Getting some help

An email received yesterday from the governor’s office told of an announcement that Gov. Bob Riley is making today in Florence about an economic “mega project.” The new project (no details were given in advance) for the Shoals area will create more than 1,000 new jobs.

Announcements like this are wonderful when they happen, although in years past they have been too few and far between.

Another email received soon after this one came from Larry Lee, who is working with Sen. Kim Benefield as project director for Vision 13 to mobilize our rural area of the state to reach its potential. He was forwarding an article he had come across titled, “Chasing Smokestacks, Stranding Small Business: Rural Minnesota’s Crisis,” and pointing out how applicable much of it is to Alabama as well.

His point is that, as the article points out is the case in Minnesota, in Alabama economic development policy is oriented towards large projects and larger cities. “Efforts to aid rural areas are fragmented, unfocused or nonexistent,” the article states.

Some other applicable statements:

“Small town entrepreneurs, in many of Minnesota’s rural areas, are ignored and left to fend for themselves. The great shame is that the state possesses the tools to let small businesses grow; it chooses not to deploy them. The state is weaker and less competitive as a result…”

“Indifference, denial and neglect of our small towns is poor public policy…”

” In effect, Minnesota is telling small businesses, “come back when you’re big enough to be worth helping…”

Much of this sums up how our rural part of Alabama is viewed by state government agencies. How many years have we been trying to get four lanes for portions of U.S. 431?

We need to do all we can for ourselves, and the Vision 13 program is a good start. There are some things — 431, for example — that will require action from state government, however. Maybe some home-grown success stories will be what it takes to get their attention and their help.