Perhaps it’s the fact that we’re Americans that always makes us think big.
“Heck, you got all ‘em small countries bumpin’ into each other in Europe. Here we think big as a prairie storm.”
That line seems to work better when you say it with a drawl out the side of your mouth, but there’s no doubt that given the choice Americans work better swinging for the fences.
It’s a stereotype, true enough, yet still there is something in our national psyche that wants to look over the next vista as opposed to watching where the next foot falls.
And yes, you can stumble doing that.
We’ve given in to that urge locally in trying to lure big business here, a Saturn plant for the West County, a major semi-conductor plant or live horse racing and gambling complex for the former International Paper property.
It’s sexy and it fills headlines and for some it feels like a puncher’s chance at saving the local economy with one swing.
But to go back to the baseball analogy for a moment, hitters who swing for the fences tend to strike out a lot.
Does that mean we should stop stepping up to the plate?
Absolutely not.
But there are those who now understand the value of shortening the swing to make good contact.
A biodiesel plant and a paint solvent operation for parts of the IP property, maybe three hundred jobs total; a bar code company moving into an east Erie industrial park, twenty jobs to start with the chance to double that in five to ten years; a revolving loan condo project on Parade Street for small business owners to live and open their business and then move on as the business grows.
Those small steps are not nearly as sexy and command far less media attention. It is plodding and tedious development work and slow to provide big results.
But here’s your math question of the day:
What’s better, one company providing one thousand jobs or fifty companies providing twenty jobs each?
More businesses providing even the same number of jobs keeps Erie’s eggs out of any one basket, and spreads the wealth (and the risk) over a wider spectrum of the economy.
A home run is a big event in baseball.
But three singles scores the same run, and just might set the team up for an even bigger inning to come.
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