The Case for a Diverse Economic Base

The holiday season is a great time of year, but it can also be stressful – especially if you are immersed in the task of planning for the year ahead. For economic developers, it is a critical time to plan how to allocate time and resources in order to build the local area or state economies.

In the era of globalization, how your community will fare is closely tied to political and economic activity around the world. Two recent presentations – one by Goldman Sachs and one by industrial giant John Deere – point to a rocky world economy with lower commodity prices, cautious financial markets and a relatively strong U.S. economy compared to other countries. Food and oil may be cheaper than they were at the beginning of 2014, helping both families and many companies offset rising healthcare costs.

These changing conditions impact communities in different ways. Communities highly dependent on one industry are more subject to the whims of global ups and downs. Diverse economies that have a widely dispersed economic base (as is the case in the Columbus Region) are more likely to find pockets of growth and prosperity, even during times of slow growth.

These predictions are educated guesses about what the world economy will look like 12 months from now. One thing is certain – we will continue our work to strengthen and diversify the Columbus Region economy and workforce to prepare for whatever comes our way!

–Kenny McDonald

One Columbus Update

• Today is the last day to register for Economic Development 411. Join more than 500 economic development professionals, elected and appointed officials and business leaders for the half-day economic development training session on Friday, December 5.
• This week, the One Columbus team is hosting companies evaluating the Columbus Region. We’ll also be in Phoenix with the International Economic Development Council.