? Meet with the school administration; sounds like they'd be in on this in a heartbeat. Invite community relations people from NYCM and Chobani, and don't forget Pathfinder Village. Ask the Town Board to meet with the group to brainstorm and problem-solve; make sure your County Rep is there, too. Think and plan bigger than you believe. Develop a plan for the whole town, a plan that would leverage all those people's needs into a thriving economy. Talk to planners, contractors, traffic professionals, farmers, etc., etc. And then, after all this (and probably a few steps I haven't thought of), create a CFA that naturally flows out of this planning and collaboration. This, I think, is what the regional boards are looking for.

We're not doing this here in Otsego County, and I think that may be why we're not being wildly successful. Projects appear like popcorn, unrelated to other projects, and unrelated to any comprehensive vision for the area, and so they are not successful. And as we've seen, even funded projects fail. If that Edmeston business owner worked on generating that comprehensive plan with all the stake-holders, she might find herself in an entirely different business, more aligned with the vision for the Edmeston development, and therefore more likely to succeed.

Mayor Miller used the term “big idea” a lot today, and I got the impression from the conversation that we're missing out on the big money because we aren't developing any big ideas – or even one big idea.

A big idea would come from a comprehensive vision for our area, centered on Oneonta. Mayor Miller is the only one I've heard talking about this, with his map with the circles. I've been pretty impressed and encouraged by this approach. It's probably time to start working on making it happen.

What would be a 'big idea' for the Oneonta area? Here's an example: Go ahead and proactively buy the land in the trainyards, choose from among the many detailed plans developed for that land, and get the work done. Get it ready for warehouses, shipping or light manufacturing (or even heavy industry, given the zoning).

This would require a consortium of lots and lots of different facets of the Oneonta area business and government and commercial and educational and agricultural communities. Banks for financing; municipalities for water and sewer and transportation and traffic; real estate professionals for land transfers, etc.; landowners, contractors, zoning boards, assessors, etc. for housing; the IDA for all the things they do; SUNY for possible connections to StartUp NY; local farmers, agricultural experts, Cooperative Extension, etc., for agricultural products that need shipping or processing; DOT for a proprietary ramp to I-88; local businesses to assess the opportunities for them in this kind of commercial park (Latte Lounge or Brooks satellite operation there, or (my favorite) a walking trail to Golden Gurnsey?); environmental groups to make plans for the wetlands, as a park, or trails, or an educational opportunity; Job Corps for the same kind of help we're getting at the airport; the school district to plan for increase in population and changes in density, etc., etc., etc.

When these coalitions are established, and planning is moving forward, then send in a huge CFA with lots of parts, asking for enough money to pay for it all. Or send in a number of them, but all connected to the one big idea.

I'm not suggesting this particular idea. It may be a terrible idea from the start. I'm just making up an example of what a big idea might look like. It is centered on a vision that will change the face of the Oneonta area, and it will require cooperative planning and investment – and risk – by a wide variety of stake-holders.

This kind of thing takes leadership – someone to drive the vision and 'sell' it to everyone; to manage the collaborations, identify other emerging leaders, etc. The leader is responsible for keeping the whole, comprehensive vision in sight at all times, and reminding partners of how the pieces fit together. As I've noted, Mayor Miller has made a start on this. Sandy Mathes may seem like a candidate, but his job is a little different, and he'll be done with it eventually and will move on.

So – in summary, I suspect that our lack of success in the CFA process has to do with the scattershot approach we seem to be taking. We need some vision-driven big ideas, and leaders to guide them to fruition.

Anyway – thanks for setting up this meeting. Here's to the conversation!

Cheers -

Gary Koutnik