Rural Economic Development -Innovation
Infrastructure
Investment
(REDI³)
Dr. Hebert J. Swender, President
Garden City Community College, Kansas
&
Mr. Dan Redd, CEO Borger, Texas,
Economic Development Corporation and
Chairman of the High Ground of Texas
Leverage Existing Rural Partnerships
• Local Economic Development
Corporations
• Regional Economic Development
Consortiums
• Existing Rural Community
Colleges
• Area Business and Industry
3 Key Factors in Real Estate
and REDI³
Real Estate
1. Location
2. Location
3. Location
REDI³
1. Jobs
2. Jobs
3. Jobs
5 Critical M’s for Manufacturing –
Are Also Rural Community
College M’s!
• Money (adequate) CC’s
• Machines/Equipment
(suitable) CC’s
• Materials (available) CC’s
• Methods (proven) CC’s
• Manpower (qualified) CC’s
Remember The Good Old
Days
• When American Companies did well-America did well!
• When America did well--Americans
did well!
• What was good for Ford or General
Motors was good for the country, and
what was good for the country was
good for Ford or General Motors!
What Happened?
• Most large corporations are now
American in name only, but in fact
are actually transnational.
• Overseas the corporate slogan is “We
are not American Corporations,
rather International Corporations
domiciled in America”.
“Innovation” is necessary but is
not sufficient or even enough…
• PCs , laptops, and cell phones were
all developed in the US, but none are
currently manufactured here.
• Manufacturing jobs (and profits) have
been exported.
• Consumer purchases contribute to
the “Balance of Payments” –deficit.
Manufacturing and Agriculture is
critical because:
• Manufacturing sectors have the
highest economic multipliers.
• Manufacturing provides maximum
real “value added”.
• National Defense considerations
http://www.economyincrisis.org/cont
ent/manufacturing-impotenceworries-national-intelligence-director
One Example of Agricultural
Export Concern –COTTON-• US produces 18 million bales of
Cotton annually .
• However, over 50% of US Cotton is
exported to other countries.
• U.S. Textile Mills consume only 4.5
million bales, but we use 20-24
million bales as a nation annually.
• (we are too dependent on other
nations for our finished cotton
products).
Rural Community Investment and Rural
Community Colleges Provide literally more
“bang for the buck”
•
Rural Communities have lower land costs.
• Rural Communities have lower building, labor, and
regulatory costs.
• Rural Communities have underutilized assets.
• Rural Community Colleges have capacity for
increased enrollment in existing workforce
education and training programs.
• Rural Communities are generally MUCH more cost
effective than in large urban areas.
General Observations
• The impact and aggregate per capita of a
program or economic increase that creates
100 jobs in a rural community is much
larger than large urban areas.
REDI³--in the long term protects the self-
interests of even the largest urban areas.
REDI³ helps reduce the in migration from
the rural areas and the need to continually
expand urban infrastructure, e.g., roads,
public education facilities, and emergency
services—these infrastructures already
exist in the rural areas.
General Observations,
…continued 2
• While 2% or less of the US
population is now directly
employed in farming, 100% of
the American population
continues to eat.
General Observations,
…continued 3
• Food commodity speculation
and market manipulation
through “futures” contracts and
derivatives are impacting the
increasing rural economic and
social instability world wide—
this is a national concern.
U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Trade Adjustment
Assistance Community College and
Career Training Grant is “on-target”
• TAACCCT Grants provide federal funds with
measurable results utilizing existing community
college infrastructure.
• TAACCCT Grants encourage innovation in
programs and delivery systems resulting in
capacity building.
• TAACCCT Grants remove barriers between
community college service delivery areas and
rewards consortium efforts.
Rural Community Colleges are Already
Providing Education for Agriculture Science
Programs—Below is Garden City Community
College, Kansas
Community Colleges Prepare
Nearly 8 in 10 First Responders
Specialized Training--Ammonia Refrigeration:
Garden City Community College, Kansas
The Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration
Program was established in 1996 as
the first hands-on, live industrial
ammonia refrigeration-training
program in the U.S. It offers five-day
seminars year-round, certifying
refrigeration operators and
Technicians from throughout the
nation at three levels with training
equipment provided by industry
partners and grant funding. This
program operates in partnership with
the major trade associations of the
U.S. ammonia refrigeration industry.
Conclusions
• If a solution is to be found, which is by no
means certain, it must incorporate “data”
• Tacit or subliminal assumptions are the
most dangerous.
• The academic discipline required is
Econometrics.
• Rural communities and their two-year
colleges are ready, willing, and most
certainly able to deliver economic,
educational and workforce training,
resulting in nation-wide and even global
prosperity—REDI³
Our FUTURE—Get
REDI³
• It’s a good idea to take an
interest in the future—that’s
where you will spend the rest of
your life!
…..Dan Redd, 2011