Create West Virginia

A Step Towards a More Open West Virginia?

Dictionary.com defines "tolerance" as:

1.	a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2.	a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3.	interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

Recently, with relatively little fanfare (so far), the City of Charleston amended their human rights law to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. This adds to the list that provides protection against discrimination based on race, sex, age and disabled status.

Few modern issues flame passions like the debate over acceptance of gays in our society, including gay marriage. Those on both sides of the issue can come across as less than tolerant of each other's views, even the right to express them. It is important to note that "tolerance" is a step towards embracing a community where everyone - liberal, conservative, religious, secular - has an opportunity to share their views and live their lives free from harassment or discrimination in the public realm. It does not mean a silent community where these issues are not debated and where people live in fear of expressing themselves. It does not mean a "we win, you lose" scenario where one side has to live seething in anger because they have been silenced or restricted from a full position in society. This is true whether the issue is discrimination against gays or intolerance for religious conservatives. Tolerance must work both ways.   

There are many who would prefer we just not talk much about this aspect of the "Creative Community," emphasizing the other "T's" such as Talent and Technology. However, all the T's are related.

Much of the rhetoric from the pro-tolerance camp, including those who champion the growth of the "Creative Class," is based on the argument that unless gays and others with less-than-majority lifestyles or values are fully accepted as equal members of society, we have little chance of attracting the diverse talent that our state so desperately needs to grow in the New Economy. This tolerance extends to those of other religions, races and nationalities to form "diversity." However, this largely economic argument may gloss over the deeper reason to hope for a more open, tolerant West Virginia.

Tolerance and diversity are really about recognizing other humans as fully human and accepting their freedom as equal to ours. This of course doesn't mean that we will agree on moral differences, religious doctrine and other topics that at some point get played out in public. But it does mean that when we disagree, we do not resort to demonizing each other and we can in fact remain in a state of positive relationship with each other. Interesting, surprising insights can develop.

In a state as non-diverse as West Virginia, it is an important point of debate. We would very much like to hear about your opinions on this topic, and your hopes for West Virginia's future in this area. As with all topics, we hope it will be a respectful, tolerant dialog.

Attracting With Jobs...Or Opportunities?

Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft Corporation, recently said during a speech to 20,000  employees: "Great people are attracted by great challenges." I thought about this in terms of our "chicken or egg" challenge here in West Virginia.

Typically, the conventional thinking is that until we have companies offering jobs here in the state, young people will not be able to stay or move to West Virginia. Thousands upon thousands of people, young and old, have migrated out of the state to North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia following good-paying job opportunities.

Yet we're also told that fast-growth New Economy companies do not want to locate in places where there isn't a large base of highly-educated knowledge workers. Considering the fact that we are 51st in the percentage of citizens with a college degree, it seems to be a conundrum.

But if Kevin Turner is correct, perhaps our pitch to young people shouldn't be "this is where the jobs are." Perhaps it should be, "this is where the big challenges are", or, "This is where an opportunity to make a difference is."

In the New Economy, our welcome sign should say "creators welcome." A significant portion  of the Creative Community is made up of people who don't necessarily come for a job, but to create a new opportunity for themselves or others. Whether they are artists or entrepreneurs, the very challenge and act of creating is what they are attracted to. Think: "West Virginia - A Place to Create." 

By really emphasizing this twist in economic development strategy, we would be jumping onto a trend that is developing in which Creative Class members are in fact re-defining their life by moving to the place where they feel they can make a life, as opposed to following a job. This is documented very nicely in this recent New York Times article (free registration required).

We need high-powered, entrepreneurial talent in this state very badly. It may not be as simple as throwing open our welcome mat and challenging them to create here without some other good reasons to do so, but it wouldn't be a bad place to start either.

Bridging Eras, Transitioning Images

Legendary marketing guru Al Ries has suggested that companies or branded products can only "own" one position in a consumer's mind. Those brands that focus on a powerful, singular image are more successful than those who try to stand for two or more things at once. In other words, "Low prices, always" is more likely to stick in a consumer's mind than "Low prices...plus high quality."

This concept is applicable to regions as well. Karen Post's article on the BrandSpeak web site should be a must read for anyone concerned with sharply improving our state's growth prospects:

As people and companies decide where to plop down their roots and cash, just like with any other buying decision they need to feel the emotional connection to their needs and the earned trust to reduce their fears.

