Three reasons to be REDI for change

“Quality is Job 1.”

That was Ford Motor Co.’s grand sales pitch of the 1980s.

“Creating Jobs is Job 1” must be the all-consuming anthem for the Texarkana region if it is to move forward, thrive.

It represents our best hope for the here and now.

Of all the things that can be done to improve this region and ensure its future, job creation tops the list.

More than filling potholes, or revitalizing downtown, or adding parks, or upgrading classrooms or putting more police on the street, firemen in the stations, judges on benches, patrons in theaters, customers in stores, mouths in restaurants, or bodies in hotel beds. More than anything short of an oil strike or Apple moving its corporate offices here.

Job creation trumps them all.

It is from whence our economic security is derived and to which our futures will be tied.

If we are not creating jobs, we are falling behind. There is no such thing as stagnation in the grand scheme of things. We will move forward or we will eventually bring up the rear.

The race is never-ending. This region cannot wait for somebody to discover it.

Without a steady stream of jobs, all our other efforts, however well intended, are for naught.

This is not some secret that has suddenly been shown to us. We’ve known it all along.

But in this region of dividing lines, political divisions, deeply entrenched suspicions and competing fiefdoms, creating a unified front can be difficult.

But it can be done. And a union of private and public regional caretakers is on the cusp of doing it.

Last week, a new initiative was announced with the potential to grow the job base here. It is AR-TX Regional Economic Development Incorporation, or REDI for short, and its sole purpose is to bring businesses to this region that will align with our workforce and grow our economy.

Other regions have formed similar alliances with public support and have drastically improved their circumstances. These places have been proactive in their approach, seeking their destinies rather than waiting for the knock on the door.

This region is behind or, to spin it the other way, the completion has a head start. We have catching up to do.

But this region also is uniquely situated, and the combined resources that can be brought to bear on a prospect, or on multiple prospects for that matter, are significant and make it possible to negate our late entry into the game.

Several aspects make this effort unique.

One is its collaborative nature. There are multiple entities involved and that want this to work. They are willing to invest, to cooperate, to do their part. What that part may be may look different for Maud, Texas, than for Texarkana, Ark., for example, but the bigger our pile of incentives, the more regional leverage can be exerted.

The principle driving this enterprise is simple: No matter where these jobs are created within this region, no matter where these businesses locate, we will all benefit. People will live in small towns or big, cross the state line or not, live in one place and shop in another, but whatever the case, the benefits will be shared.

Another aspect is the private sector commitment to this endeavor, with some serious names at the helm: Sonja Hubbard, Dean Barry, Steve Ledwell, Cary Patterson. They represent clout, though they would never characterize it as such.

The presidents of two local colleges, James Henry Russell of Texarkana College and Emily Cutrer of Texas A&M University-Texarkana, add more weight to the scale. Colleges here have never played such a direct role in economic development.

Plus, add a busload of public officials and civic leaders working behind the scenes in various capacities to make this happen. Their names will be added to this list soon enough.

The governors of Texas and Arkansas are planning a joint announcement to help launch REDI. Getting both governors to Texarkana at the same time doesn’t happen very often. It solidifies this as a big deal.

The third distinct aspect is the approach being taken, the aggressive seeking of prospects— of which won’t even have this region on their radar. Success will not be based on good-faith efforts, or relocating businesses within the region, or ROI-suspect acquisitions, or other faulty criteria.

Likewise, incentives to come here will be based on measurable economic impact to the region, not on promises and not on inflated formulas used to quantify success, even when it doesn’t really exist.

The next step for REDI— and its most important one— is hiring an executive director, one who can identify prospects, pitch them effectively and close deals.

That person won’t come from our ranks. If he or she were in our ranks, we would already know it. Indeed, we need an outsider.

So the search begins. The plan is solid, the initial support encouraging, but the final results will hinge to a large and disproportionate degree on REDI’s first hire.

That sounds ominous, but it shouldn’t. In most great undertakings, putting the right leadership in place is Job 1.

This is just the first of many jobs that need to be added to our region.

And this is the crew to do it.