[Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow

[Jeff Harkins]

Perhaps Ms. Swanson would provide us with a list of the economic 
development accomplishments of the current city government.

At 06:11 AM 10/24/2007, you wrote:
>Gary,
>
>You seem to be the master of distortion lately.  Perhaps if you had attended
>and heard the whole story you might have more of a clue instead of missing
>the point completely.  "Focusing" on one economic sector doesn't equate to
>standing in the way of others.
>
>The current City government has done many things to build a more solid
>economic base to benefit ALL of Moscow instead of just a few.
>
>B. J. Swanson
>
>------------------------
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
>On Behalf Of g. crabtree
>Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 6:28 PM
>To: lfalen; Bill London; v2020
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
>
>What has yet to be explained is how you attract high tech businesses without
>
>attracting business in general. Setting the city council up as some sort of
>business border guard with the power to say "come on in" to some and "we
>don't much care the likes of you" to others should not be a function of city
>
>government or anyone else for that matter.
>
>It's hard to imagine a statement more arrogant than:
>
>"...Moscow needs to wean itself from a housing and retail fixation about
>growth. "Our voracious appetite to approve subdivision after subdivision, to
>
>build high-end homes, has run out of high-end people to occupy them,"
>Swanson said, adding that new retail businesses seem to be only replacing
>old ones.
>
>  "Over-built housing and replacement retail is not a good economic model..."
>
>Aren't we lucky that someone who is infinitely smarter than our builders
>will call a halt to high end homes being erected. Goodness knows the
>builder, who is the one taking the risk, couldn't be bright enough to assess
>
>the potential for profit or loss. If the market were to truly be saturated,
>I would imagine that banks might decline to lend the builder or buyer money.
>
>Then again the builder/buyer could always seek alternate forms of financing.
>
>(Does any of this sound like the market sorting itself out?)
>
>If a new retail business comes to Moscow and captures an old business's
>market, one would have to assume that there was a perfectly good reason for
>that to have happened. Either they had a better product, a better price, or
>better service. I don't believe there is anyone in Moscow prescient enough
>to decide that any one existing business is the apex of quality, the
>standard by which all others should be judged, and that no new competitor
>may come in and try their hand at providing something better or different.
>Often new businesses goad old enterprises into running a better operation
>and everybody wins. Why would we want to interfere in this natural process
>of improvement?
>
>I suppose encouraging high tech biz is wonderful, however it might magically
>
>be done, but standing in the way of other entrepreneurs so a select few can
>hold on to their nebulous notion of a unique Moscow is elitist, short
>sighted, and just plain wrong. I'm sure that Dan, Wayne, and Walter are
>bright enough to know when to get out of the way and allow people with a
>vision to have at it. The function of city government should be to work
>toward a prosperous and welcoming environment for all. Candidates who would
>presume to tell others how their lives ought to be lived should be shown the
>
>door.
>
>g
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com>
>To: "Bill London" <london at moscow.com>; "v2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:34 AM
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
>
>
> >I can't argue with bringing in high-tech companies, I'm all for it. I think
>
> >Moscow should try to attract all kinds of businesses. It is fine to place
> >controls on those that would create undue pollution. Other than that
> >promote almost anything that will provide jobs, increase the tax base and
> >improve the overall economy.
> > Roger
> > -----Original message-----
> > From: "Bill London" london at moscow.com
> > Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:58:18 -0700
> > To: "v2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
> > Subject: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
> >
> >>
> >> Today's Tribune article about the MCA forum held last night is a great
> >> summary of the choices facing Moscow voters in this council election.
> >> Vote for the future with MCA endorsed candidates and Moscow will aim for
> >> both maintaining its uniqueness and attracting more entrepreneurial
> >> businesses.  My thanks to the MCA board for sponsoring this forum.  BL
> >>
> >> ----------------
> >> Is high-tech the key to Moscow's future?
> >> Forum sponsored by Moscow Civic Association brings together business and
> >> community leaders
> >> By David Johnson
> >> October 23, 2007
> >>
