Business

Lackawanna County Economic Development Summit

June 25, 2007

Localization seen as key

Communities in region have the ability to chart their own futures with the right planning, author and professor of political economy says.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
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SCRANTON – As much attention as globalization draws, localization gets barely the mention it deserves, said the keynote speaker Monday at the Lackawanna County Economic Development Summit.

The shift of manufacturing jobs to where labor and production is cheaper is a sign of the economy changing beyond the 20th century, Gar Alperovitz told the summit attendees during a luncheon.

Despite that shift, communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania have the power to chart their future, but it takes effort and planning, said Alperovitz, author and professor of political economy at the University of Maryland.

“The fact is the real trend in the United States is toward localization, not globalization,” he said.

Communities can thrive through a number of efforts. Some are as simple as buying locally to create economic multipliers.

“If you can increase the number of times that dollar goes around and creates more and more jobs and creates an engine of growth, you have a real shot given the localization of the economy,” he said.

Other initiatives are more cutting-edge such as setting up non-profit corporations to buy homes to be sold to low- and moderate-income-level individuals and families. In turn those homeowners enter contracts stating they cannot “make a killing” on selling the property if home prices rise so as not to price buyers like them out of the market.

And still another is promoting employee ownership of companies to retain and create jobs.

Alperovitz said he was encouraged by the community leadership, but worried about the homogeneity of the attendees.

“There are no dark faces in the room. I’m sure, in your community from everything I’ve heard, that there are dark faces in the community.” He called for including all people in the process, acknowledging it is a challenge.

“If the communities are allowed to disintegrate and decay, they will interrupt the process,” Alperovitz warned.

He urged the attendees to build on the momentum of the two prior summits by drilling deeper with sound planning and management.

Nearly 300 guests attended the summit, which also featured panel discussions led by business, government, educational and medical leaders and professionals on health care, purchasing power, education and neighborhoods. It was sponsored by vaccine maker sanofi pasteur, its subsidiary VaxServe and Pennstar Bank and held at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Center.

On the net

For more information about the summit and a White Paper on economic development, visit www.economicdevelopmentsummit.com.

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7237.

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