North central Indiana mayors gather for summit at IU Kokomo - Indiana Economic Digest - Indiana
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March 14, 2014
7/7/2011 9:05:00 AM
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North central Indiana mayors gather for summit at IU Kokomo Scott Smith, Kokomo Tribune staff writer Kokomo — Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight said cities need to “embrace diversification” if they want to land jobs in the future, during a roundtable meeting of north central Indiana mayors at Indiana University Kokomo Wednesday. “We need to make sure we’re a welcoming community,” Goodnight said. “We can’t put up walls. For some people coming here from other countries, this might be a little bit of a culture shock. We need to ask, ‘are we a community which welcomes diversification, and are we a community which embraces diversification?’” Whether cities in the north central region want to recognize it, potential employers are already looking at economic development opportunities in a regional sense, IUK Chancellor Michael Harris told the assembly.
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“It’s no longer just Logansport and Kokomo, but it’s a tsunami that’s out there,” Harris said of ever-increasing business globalization. “It’s coming, and it’s coming fast. And we were probably late realizing what’s moving at us.” The roundtable spent little time on the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors report, other than to dismiss claims full employment might not return to manufacturing-dependent towns like Kokomo until 2020. “As Mayor Goodnight said, who can know what’s going to happen in 2020?” Harris said. Instead, discussion centered on how to compete for jobs in the new global economy. Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold said it’s his goal to make Marion “the smallest, fully globalized city in the country.” Seybold said one of his biggest challenges is what he called a “disconnect” between the desire of prospective employers and residents for “quality of life” amenities, and the antipathy of taxpayers toward making those investments. Seybold said news reports often don’t help perceptions. “No matter what we do, it seems like the perception is still that we’re down and out,” Seybold said. “I don’t agree with that. I think we’re leaps and bounds ahead.” Manufacturers, Seybold said, are looking for reasons to bring work back to the United States. He blamed the current federal administration for not doing enough to encourage that movement. That statement touched on the theme of regulation, which brought other complaints from the mayors. Unfunded federal mandates have been a common source of frustration for mayors for years, from highway construction regulations to the Clean Water Act restrictions on combined sewers. Infrastructure, particularly roads, brought pointed comments from Peru Mayor Jim Walker, who said what cities need most from the federal government is “more money and less regulation.” That drew an understanding laugh from his fellow mayors. Walker said a recent road project between downtown Peru and U.S. 24 was expected to cost $7 million and take three years, with $2 million of the cost coming from local resources.
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=60771[3/14/2014 8:29:41 PM]
North central Indiana mayors gather for summit at IU Kokomo - Indiana Economic Digest - Indiana
He said he opted out of using federal dollars, and had the work done in one year for less than $1 million. “If we have a crisis looming, it’s in infrastructure,” Walker said. “If you change the federal highway system, you’ll save money, reduce deficits and you’ll put more money in the roads.” City-county relations and the level of educational attainment in the work force were two other topics broached Wednesday, with general agreement that education needs to become a higher priority. Harris said the Midwest is already being compared to the East Coast and the West Coast. “The question is, how do we create north central Indiana, and sustain it as a brand?” Harris said. “To where people say, ‘Wow, that’s where I want to live, and more important, that’s where I want to raise my kids.’”
Related Stories: • Reports offer conflicting views on Kokomo's recovery © 2014 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
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http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=60771[3/14/2014 8:29:41 PM]