Attracting Retirees as an economic development strategy

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of economic development strategies: produce something and sell it (agriculture, manufacturing) or have people bring money (tourism, population redistribution, commerce). There is a clean-growth industry out there that Brandon should be pursuing- retirees.

When our parents were relocating after retirement, they were looking for warmer winters and golf. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, require a far different and complex set of amenities for their retirement location decisions. http://www.smalltownretirement.com/advantages.htm

We provide a high quality of life, and have broad-based parks and recreational opportunities. Our property values are competitive, and for retirees relocating from major urban areas such as Toronto and Calgary, this allows their fixed income dollars to go further.

When Boomers were asked to identify the community services and programs that they currently use and they will want to use more in the future retirement years, they identified four categories:

·       social, cultural, and leisure activities;

·       parks and recreational services and facilities;

·       senior designed community and social services; and

·       education and library services.

Younger, more affluent retirees are migrating to areas like Brandon that are rich in amenities and community services. The availability of these opportunities in the community is second only to family location as factors influencing retirees’ decisions about where to live during their retirement years. Enhancing local social, cultural, and leisure activities, parks and recreational services and facilities, and education and library services for adults over age 50 is an economic development strategy that will result in a high rate of return on Brandon’s investment.

Attracting retirees to Brandon has the same effect as attracting businesses. They spend, and their spending has a multiplier effect on employment. They will need a place to live, generating additional property tax revenue. The amenities retirees attract will provide jobs to entice new workers into Brandon, or persuade younger workers that they don’t need to leave home to find a job. And retirees themselves may want to work part time, or volunteer. More than half of baby boomers say they expect to devote more time to community service or volunteering after retirement.

Brandon is well positioned to attract retirees. Socio-economics, historic character, community values, amenities, and access to quality healthcare are our assets. While we don’t have mountains, beaches, or warm winters, we do provide a quality of life that is desirable.  Retirees from larger urban centres such as Winnipeg and Regina would find Brandon affordable, charming, and familiar.

How to measure prosperity?

If we are going to have a strategy to increase prosperity in Brandon, we need to think about how we are going to measure whether we are successful. Because we will shape policy to drive outcomes, so we need to agree on what those outcomes should be.

First, we need to define “prosperity”. I think that prosperity is much more than wealth. a strong economy brings much more to the city than money.

The second reason we need to spend time thinking about how we will measure something is that it is human nature to value what you count.

An absurd example to illustrate the point. Let's say that we define prosperity as meaning we have lots of yellow houses (the end goal would be to have 87% of the houses yellow, and currently 30% of the houses are yellow). The more yellow houses we have, the more we feel that we live in a prosperous community. So we offer tax incentives for people who live in yellow houses, we discount the price of yellow paint, we start contests to celebrate the “Yellowest house in Brandon”. We teach house painters how to mix only yellow paint. By doing all of these things, we will wind up with a lot of yellow houses. So the the strategy, and the tactics all support the objective.

Please let me know what you think “prosperity” means, and the kinds of things you think we should measure to know how prosperous a community we are.

Prosperity in Brandon

Welcome to my blog, which is primarily focused on economic activities and exploring ways of increasing prosperity in Brandon. Economic development creates a foundation that funds culture, preserves heritage, creates green spaces, and expands recreational facilities. It makes our city more vibrant.

Cities have limited levers, but Brandon can use them much more effectively. Think of Moose Jaw, Kelowna, Fargo- cities similar to Brandon and yet thriving. One of the reasons that I ran for mayor was because I believe that Brandon has huge potential to be one of those vibrant, thriving communities. And the key is to make the city and its citizens more prosperous. This will come from a well thought out strategic plan, and collaborative partnerships between the academic and business communities and City Hall.

 One of my homework assignments over the holidays was to catch up on some reading about some of the latest economic trends from other cities and regions. Here is a broad overview of some of the ideas that have me excited, where Brandon has both growth potential and natural advantages. I’ll be posting more on each of these areas over the next few weeks.

