Nearly every economic development strategy focuses on the same familiar priorities: recruiting industry, supporting existing businesses, and generally making the community more attractive to the next developer/investor.
But that’s no longer enough. More and more often the availability of housing is a deciding factor in whether a community can recruit and retain business.
Your Workforce Has to Live Somewhere
When a manufacturer evaluates sites for a new facility, or a distribution center looks at your region, they are going to want to know: can our workforce live here? Not just the executives but also the line workers, technicians, and drivers.
If the answer is uncertain, or worse, obviously no, that’s a problem no incentive package or cement-ready site can fix. Communities that can point to a genuine range of housing options will increasingly have a real competitive advantage in recruiting big business.
Small Businesses Need Employees and Customers, Too
Economic development isn’t only about landing the next big employer. It’s also about building the kind of community where your downtown has foot traffic, your restaurants have regulars, and your shops have customers on a Tuesday, and not just during special events. That kind of local economic vitality depends on people actually living in your community so that they can work in the shops and eat at the restaurants. Available and affordable housing are key here to supporting the customers and employees that underpin the local business environment.
The Tools are There- You Just Have to Use Them
The good news is that local governments have more tools available than they often realize (or have been otherwise told…). The key is making a deliberate decision to treat housing as part of the economic development strategy and not an afterthought or someone else’s problem.
Local governments can reduce barriers to housing development the same way they do for industrial recruitment. If your community is willing to build a shell building (see our blog on how to pay for those), or run water and sewer lines to the edge of an industrial park to land a manufacturer, it should be equally willing to invest in making a housing project pencil out for a developer. Targeted incentive programs, public-private partnerships, and direct local investment can all be used to support housing development for your workforce.
Get Started!
Every community is different, and the housing challenges of a rural community trying to attract advanced manufacturing is different than a resort town struggling to recruit a workforce. The right approach starts with understanding your specific situation and then building the strategy and identifying the tools to move forward.
Housing is the key to economic development now more than ever. If your economic development plan doesn’t include a serious housing component, it’s time to add one.
Let us know if you’re interested in discussing this idea further or want to share your thoughts!
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