When Single-Industry Communities Lose Their Anchor Business

When single industry communities lose their anchor business, there is a kaleidoscope of reactions from other businesses, residents, and local government officials. Once the decision, finger-pointing, anger, and other immediate responses subside, inevitably, a laundry list of programs, project, and potential ideas is formulated. Unfortunately, providing a laundry list of potential ideas and opportunities does not address the inherent challenges addressing the local economy dynamics in the midst of a boom-bust cycle of single industry communities. Lists provide a opportunity to review ideas but small municipalities, in particular, do not have the financial flexibility, professional staff, and other key ingredients to be exploring, willy-nilly, a variety of potential projects for development. It is imperative for communities to place the next steps within an integrated framework of the broader developmental criteria to determine reasonable expectations and viability.

Although the impact of the shut-down of a major industry has devastating, impacts, there is good news. Communities can take the opportunity to create an integrated process of development that goes to the heart of identifying the potential direction for sustainability and adaptability: the why, how, and what of development. This is especially salient for small communities because development is an integrated process that involves the diverse elements of all sectors of the economy that have an economic impact. It’s NOT just businesses that contribute to the local economy.

The key to success in establishing a process of renewed development is for community decision-makers NOT to fall back upon traditional approaches and programs, demanding “fail-safe” economic development plans and defined outcomes. In other words, community decision makers need to resist the temptation of impatience to resolve the vacuum created by the shut-down of the communities anchor business

It is at this cross-roads that decision makers can become blinded to new ways of thinking. They tend to fall back onto traditional economic development approaches that are based on programs that have been applied across a broad spectrum of local economies that promise success but they don’t deliver. Community decision-makers need to pause and rethink their approach to addressing the problem. They need to shift from a problem focus to a solution based framework. They require a change in thinking: they need to consider an integrated framework that provides a path forward through a process of emergence that can produce creative solutions rather than imposed programs or projects.

The shut-down of a major industry in any community is a difficult pill to swallow. Addressing this void in the business community cannot be resolved with one quick project, program, or development. It is going to take the concerted efforts of the community to come together and identify a process that creates opportunities. But this will take time and a change in focus from problem to solution based resolutions.