Economic development examined at Policy Seminar

Flinn Scholars and alumni met for the second of three sessions of the annual Flinn Scholars Public Policy Seminar focusing on Economic Development (E.D.) on November 23. Speakers representing state agencies and NGO's, the Phoenix-Tucson metroplex and smaller communities met with 20 Flinns to discuss E.D. and its implications.

November's session focused on two related issues. How E.D. initiatives in both the public and private sectors are assessed; what are the criteria for establishing the success of an E.D. initiative?

Craig Sullivan of the Arizona Department of Commerce led a discussion of decision-making models and quantitative impacts of E.D. policy on the state. This was complemented by Becky Daggett (Friends of Flagstaff's Future), who focused on qualitative dimensions of environmental consequences and the human impact of E.D. initiatives. While a corporation may raise the level of employment, she asks, does it contribute proportionately to the elements of the community (i.e. air quality) its residents most value?

The afternoon extended that conversation about human values to deal with the larger issues of economic justice: do E.D. initiatives establish reasonable standards (i.e., living wages) for members of the community? Petra Falcon, a long-time social activist, represented the perspective of rural communities and grassroots, rather than institutionally-initiated E.D. programs.

Finally, Paul Ringer (Greater Phoenix Economic Council) returned the discussion to the quantifiable elements and discussed how local and regional/state interests complement and coincide with each other.

The 2002-03 series began in October with an overview of principal models of E.D. from Professor Tom Rex at Arizona State University, illustrations of the realpolitik of E.D. with Phoenix Councilman Phil Gordon, and a walk through the "Five Shoes Waiting to Drop" report, the document that for the past year has shaped public discourse about the state's public policy issues, led by the report's author, Mary Jo Waits of ASU's Morrison Institute.

The public policy seminar is the principal intellectual program initiated by the Scholars Program for its students. Its mission is to offer scholars the opportunity to examine in depth one issue formative to the state but often generalizable to the region or the nation. This is in keeping with the foundation's mission to enhance the quality of life in Arizona by fostering a critical, well-informed citizenry and leadership for the state. The choice of economic development as the theme also introduces students to a topic with ramifications throughout the nation and the world.

The seeds for the 2002-03 topic were planted by the "Five Shoes" report, particularly the chapter, "Fuzzy Economic Identity." This document describes a cross- or multi-disciplinary approach to the theme of economic development - one particularly suited to the range of our students'interests.

The series will conclude on February 1 with a case study of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). That entity is far too young to have exerted measurable impact on the state, but it provides a distinctive opportunity to ask how a coalition of public agencies, universities, charitable foundations, non-university research centers, hospitals, and the business community came together, and held together, to create a new model for E.D. in Arizona.