The Times They Are a Changin

My father-in-law, Harley Simmons, was a banker and was my role model of a good solid community leader.  As a banker he earned the trust of hundreds if not thousands of his fellow neighbors as a steward of their hard earned money, adviser on whether or not they could afford a new car, and reliable guide on their journey from marriage to family to retirement.  He was anchored in his community and as such was an anchor for the community.  Harley served his Church and served numerous charities.  Because of the trust he earned, he was often called to serve on commissions or task forces to deal with critical problems and was once appointed to the city council.  And throughout he served without desire for thanks or accolade, but because it was the right thing to do. 

We’ve had plenty of our own versions of Harley Simmons in Lorain County.  Business leaders who were anchored in our community and constantly chose to give back to the community that helped make them successful.  Over the years we’ve watched as a generation of leaders have retired and many have passed away.  New leaders have emerged but the environment in which we live is very different than even a decade ago.  Businesses are less anchored to one community as before and people are less likely to work in one job or even live in one area for long periods of time.  As competition has forced the bottom lines of businesses to shrink, the responsibility for community leadership has shifted to other sectors including higher education, health care, philanthropy, government and non-profits.    Leadership is increasingly forming in issue-focused networks of people instead of being relegated to particular sectors as in days gone by.  The times they are a changin.

While some grieve because the “good ole days” will never return, I contend that we are in the midst of a dynamic shift regarding how communities make decisions, solve problems, and grow.  Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat), Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone), Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point)  and others have given us clues to the causes of the change, but it is up the us as members of community to decide whether to sit back and allow community leadership to simply evolve, or to be part of that change through civic engagement, active dialogue and each of us giving a little back to the community that helped us to be successful. 

If the times are a changin, I for one want to get my hands dirty and be part of helping shape that change.

Transformation can come in smaller packages

The Fund for Our Economic Future has posted some pretty hefty success metrics.  Since its inception five years ago, this collaboration to transform the economy in NE Ohio has seen more than $1.1B in new capital investment, resulting in $100M in payroll expansion and 10,000 jobs added or saved.  There are certainly many organizations who have had a part in this change and its something we can all celebrate.

Much of the Funds efforts have been BIG;  major funding of pre-existing nonprofits with capacity like  BioEnterprise, Jumpstart,  and Team NEO; the Voices & Choices civic engagement of some 28,000 NE Ohio residents; and the Juxtaposition of V&C results with the Dashboard of Economic Indicators culminated in the creation of Advance Northeast Ohio regional agenda.

The Fund has had the wisdom to know that not all transformation agents have to be BIG.  Other efforts are making an impact such as the Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ , the Innovation Fund at the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE) at the Lorain County Community College, and similar incubators in Akron and Youngstown. 

But what has me really excited right now is a movement toward more effiient government in our NE Ohio region.  In a recent study we found that 10% of the NE Ohio economy is paying for government and that certainly isn’t sustainable.  It’s not necessarily that folks are doing anything wrong, we just have a very fragmented, very duplicative, very inefficient way of doing government.  For example we have something like 990 governmental entities in this 16 county ares and in Lorain County alone we have 35 political entities, 16 school districts, 24 fire districts…  And I dare say each one is struggling to make ends meet.  Cutbacks levies and new taxes are the norm not the exception.  I believe we’ve falsely believed that the way things are is not changable.  Folks complain about the cost of education IN a given school district but we’ve never had the discussion to contemplate the most efficient and effective education system for a major subsection of the County, or even the County, or maybe even the Region.  I’m not advocating for a solution – I’m advocating for the conversation!

I’m really pumped about the latest idea coming from the Fund for Our Economic Future entitled EfficientGovNow.  The Fund has set aside $300,000 for grants to implement innovative ways OUR government entities find to work smarter together.  Here’s the way it works.  Two or more governments, school districts, etc. submit a concept paper by April 15th.  The concept HAS to be for implementation of the idea NOT planning.  If its a good idea, the entities will be invited to present their proposal by May 31st.  Here’s the really exciting part.  Finalists will be selected by a committee of the Fund for Our Economic Future, but the general public will vote for the winning projects during the month of July.  Talk about power to the people. 

Sometimes catalytic reactions start with very tiny but powerful molecules.