Destination branding is about:
1) Clearly defining a purpose,
2) Being distinct,
3) Consistently communicating a persona, and
4) Delivering on a promise.

However, like many companies, regions have certain brand dysfunctions. Karen provides a valuable list, many of which are very applicable to our Create WV conversation:

• Creative class deficiency - Many cities lack creative potency or organized creative movements and/or allow fear to halt their creative progress. This spills over into their branding.
• Competing complexities - A typical city [or state] can have the business chamber, the visitors and convention council, economic development councils, and the government all reaching out with both similar and different agendas.
• Committees that kill ideas - A by-product of brands “for the people” is the committee that compromises and kills potential brand homeruns. This why you never see statues of committees in parks; you see brave leaders.
• Some many good things, nothing stands out - To gain something, others must be sacrificed. The great brands in every industry have a strong singular message. The same thing applies to destinations. If you try to brand with everything that you have, your brand will mean nothing.
• History is hard to change - Many well-deserving destinations are burdened by some mind-chiseled brand or event from their past.

For those regions that developed their brand "personality" in the industrial era, it is a continuing challenge to decide how to position themselves in today's New Economy.

Few regions are more identifiable with the Industrial Age than Pittsburgh. It's the Steel City, home of the Steelers and their new mascot Steely McBeam for crying out loud. The business community and image shapers of Pittsburgh have been trying for at least two decades to re-position Pittsburgh as a center of innovation and knowledge, with mixed results. Pittsburgh, despite being the home of world-class knowledge centers such as Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is still not a highly-ranked "Creative Class" city. However, it could  be argued that their past efforts have helped stem the tide of out-migration of young people.

What does this mean for West Virginia? In addition to being highly identified with coal, an "old economy" icon if there ever was one, we are all aware of some particularly nasty stereotypes we must overcome. Is it possible to re-position a region such as ours with both these strikes against us?

There is reason for hope. Cities such as Tacoma ("the aroma from Tacoma" emanating from paper mills) and Richland (atomic waste legacy), Washington. Both suffered from industrial-era stigmas. In both cases, however, the trick was to focus on a new "stereotype" instead of constantly trying to fight the old stereotype. Tacoma zeroed in on its innovative glass and arts scene, while Richland was positioned as having a high percentage of Ph.D.'s per capita, a major asset in the New Economy. 

The most successful transitions come from new branding that is not a total departure from the strengths of the old. In West Virginia's case, perhaps "Wild and Wonderful" could be mined for an angle of adventure and innovation. "Open for Business" doesn't quite deliver on the goal of a distinctly unique brand position that conjures up the best of what we have to offer for New Economy businesses and employees, most notably our beautiful natural settings, extreme sports (whitewater rafting, skiing, mountain biking, etc.) and less expensive lifestyle. All of these strengths could be appealing to the Creative Community/New Economy generation, especially if developed into a cohesive, powerful brand that outshines the previous negative one.

Either/Or?

We are thrilled that many of the ideas represented by the Create WV initiative are being incorporated in a wider statewide dialog. A recent example is the op-ed piece by William Schweke of the Center for Economic Development in Durham, NC in this week's State Journal. It is a good sign that more people are thinking about issues of talent, technology, tolerance/diversity and "trees" (quality of place).

Another document that has generated the most visibility and discussion so far this year is Dr. Russell Sobel's Unleashing Capitalism book which he and other WVU economics professors wrote and/or edited. It has generated a great deal of debate, often embraced by the business community and challenged by those concerned with some of the controversial policy recommendations (e.g., eliminating minimum wage, becoming a "right to work" state and eliminating the state's economic development incentives programs).

A few recent op-ed columns have positioned the insights and approaches outlined by the Culture, Creativity and Innovation white paper from the Create WV initiative and the Unleashing Capitalism book against each other as competing philosophies on how to turn our economic situation around. Our hope is that West Virginians will take the time to read each thoroughly and understand the positions and arguments in each before making a judgment on either of them. We believe that if this is done with an open mind, people will find this isn't necessarily an either/or set of decisions, but an opportunity to take the best ideas from each and define a course for the future of West Virginia that the vast majority of our citizens can get behind. There is much in common between the two documents in terms of challenging us to think beyond our current obstacles.