1)      First plank of the strategy (which is in progress) is to enhance Brandon’s entrepreneurial climate. Let’s grow the businesses we already have, increasing job opportunities as well as the economy. One stop shopping for entrepreneurs looking to either start or grow a business is an absolute must. Access to capital is also critical. Regardless of what new directions we go in, Brandon needs to reinforce and strengthen our existing economic base.

2)      An offshoot of this this idea is to capitalize on our natural strength as the market for western Manitoba. Services and retail sectors are thriving in our city because of the prosperity of the areas that surround us. Working in a collaborative partnership with a belief that what is good for westman is good for Brandon builds on our historic trading alliances. This has such potential one our Councilors has been specifically tasked with building stronger, wider bridges with western Manitoba communities.

3)      Attracting new business is the next plank, and I would like to see Smart Jobs as a key focus for this kind of business recruitment. Brandon has huge strengths in this area with the University, College, Fire College, RHA, and Research Station. One of the first steps in knowing what kinds of businesses would be interested in Brandon is to gather solid information about what our city’s unique competitive advantages are, what kinds of businesses we have already that are thriving, and what opportunities are there that complement our existing business environment. The City is working on compiling this information, with a report expected in February.

4)      I believe that one of the economic opportunities that Brandon needs to explore is how to keep growing our population. We are a City of approximately 50,000 with a trading area of approximately 150,000. Imagine what our city would be like if we were twice as big- air service would be a given, a broader range of retail and services, a very vibrant cultural scene. We would look more like Kelowna than Portage. Playing off our reputation as a pretty, safe city, Brandon has the opportunity to recruit some of the young retirees- Boomers with zip affectionately labeled Zoomers by some media. And I believe the most attractive market for this kind of a campaign would be Winnipeg and Regina- both large, expensive urban areas where crime is a concern. Enhancing the quality of life and quality of place are strategic initiatives that we all get to enjoy. More restaurants and leisure activities, investment in parks and recreation can transform Brandon into a destination centre for the over 50. More research in this area is needed to quantify the economic and social opportunities.

The upcoming budget deliberations are critical in laying the foundation for future growth and prosperity in Brandon. Not only do we need to do more research in these and other areas, we also need to continue with our investment in infrastructure. Infrastructure is one of the most important instruments a city has in facilitating economic development, particularly in knowledge-based and technology industries.

Brandon Can Thrive in the New Economy

Brandon cannot build a community, nor an economy on low-paid, low-skilled workers. We need to shift our focus to economic opportunities based on knowledge. To do that, we need to invest in knowledge production- through partnerships with the College and University in the areas of research and technology transfer. We also need to invest in our human capital through increased skills, training, and education.

In the new knowledge based economy, education and workforce development are critical.

• For individuals, they will need skills beyond those learned in high school in order to get started on career paths and in order to advance they'll need to keep upgrading those skills.
• For businesses to compete, they need top-class talent that understands that innovation is linked to productivity.
• For communities to compete, they need substantial pools of talented workers that are available today, as well as in the pipeline (in education and training venues) for tomorrow.

In the past, Brandon mayors who have wanted to strengthen the economy offered incentives such as tax breaks, expansion loans, site acquisition and zoning assistance to attract or retain businesses to build advantage. The thinking was that by lowering the cost of those assets, Brandon gained a competitive advantage as a business location.

But there is always somewhere that can (and will) offer a better deal. And in today's economy, it is the human assets are where value and wealth are being created.

Times are changing. Knowledge creation and the lack of skilled workers have become core economic concerns. The last couple of MNP Brandon Business Climate surveys showed that businesses are not finding people with the skills they need. And since skills determine a person's income potential, if we want Brandon to become more prosperous, we need people living in Brandon to have higher skills and higher incomes.

To be competitive and attract those kinds of businesses and those kinds of people, Brandon needs to create more than a good business climate, we need to create a good people climate. Because for those very mobile, talented workers, quality of place and quality of life are paramount concerns. And Brandon has the opportunity to be very competitive in those two areas. They are not luxuries for our economic strategy, but must haves- to attract and retain the workforce that we will need to build the new economy in Brandon.