The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Analyst: Tech pushing new renaissance
Communities look to capitalize in new economy
Connectivity is driving the third major era of human experience, and there are opportunities for local communities to capitalize on it, one analyst said.
Author Jason Broadwater delivered the keynote address for the Lorain County Economic Summit 2018, hosted May 11 by the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce.
About 230 people gathered for the second annual event at Lorain County Community College for the talks with Broadwater and Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Based in Rock Hill, S.C., Broadwater is the founder of internet marketing company Reven-Flo, which began as a writing company.
Through his own business, he has become involved in studying, writing and speaking about economic development and the new economy.
Human life changed radically due to the Agricultural Revolution, when humans started planting and
raising food instead of gathering and chasing it, Broadwater said.
Life changed again in the Industrial Revolution, when people left their farms to live in cities and work in factories with new machinery to make products.
Now, information and electronic communications
are creating the next great change in the United States, Broadwater said.
He suggested looking to Renaissance Florence, Italy, as an example of a city where an explosion of the middle class was driven by the creative class there.
Technology and times have changed, but there are six main ingredients that Florence had and that successful communities will have going forward in the 21st century.
Global connectivity with a local focus
Now, 95 percent of Americans have cellular telephones, making real-time communication possible for much of the population all the time, Broadwater said.
Yet, with global communication, people are investing locally because people want local, authentic, unique cultural vibrancy, he said.
Collaborative, inclusive leadership
Broadwater suggested residents who are at the table, or not at the table, for leadership.
Referring to the group as “K-12,” the Generation Z after the Millennial Generation now is 25 percent of the U.S. population, more than Baby Boomers and Millennials.
They are in high school now, but will be in the workforce in 10 years, which is not a long time in planning for economic development, Broadwater said.
Talent recruitment and workforce development
“We’ve got to change our thinking,” Broadwater said.
He suggested a new model for thinking first about people, not businesses, because businesses will chase workers who are looking for vibrant communities to live in.
Placemaking and cultural vibrancy
“It’s what made Florence successful in the Renaissance and what will make every city successful,” Broadwater said.
Communities must get rid of any “inferiority complex,” because it is easy to believe and communicate that other places are better and young people must go elsewhere to be successful, he said.
The formula is simple, but hard to do, Broadwater said.
To revitalize a downtown, the area needs office workers there to create a market for retail and restaurants, then housing density around it.
Innovation and commercialization
American industry still makes things, but does not use as many people to make things, Broadwater said.
He displayed data showing how the manufacturing sector has declined in size over time, but has increased in productivity.
Much of that has come from automation.
The automation creates additional jobs because it is necessary for people to create that machinery, service it and lend money to finance it, Broadwater said.
“They’re different jobs,” her said.
The problem is, “you can’t retrain the population fast enough,” to the different jobs, Broadwater said.
Rural and urban synergy
Rural communities do not have to lose their character, but can work with urban areas, Broadwater said.
He suggested agri-tourism, agri-commerce, farmto-table, microgreens to create “a robust kind of hipster economy,” with rural areas drawing customers from urban areas.