Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
58 Inc. employees Melody Whitten, center, and Yvonne Murray, right, speak with Faces, LLC, employee Vanessa Bankston on Dec. 5. The new economic development initiative will work to recruit new businesses as well as retain and expand existing businesses in Shelby County.
Even though most people don’t think about economic development in their day-to-day lives, it can be a big factor in their lives, said Yvonne Murray, the director of 58 Inc.
As Shelby County’s new economic development initiative, 58 Inc. will work to recruit new businesses as well as retain and expand existing businesses. The program was announced in mid-2017, and Murray came on as director in November. Melody Whitten joined the team in late November, as director of development.
Toward the end of 2017, Murray said their goal was connecting to groups throughout the county, and they plan to start introducing programs and quality-of-life events in 2018.
“We want them [municipalities and business associations] to know we’re here as a resource, and the ultimate goal is to help them, and to promote development in the county, whether that be recruiting new businesses in … retail, commercial, industrial, manufacturing, but also to help existing businesses in the county expand,” Murray said.
Even if a municipality already has an economic developer, Murray said they hope to partner with those entities. They will also work in unincorporated areas of the county.
One mandate from their board and stakeholders, Murray said, is increasing quality-of-life businesses. As businesses look to relocate or plant an office, they will look at quality of life factors in the area, including housing, schools, healthcare and amenities. The amenities can also include having things such as restaurants, coffee shops or retail around a business.
The “if you build it they will come” philosophy does not really apply, Murray said, but she believes one will attract the other.
“Sometimes we’re going to have the big businesses come in and retail will follow, or if we’re ready for retail, the big businesses know ‘we can bring our jobs here,’ and as soon as those jobs are here, all these types of businesses like restaurants and breweries are going to come because we have people here,” she said.
Whitten will help focus on workforce development, which includes working with grades K-12; providing information on post-graduate education including community college, bachelor degree programs and non-credit training. There are also opportunities for adults to learn a new skill or add skills, Whitten said.
“We have to find new and creative ways to find new employees, hopefully recruit them into the county, and slow commute patterns out of the county down,” Whitten said. “But you’ve also got to grow your workforce.”
Workforce development has a two-fold benefit, she said. Having new businesses can help keep more individuals in the county, she said, and having a larger, talented workforce can help attract new businesses.
Even for individuals who do not see themselves directly tied into the “business community,” Whitten and Murray said they hope 58 Inc. will offer a benefit. Sometimes, it will be through behind-the-scenes work, and other times, it will be through things they may not realize are “economic development.”
“All the time, you see people on Facebook, on community pages, and they’re like, ‘I want Chick-fil-a and a Starbucks and I want an ALDI and I want a Target,’ and those are things that we can help target for the communities,” Murray said.
Economic development goes hand-in-hand with quality of life, Whitten said, including how new businesses can increase a city or county’s revenues. That money gets reinvested in to county services, which factor into a citizen’s quality of life.
“I think all economic development is quality of life, and whether [citizens] think they’re benefiting or not, if we recruit a business or industry that they can work in, or their children can work in, that is of benefit for them,” Whitten said. “If we recruit a retailer that they like to shop at, then that’s a benefit to them.”
For more information about 58 Inc., goto 58inc.org.