Do we need a better tax structure? Yes. Do we need to improve our legal environment? Yes again. Do we need to make some smart, targeted investments to improve West Virginia's infrastructure to make it more conducive to New Economy growth? We think so. Do we need a more accountable, innovative, streamlined government? Of course.

So there is much to agree on, and much to work together on. Of course there will be disagreements on the specifics on how to get there.The more folks who educate themselves on the issues by reading both documents will be more prepared to help define a bi-partisan vision for our future. 

Competing for and Developing New Talent

In the New Economy, talent is oxygen. The very nature of creative economy work is defined as the constant pushing of boundaries to create new ideas, new processes and new combinations of the physical and intellectual. Anything that can be packaged, processed and replicated can ultimately be done cheaper over time through technology and outsourcing.

With that reality, the demand for talented employees or free-lance workers who can truly bring innovative ideas to the table is at a premium. This article from iMedia, an advertising industry web site, summarizes the situation faced by this industry and other creative industries in science, tech and research:

After all, we don't sell widgets. Our industry is about people -- skills and ideas --and we are heading into a supply crisis, if we're not in it already. There is a relatively small group of highly prized talent that is either playing a game of musical chairs -- skipping from company to company -- or granting their contracting services to the highest bidder.

The current state of West Virginia's talent crisis could lead us to throw up our arms in despair. We're 51st in the percentage of adults with a college degree, a leading indicator of "talent" in this era.

However, desperate circumstances can lead to great innovative thinking and willingness to take the necessary risks involved in breakthrough change. There are two fundamental ways to dramatically improve our talent "muscle" in West Virginia:

• Invite and incent a massive influx of outside talent, including immigrants with unique skills and education, free-lance professionals and artists who have the flexibility to live anywhere they want and would be attracted to our unique natural setting, and expatriate West Virginians who may want to come home.
• Grow more talent locally, beginning with how we train our children in schools and at home (Diana Long, Ed.D., posted some ideas on the GodbeyWorks site this week on this topic) all the way to opening the eyes of older citizens that they too have much to learn and offer in the New Economy.

Simple enough, right? Of course the challenge is in the how. Perhaps the bigger challenge is in the willingness to develop a less risk-averse culture that will allow our citizens and their representatives in state and local government to be willing to experiment or at least be earlier adopters of successful pilot efforts from other states. We must find a way to identify and champion visionaries and early adopters in our state to let others know that it is OK to take bold initiatives and fail. We must develop a willingness to spin up pilot projects, learn from them, and scale the ones that work at a much faster pace.

West Virginia has too much to offer to not find a way to succeed in the New Economy. But we must increase our oxygen flow and fill our mountains with vibrant, talented, innovative people willing to take risks and thrive in a creative world.

"Country Living with a Cosmopolitan Edge"

A great profile of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, in the Charleston Gazette today provides some valuable insights into the hard work and attention to the "little things" required to transform an area into one of the nation's best small towns. It's a lesson on vision, leadership, persistence and trade-off decisions.

In the case of Lewisburg, architect Tag Galyean was a key leader. As mentioned in an earlier post, architects can play a key role in developing and documenting the vision for a region.

In many ways, the future of West Virginia's New Economy growth is based on re-defining the concept of small town living. A profile of Lewisburg in the New York Times described it as "country living with a cosmopolitan edge." Much has been written about the Creative Class and its tendency to cluster around major urban centers. Can we develop a compelling alternative with more sophisticated small towns that don't require such dramatic trade-offs in cultural, academic and business opportunities when compared to larger cities?

Can West Virginia Compete in a Creative World?

The success of academic Richard Florida's effort to broaden awareness and action around the growth of the Creative Class has sparked numerous efforts around the world similar to Create West Virginia. Here is an initiative from Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

If everyone is making a mad dash to attract these New Economy creatives, it begs the question: can we compete? Is there a limited number of innovative people to attract, and would they choose West Virginia over other regions that seem to have more going for them?

