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A Strong, Local Economy is the Best
Published Saturday, March 13, 1999

I’m not a socialist and I’ll bet you aren’t either. We think concentrating the means of production in the hands of the government is appalling. But concentrating production in the hands of a few corporations is somehow acceptable to us.
 
Big corporations love two things: merging and taking production offshore. The corporations say almost every time that the purpose is to “increase efficiency” and to “become more competitive.” The real goal, of course, is to increase profits. The profits are distributed to a few shareholders, while the improved earnings drive up share prices.
 
At no time is any real wealth generated, and there’s usually a human cost. When banks, telecommunications companies, media companies, and automobile producers merge, the “efficiencies” result in layoffs and plant closings. Where’s the real profit in that?
 
Well, Scott in the column next door may sing the praises of big business and a global economy, but I take exactly the opposite stand. It is a diseased, out-of-control institution, filled with corruption and operating without values. It is a dangerous concentration of power and we should resist it whenever possible. I recommend you read “The Post-Corporate World: Life after Capitalism,” by David C. Korten. This book offers a practical, human-centered alternative to global capitalism run amok.
 
The corporate/global economy doesn’t care about Nevada County, although we desperately need prosperity. We have too few jobs, and many of them don’t pay well. We watched mining and logging evaporate, but have not replaced those industries with anything significant. And large corporations aren’t going to help us out.
 
We don’t create products the world cares about, and if we don’t work hard to change our economic model, we will be a community of consumers, with the “charm” of the foothills as our only asset.
 
Consider that government and education are our biggest employers. But government and education don’t produce goods. Our numerous realtors and merchants have a valuable role, but again their task is not production of goods.
 
Tourism is part of the economy, but it’s hardly sufficient for prosperity. Tourists come to see our trees and lakes, admire our quaint buildings, and marvel at the natives. Mostly, they marvel at how we make a living here.
 
At our industrial best, we have a handful of companies, like Tri-Continent Scientific, Eigen, Farlow’s Scientific Glassblowing, Tektronix, Innovative Metal Fabrication and the video products companies, that contribute products to the world. Good start, but just not enough.
 
So how can we create an economy that’s local, vital and personal? Let’s try the following:
 
Don’t get too excited about big corporations coming here. Once in a while, a small R&D office locates here.
 
Encourage small independent manufacturers. These companies have a scale of operations that is right for the county.
 
Encourage companies that invent, innovate, and produce intellectual properties.
 
Make cottage industry the most sought-after class of business in the county. Increasingly, corporate employees and small independents work at home and this is where the future will be. The infrastructure (buildings, utilities, septic and roads) is already in place. (Truth in column-writing: I earn my living in a “cottage.”)
 
Encourage new directions for the Economic Resource Council (ERC). It seems to be mostly concerned with luring “White Knight” corporations to locate here. In fact, the ERC has other concerns as well, including improving the education of and retraining of potential employees. It has not yet produced a plan for cottage industry -- the traditional birthplace of electronics, books and artifacts.
 
The Rural Quality Coalition (RQC) is strong on master planning, and should develop white papers and guidelines to show businesses how to fit an economy into the foothills. The RQC could provide proactive solutions for land use. Where will people work, live, shop, learn and worship? Will they walk or drive? How should they wire their homes for 21st century technology?
 
Encourage local farming. The produce tastes great, and we gain a measure of agricultural independence in our county.
 
I’d like to buy all our planners and social engineers a copy of SimCity, Lords of the Realm or some other resource management game software. Maybe they could work things out on a computer screen.
 
It’s a time to innovate. After all, this is the county where Furby was invented. Now if that sort of creativity can happen here, surely we can create solutions for the economy.
 
Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.

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