> >>
> >> MOSCOW - The economic future of Moscow will depend more on attracting and
>
> >> retaining high-tech companies than encouraging more housing and retail
> >> business, members of a panel agreed Monday night.
> >>
> >> "In the basic form, economic development is jobs," said B.J. Swanson,
> >> vice president of AmericanWest Bank here and chairwoman of the board of
> >> directors for Gritman Medical Center. "But not just any job." She said
> >> jobs should provide enough money to offer a reasonably comfortable
> >> living.
> >>
> >> Robin Woods, president of Alturas Analytics located in Moscow, said 100
> >> percent of her bio-tech business comes from outside Idaho, most of it
> >> from the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet, she and her partners opted to
> >> locate here because of the quality of life that's available
> >>
> >> "Probably it would have been better to locate in San Francisco or
> >> Seattle, but with Fed Ex and the fiber-optic that we have ... and with
> >> the Internet, the world is flat and we can conduct our business here,"
> >> Woods said.
> >>
> >> David Alexander, a UI graduate and CEO of Ivus Industries, a small
> >> business he decided to locate here, said Moscow is an ideal location for
> >> entrepreneurs to tap into a high-tech labor pool that spins off both the
> >> University of Idaho and neighboring Washington State University in
> >> Pullman.
> >>
> >> "What the business is, is a focus on extremely fast-charging rechargeable
>
> >> products," Alexander said of his startup company. He said the company,
> >> which has four employees, is currently developing a fast-charging
> >> flashlight.
> >>
> >> Judy Brown, an economist and director of the Idaho Center on Budget and
> >> Tax Policy, said research shows if a community creates a good living
> >> environment, jobs will come. "The key thing that attracts" entrepreneurs
> >> and businesses to an area, Brown said, is quality of life, not tax
> >> breaks.
> >>
> >> "Quality of life and the ability to work either from home or near home,"
> >> she said, "are the two really key things in deciding where people locate
> >> those kinds of businesses."
> >>
> >> The forum, sponsored by the Moscow Civic Association, comes two weeks
> >> prior to a city council election here that many say hinges on attitudes
> >> about economic growth. Bruce Livingston, president of the MCA, said the
> >> forum was called in part to dispel the notion that the MCA is
> >> anti-economic growth. He said the MCA is "pro business, pro growth and
> >> pro community."
> >>
> >> About 30 people, including several council candidates, attended the forum
>
> >> at the 1912 Center.
> >>
> >> Swanson said Moscow needs to wean itself from a housing and retail
> >> fixation about growth. "Our voracious appetite to approve subdivision
> >> after subdivision, to build high-end homes, has run out of high-end
> >> people to occupy them," Swanson said, adding that new retail businesses
> >> seem to be only replacing old ones.
> >>
> >> "Over-built housing and replacement retail is not a good economic model,"
>
> >> Swanson said.
> >>
> >> According to statistics presented at the forum, Moscow has a population
> >> of about 22,350 and UI employs about 2,870 people. Gritman employs 431,
> >> with the Moscow School District and Wal-Mart, by comparison, employing
> >> 350 and 207 people, respectively.
> >>
> >> Swanson said it's time for the community to get back on the right
> >> economic track with the primary focus on good-paying jobs and a secondary
>
> >> focus on housing and retail business. "And as always, focus on anything
> >> that will help the University of Idaho. They've carried us for years.
> >> It's time for us to get out and carry ourselves."
> >>
> >> All the panelists said Moscow city officials and members of the city
> >> council have been extremely pro-business.
> >>
> >> "Our intent is to hire WSU and University of Idaho graduates," Woods said
>
> >> about her expanding business. She said that all but one of the 30 people
> >> working at Alturas Analytics are from the two universities. Woods said
> >> it's important for Moscow to complete it's rewrite of the comprehensive
> >> plan, and to keep tech businesses together to encourage more business.
> >>
> >> "I think it's important to have kind of a think-tank atmosphere," she
> >> said, "kind of a campus atmosphere in your tech park. So I don't think
> >> it's a good idea to scatter things here and there."
> >>
> >> Swanson pointed out Alturas Technology Park, located on the southeastern
> >> edge of town, had modest beginnings, but now is home to around 150 jobs
> >> that have annual salaries of $50,000 and up. "And those jobs really
> >> contribute back to the community," she said.
> >>
> >> ---
> >>
> >> Johnson may be contacted at deveryone at potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
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>
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