Hickory, Creativity, and the Killa C's of Economic Regeneration

The Hound is back: Eight years ago I wrote a series of articles about where Hickory stood economically at the end of the 21^st Century’s first decade. I spoke to many people who found relevance in the issues that I discussed at that time. We are living in a transitional age, a period transitioning out of the old industrial age and into an age of productivity that relies upon information technology and knowledge at its core. The old economy of industrial cities, like Hickory, was operated through top down management. The new, Knowledge Economy, depends upon individual empowerment. It has been a difficult transition for our community, but there are signs of a desire to change all around us.

Years removed from the decade of economic turmoil we experienced related to the international trade agreements and the 2008 Financial Crisis, we have moved passed the feelings of loss and abandonment. Most people have realized that life goes on and they figured out how to survive, while others are no longer with us, and then there are the young folks that don’t know any different. The young folks think the way that things are now is the way they have always been.

What our area went through economically has been life altering for many of our citizens. They have never gotten back to the levels of prosperity that they experienced through much of the 1980s and 1990s. There is a frustration related to the different world we live in today. People have come to accept the reality of a constantly changing world, what they don’t understand is Hickory’s position and status in that ever changing world.

Most people in the workforce understand that we are part of a new global reality. We have come to grips with the realization that our old job base, Manufacturing, as we knew it, is not coming back, but that does not mean that goods aren’t going to be produced.  Hickory, and the surrounding area, has lost half of the industrial jobs from the peak of around 30 years ago. However, manufacturing is still an important part of our economy and more prevalent than in most other communities in the nation.

I think most people have come to grips with the reality that careers are no longer determined by specific and redundant tasks. In order to make money, individuals have to be better-rounded, adaptable, experienced in fundamental skills, and have the ability to multi-task. Most of the people I know have changed jobs over the past decade and many have changed jobs multiple times and some have seen a complete change of career. It’s an ever changing employment reality in the 21^st Century. You aren’t allowed to get comfortable.

Richard Florida, who I have discussed previously on this site, developed philosophy about the new economy in his book The Rise of the Creative Class. He wrote, “The key to economic growth lies not just in the ability to attract the creative class, but to translate that underlying advantage into creative economic outcomes in the form of new ideas, new high-tech businesses and regional growth.”

The Hickory area has struggled to move towards this new economic paradigm, but those who have chosen to stay understand the new reality and they have adapted the best they can. We have many creative individuals in our community. We just have to find more outlets for them to express themselves and to find avenues for them to benefit from their creativity.

This is the beginning of an update of my series from eight years ago Time to put the Puzzle together. In looking at where we were and comparing it to now, we can see that our community has evolved, but more because it has been forced to and not because it chose to. There is still a division between Old Hickory and New Hickory.

Yes, I know that many do not like the term “Old Hickory.” I have never meant harm in saying that. Tell me, how else am I supposed to define it?

Like I said eight years ago, and I will reiterate today, this city has a lot going for it and with focus it can get back to growth, but we have to be honest about where we stand and willing to change the direction of this city to take advantage of its resources. We have lost many of our best and brightest young people and the numbers bear that out. While the middle-aged and elderly populations have grown substantially in the area, since 2000, the 18 to 45 age bracket has lost population drastically.

I said at the time, that it reminded me of a church that doesn't add younger members. It is sure to fail. The not so funny thing is that it has evolved to where many of the churches in our area are experiencing this very problem at this present time.

Hickory has only grown by 400 people in the past six years and the Metropolitan area has lost population. We have wasted time in not taking a hard core approach to turning this situation around. The writing is on the wall. The future viability of Hickory is at stake!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Killa C’s of Economic Regeneration - The Killer C’s can be Killa if you implement them and a Killer if you don’t.

Change - We must transform from the industrial economy to post industrial realities. Manufacturing and top-down control systems led to massive production and growth in society. Our society’s necessities were managed through the process of industrialization; including government, energy, education, food, healthcare, and the entire corporate process through increases in economies of scale, maximizing revenues, and reducing costs; thus maximizing profit to the fullest extent possible. The Industrialization process was never going to be sustainable. Because resources are not infinite and perpetual, unlimited growth is not realistic. The new economy is based upon information and knowledge, but this doesn’t mean the end of production. People will have the same needs in life, those necessities are just evolving.

Economic evolution in the 21^st Century has brought us to the reality of the necessity of certain constraints on modern development, such as minimizing energy use (or creating alternative sources of energy), minimizing/eliminating waste (pollution), and maximizing the health and wellness of people.

Every facet of the economy is being redeveloped with information technology and knowledge at its core. Solutions that have, and will, emerge in the knowledge economy operate very differently than old industrial models. The industrial economy was based on top down management of processes and resources. Today, cooperation and collaboration towards innovation and creativity have become a necessity in the production of goods and services.

The new age production economy (Knowledge Economy) has created tension with people vested in the Old Industrial Economy. The Old School economy is rooted in corporatism and large scale solutions. The reality of modern technology offers us the possibilities of homestead and neighborhood (local) based microsolutions, such as energy networks. An example is food, where we have seen industrialized, large-scale, subsidized production of basic foods, like corn and soy, versus a developing, smaller-scale, localized production of food on microfarms and distribution through their networks.

Though there will always be tension in an evolving society, this economic evolution is changing how things get done and constantly creating new opportunities to innovate products. 

Creativity – the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. 

Capital - Consists of anything that can enhance a person's power to perform economically useful work.  There are five types of sustainable capital from where we derive the goods and services we need to improve the quality of our lives. Those 5 types of capital are Natural, Human, Social, Manufactured, and Financial capital. As a community, we need to identify our capital resources and assess what we can we do to be relevant within that framework of reality?

Capturing & Captivating the marketplace – We want to gain a grasp of the marketplace by understanding our place within market realities, which will give us a better position of strength. Then we can utilize that information to exert our influence over prospective investors in our community by gaining their attention/interest in what we have to offer.

Coordination & Cooperation – Legacy (Old Industrial) communities must forge new partnerships with their counties, neighboring communities, their State, the federal government, and other economic entities aligning their efforts both vertically and horizontally.

Consolidation – Efficiency needs to become a priority in reducing redundancies of process and maximizing the allocation of scarce resources.

Care - (Maintaining/Sustaining) taking care of the capital and infrastructure we have, while evolving towards new realities, efficiently utilizing scarce resources. What good does it do to obtain new capital or build out new infrastructure, if other infrastructure falls into disrepair? This would be a misallocation of scarce resources.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I have added a Donation button to this site. It takes a lot of time and energy to write this material. Any contribution will be kindly appreciated. This isn't a career move or anything. If I get any money, I can assure you that I would use the money to write more and enhance the purpose and the mission of The Hickory Hound. Thank You. Peace Out.