All Fired Up

So, I'm a huge funk fan ... from jazz/funk to R&B/soul, from Jamiroquai to Bill Withers, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Steely Dan, whatever ... I just loves me some funk! One of my favorite tunes is All Fired Up by a band called The Brand New Heavies. Fitting, because I'm "all fired up" about one thing in particular these days.

My involvement with the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce along with some of the great clients our firm is fortunate to do business with puts me in touch with some top echelon business people here in Berkshire County, especially the northern end of it. During discussions over the past few weeks, it seems like many people who heretofore had been relatively silent - at least publicly - about the county's economic future are getting fired up themselves. I think 2011 will see the formation of a grassroots organization with top business leadership focused on reversing some unsustainable trends locally, including the 4% drop in population over the past decade. The group will focus on private sector jobs creation using private sector funding.

Simultaneous to that, what needs to happen locally is we need to make our cities and towns more friendly to businesses. This is a generational movement and will occur glacially at best, but we need to start taking steps today or we are going to continue down the slippery slope we are already on. Taxes, regulations, zoning, etc. are a heavy burden on businesses here. We need to see a sea change in memberships of planning boards, conservation commissions, sign commissions, etc. We need more business-friendly selectmen and town managers. I'm not talking about favoring one party over another, and I'm certainly not talking about doing away with all of our green space and going back to an environment where local industries are dumping PCB's in the rivers. I'm talking about electing and appointing people who understand that businesses need the ball-and-chain removed so they can grow. Because when businesses grow, jobs are created. When jobs are created, we aren't going to have >100 homes on the market in Williamstown (for example) for very long.

We can't just sit around and wait for Williams College, MCLA, and the state and federal governments to start hiring. We also need to realize that an economy based solely on tourism, cultural venues, and non-profits is not sustainable. Private sector job creation in primary industries like manufacturing, software development, and banking is a must. Our future depends upon it. Are you with me?