Old wives tales drive Montana economy downward
The link between jobs and pollution

According to a report just released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CEB), Montana was worst in the nation for its toxic releases. So, with all this pollution you would think we would have lots of good jobs, right? That's the argument, "Let them pollute so we can have good jobs."

Well, the CEB also reported Montana was lowest in the nation for annual pay, poor pay growth, high numbers of working poor, high poverty rates, little health insurance from employers, and near the bottom in highway and digital infrastructure. What gives? Low paying jobs, poverty, and high toxic waste - sounds like we're talking about a third-world country.

Those in charge say we need more time. How long do we need to go backwards? We have already had the last 10 years and we're still on a downward spiral. The real unavoidable issue that we must acknowledge if we are to take charge of our economy is; we have failed, we are going backwards, this is the wrong direction in economics, and what we have done and are still doing is simply wrong.

Corporate leaders in this situation would be fired for depleting shareholder value and failing to lead the company in a new direction with a strong vision. Businesses with this record would be laughed at for not developing the proper skills, not making the proper investments,  and not being adroit at market timing or making the right contacts. Farmers would be sneered at for taking out bad loans. Welfare recipients that have not improved for 10-years would be called lazy and worthless and kicked off the public dole, forced to take any job. Why not have the same standards for our state leaders?

I don't think it's asking too much to ask for a real change. The bottleneck from the past is the problem that is making it harder for us to make the needed changes. The CEB reports Montana is also at the bottom of entrepreneurship - creating new companies - which is a significant finding for future growth and opportunity. If you're not creating entrepreneurs today, tomorrow will look even bleaker. True knowledge-based industrial-strength entrepreneurs, not sidewalk coffee venders.

We are missing the global economic and information revolution boat. By focusing on land speculators' needs to test whether to implement any economic program we fall short of the new reality. Much like Japan, failing to take drastic measures that might hurt the richest, our economy has nose-dived for a decade. It would help everyone in Montana, including landowners, to implement programs that have nothing to do with land speculation and sprawl.

We may come up with a Michael Dell or Bill Gates in the process. You won't do it by following examples from the past, or putting down new ideas and entrepreneurs, or meeting the old crowd for a golf game to divvy up the latest state contract. That may still happen, but we also need new blood and new ideas to stop the downward spiral to leverage our abundant resources in a thoughtful, clean way.

Many times our leaders and newspapers want to compare us to other states in the region and others at the bottom of the economic ladder. We can't feel good about becoming 47th from 48th. Or to crow about being better than Wyoming in some areas. We're not just competing with North Dakota and Wyoming. We're competing with Silicon Valley, Seattle, India, and M.I.T. whether we want to acknowledge it or not. We need alternative viewpoints and resources to have the breakthroughs necessary to improve our economy rapidly in a way radical enough to keep up and surpass our competitors in the rest of the world.

The new economy won't be based on prisons, spaceports, coffee shops, truck driving schools, sprawl, and pollution. Think different. Start from a whole new perspective. Then help people analyze the data to make decisions based on new long-term strategic plans. We can succeed with little risk and great reward for everyone. Stop fishing for minnows standing on a whale.

What old wives tales are holding back your community?
e-mail jb@redfly.com.

Copyright 1999 by Jeffrey C. Baston, NCARB, AIA