Here are a few reasons why we should not let these kinds of worries keep us from aggressively carving out our own creative niche:

• The New Economy industry sectors continue to grow. It is an enlarging pie, and it is easier to carve out your piece of a growing pie than a shrinking one. There isn't an artificial cap on creativity and entrepreneurship.
• Our "quality of place," while certainly needing more refinement and development, is strong. This is especially true for any creatives seeking out natural, inspiring surroundings yet wanting to stay closer to East Coast urban centers.
• Creatives and entrepreneurs tend to follow a few key things that motivate them in addition to the "quality of place." They seek big challenges and working with peers in their realm of work. This is why it is so critical that we jump on opportunities to become world-class leaders in research and development in a few key "clusters" such as energy, healthcare and biometrics. These opportunities are nicely laid out in the recent Battelle Report. It's a reason why we should seek to develop compelling artististic and cultural communities that attract others from around the world. There are plenty of niche opportunities available, we just have to choose ours and develop them.

It is critical that the recent bombardment of low-rankings for WV in many business and quality of life polls doesn't paralyze us from acting creatively and swiftly to build our opportunities in the New Economy. What are your reasons for hope and confidence? What other assets do we currently possess or could we be close to developing that would strengthen West Virginia's "creative competitiveness"?

Wood County E-Government Pilots Huge Success

As a follow-up to the last post on what will help drive broadband adoption in the state, it is great to see the Parkersburg area taking a leadership role from a local government perspective. The Parkersburg News-Sentinel reports that  personal property forms filed online in Wood County have exceeded their expectations after the first month with over 1,350 submitted. You can also get your dog license online, which 275 dog owners have done so far.

"We’ve only been doing it for about a month so far. This is a great beginning, I am so pleased. We really didn’t know what the response was going to be starting out," Assessor Steve Grimm said of the new online filing. The program was designed in-house by county computer specialist Doug Herrington. With implementation of the program, the county became the first in the state to offer the online service, according to county officials.

We encourage everyone to knock on the doors or email inboxes of your local elected officials and ask what kind of online government services are planned for your county or city. It is often difficult for these leaders to take a perceived risk into new digital territory unless they know the citizens want it.

Congratulations to Wood County for breaking new ground and proving the benefits to other WV government leaders! 

Is eBay the Killer App to Drive WV Broadband Adoption?

West Virginia ranks near the bottom of  the list of states in PC usage and broadband accessibility and adoption. However, the Marketing Genius blog just highlighted the fact that Charleston, WV, is the leader in eBay usage among Internet users according to a recent Scarborough Research report (requires Adobe Reader). Forty-four percent of Internet-using adults in the Charleston area visit eBay, highest in the country (NOTE: This does not necessarily mean Charleston has the highest percentage of eBay users per capita, because we still have a lower percentage of people using the Internet than the national average).

Broadband service providers in the state often point out that even when they bring service to a region in West Virginia, they don't get as high a take rate as they find in other states. There is of course a high correlation between income levels and use of broadband, which hampers West Virginia's broadband adoption.

eBay, according to Scarborough, is a highly-attractive Internet site for rural Internet users because it opens the door to a broader selection of products not available to rural shoppers locally. Think of eBay as the digital equivalent of the old Sears catalog in that regard (people actually bought pre-fab housing kits from Sears catalogs back in the day). As the Marketing Genius blog points out, this should be a signal to local retailers that an ecommerce presence is important to reach more of WV's rural shoppers, as well as shoppers around the world. One of the favorite anecdotes told regarding the power of getting more of our citizens online is the story of a senior citizen from Gilmer County who learned she could sell her quilts to customers around the world on eBay...and for a much higher price than people were willing to pay her at the local festivals!

But other "killer apps" - those services that are most powerful in driving demand for Internet use - include e-government, e-learning and healthcare services. In the e-government category, West Virginia's state government could be a more aggressive provider of online services that improve efficiency and convenience for taxpayers (e.g., more online licensing renewals vs. standing in line). Once again, we rank in the lower levels of states providing these services. However, state Chief Technology Officer Kyle Shaffer has been leading an important effort to develop a comprehensive online portal for the state that would streamline the current confusing array of state web sites and improve overall e-government services.

eBay is a great excuse for more state residents to join the 21st century and get online, but there is so much more for citizens to discover. Couldn't e-learning dramatically improve the academic offerings of our rural high schools? Couldn't we drastically improve the healthcare options of older rural residents? Here's hoping that our leaders at state and local levels become much more innovative and aggressive in providing convenient online services that give more West Virginia citizens a good reason to join the global community via broadband connectivity.