Editor’s note: This piece was written by Robin Scheu, Bob Flint, and Jeff Lewis, representing the Regional Development Corporations of Vermont.
In his recent piece “Challenge Glass: half full or half empty? – Tom Evslin says that when it comes to economic development, Challenges for Change was a “missed opportunity.”
We – Vermont’s regional development corporations – couldn’t agree more, but for very different reasons.
Missed opportunity #1 – When Evslin and Company unveiled the Challenges for Change progress report on March 30, 2010, the Regional Development Corporations (RDCs), Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs), and other organizations learned for the first time that the Administration wished to consolidate the providers into nine “regional service centers.” The professed intent was to provide more and better services to Vermont businesses, and to do it with less money.
Neither the Agency of Commerce and Community Development nor Mr. Evslin ever spoke to us about their proposal. Nor did they ask for our input before proposing their plan. Nor did they present any evidence that this was a good idea.
Missed opportunity #2 – All of the proposed cuts were to organizations external to ACCD, with no changes to the Agency itself.
Missed opportunity #3 – The House Commerce Committee and Senate Economic Development Committee invited the RDCs and RPCs to respond with our own proposal. The two groups, which collaborated throughout the legislative session, presented not one, but three, increasingly detailed proposals over the next four weeks. We offered several times to meet with ACCD Secretary Dorn; those offers were refused.
We did have one five-hour meeting – initiated by the RDCs and RPCs – with many of the organizations involved in economic development as well as Secretary Dorn and Commissioner Patricia Moulton Powden from the Dept. of Labor. At this meeting, it was agreed by all that there were no redundancies or overlaps in the work that is being done regionally and locally. In fact, one participant, John O’Kane from IBM, said, “You clearly can’t do more with less; you can only do less with less.”
Missed opportunity #4 – Mr. Evslin and the administration rejected RDC and RPC proposals to serve Vermont effectively under Challenges for Change. The RPCs put forth a proposal that included a thoughtful examination of a regional service delivery model by determining what state services can be delivered more effectively and efficiently at the regional level by RPCs and RDCs. The RDCs proposed a new framework for managing and delivering economic development services using 21st century principles and clarifying functions that are best done at the state level and those that are best done regionally and locally. They additionally called for a comprehensive statewide economic development strategy since one does not exist.
Missed opportunity #5 – The RDCs and RPCs also welcomed the opportunity to work under a performance contract with specific, agreed-upon measures and outcomes. We had this under the previous administration and, though not perfect, it worked well. This approach was disbanded under the current administration. Moreover, the absence of a state plan means that there is nothing to measure against, and no way to create meaningful performance measures.
The RDCs and RPCs did not support forced consolidation with one another because we serve different customers: businesses and municipalities, and have very different governance—RDCs are private, non-profit entities, RPCs are quasi-municipal entities with statutory responsibilities. We did agree, however, to look seriously at co-location and combining of administrative functions where it could be done in a cost-effective manner.
The Regional Development Corporations exist to help businesses retain and create good paying jobs for Vermonters. We know our local businesses in a way that a “Regional Service Center” never could. We meet with our businesses at their place of business; we don’t make them drive some distance for our convenience. “Regional Service Centers” will take us further away from the people we serve.
Many opportunities have been missed in the Economic Development Challenges for Change process. Perhaps the biggest one of all was the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Administration to focus on how best to create and retain jobs for working Vermonters.
Now it really is time to get down to the business of creating and retaining jobs. The first step should be a statewide economic development plan from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development that gives the state a vision and a direction. The RDCs will execute that plan at the local and regional levels. Until then, we will continue to work with our local businesses and communities to retain and create jobs and improve the quality of life for Vermonters. Let’s not miss another opportunity.
