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Southwest Alabama one big community; should work as one Thomas Friedman's widely acclaimed book "The World Is Flat" details the series of events over the last two decades that have remarkably changed the global supply chain for services and manufacturing. We now live in a world where the CAT scan you have this afternoon may be read by a doctor in Australia tonight or where someone in India may be working right now on the PowerPoint presentation you will see tomorrow. As we ponder this new world, we must ask how quickly we in Alabama are making the necessary steps to remain competitive. While the world may be getting flatter, can we say the same about all parts of our own state? Why so many boundaries? We must ask why we continue to put so much stock in boundaries set by 19th century surveyors as we embark on the 21st century economy. There are 457 incorporated places and 67 counties in Alabama. But there are not 457 community economies, or 67 county economies. Instead, there are eight, or maybe nine, regional economies, each anchored by a core surrounded by communities where workers leave home each morning to commute to a job. Southwest Alabama is one of these regional economies. The Bureau of Economic Analysis has determined that Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke and Washington counties lie within the same economic area. They define economic area as "a metropolitan statistical area and the surrounding counties that are economically related." According to BEA, "These economic areas represent the relevant regional markets for labor, products and information. They are mainly determined by labor commuting patterns that delineate local labor markets." Commuting data from the last census clearly shows that Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke, Washington and Choctaw are in the same labor pool. Each day, nearly 27,000 workers in one of these counties travel to one of the other seven. Mobile County pulls workers from each of the other seven counties, as does Clarke and Monroe. Southwest Alabama one community Want more indication that these eight counties are linked? Then ask someone who lives in one of them where they do their Christmas shopping or which hospital would they go to for open heart surgery and you almost always get the same answer, whether you're in Chatom, Grove Hill or Monroeville. You quickly see that southwest Alabama is really just one community, sharing commerce and a common economy. It just happens to cover 8,882 square miles. And in order for both the metro and rural counties of southwest Alabama to compete in this flattening world, they would be well served to adopt a regional view of challenges and opportunities. Hometown pride is wonderful-to a point. But if pride limits our view it becomes deadly in today's global economy. Grove Hill is not Jackson's competition, nor is Fairhope's competition Foley. Instead, southwest Alabama's competition is going to school today in India and China. They're hooked up to the Internet in places most of us cannot pronounce. This region has assets no other part of Alabama has: the only seaport, millions of acres of forestlands, the only beaches. Utilizing these assets to the maximum is the key to the region's future. In addition, if all parts of this region are to prosper, it will take visionary leaders who see beyond the county line or city limit. The value of regionalism Other states have long recognized the value of regionalism. Virginia created their Regional Competitiveness Program in 1996. Legislation that year established a $22 million incentive fund to encourage regional activities in economic and workforce development, education, infrastructure and quality of life issues. North Carolina defined seven regions that each has its own economic marketing program. Georgia uses a regional system where more developed counties get incentives to work with neighboring less-developed counties on joint projects. Alabama took a tentative step toward economic regionalism in 2001 with a comprehensive report, Economic Regions: Choices for Alabama. This effort defined the state's regions and plans were made to implement this approach. But as is too often the case, nothing ever happened. Today some places in Alabama are recognizing the need to move toward regionalism. The Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce has just embarked on a strategic plan that includes Houston, Dale, Geneva and Henry counties. They're looking at education, economy and quality of life issues on a regional basis. They're developing a regional marketing effort. Envision 2020 began in Montgomery in late 1999. This is a regional effort including Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon and Montgomery counties that deals with education, health care, transportation, economic development and cultural activities. And the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce has just launched a regional program called "Imagine A Greater Montgomery." Southwest Alabama mirrors other regions of the state. An urbanized core working hard to essentially stay in the same place (Mobile), a suburb being overwhelmed with growth (Baldwin) and nearby rural counties losing population and jobs. A look at school enrollment over the past decade illustrates the situation vividly. There are ten school systems in southwest Alabama (eight county and two city). These systems had 112,189 students in 1996-97. Today they have 112,687. That's an increase of only 498 students in ten years. But Baldwin County's enrollment swelled 25 percent, while Choctaw County dropped 25 percent and Mobile County dropped two percent. Ten years ago Baldwin County had 35 schools. Today they have 43. Ten years ago there were 59 schools in the six rural counties, now there are 52. While enrollment at Robertsdale High is up 24 percent, enrollment at Beatrice Elementary in Monroe County is down 53 percent. It's the same story with jobs. In October 2000 there were 302,248 jobs in the region. In October 2006 there were 310,640 according to the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. But while Baldwin gained 10,941 and Mobile gained 2,063, the six rural counties lost 4,612. Is growth and progress the same? Obviously there is growth in southwest Alabama. But the real question becomes: is growth being translated to progress? There are 365 high schools in Alabama and 39 in Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke, Choctaw and Washington counties. The web site, www.psk12.com, ranks each school based on advanced reading and math scores. Washington County High is No. 21 in the state, while Millry High is No. 53. But of the other 37 in the region, 24 rank in the bottom 50 percent statewide and 15 of these rank in the bottom 25 percent. So apparently the growth and all of its perceived benefits of increased job opportunities and increased sales and property taxes has thus far not translated into much improvement in education. And the fact that rural Washington County, which is losing population, jobs and students, has the top two ranking schools in this comparison may speak volumes about both the potential and the direction of this region. A recent article by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City states: "Rural America and its economy are defined by small, isolated, and often fiercely independent communities and businesses." Does this sound like southwest Alabama- both metro and rural places? There is certainly ample opportunity for "fierce independence." There are 49 incorporated communities in these eight counties. And 27 of them have less than 2,000 residents. So the region is definitely a collection of mostly small communities. In fact, the total of 698,934 residents of all eight counties is about equal the population of Austin, Texas and is considerably smaller than Jacksonville, Fla. and both Fulton and Gwinnett counties in Georgia. Yes, the world is much flatter than it was when I graduated from Theodore High School in 1961. Way back before fax machines, cell phones and personal computers like the one I used to write this. Regional should be partners- not competitors Consequently, leaders in southwest Alabama must put aside long-held notions and see themselves as partners- not competitors. If they are urban leaders they must understand that as long as their rural neighbors struggle to survive and continue to export their citizens, urban areas will pay for more schools and infrastructure and watch congested roads get more congested. If they are rural leaders they must understand they may not have the necessary "critical mass" of financial resources, leadership, or physical infrastructure to attract a foreign company to come to their community and that the only way to leverage their assets is by forging partnerships with neighboring communities. Someone once said, "If one end of the boat is leaking, it doesn't do much good to move to the other end." This is southwest Alabama today. Everyone is in the same boat. Moving to the other end may keep your head above water for a while, but it won't keep you afloat indefinitely.
Larry Lee lives in Opelika. He is the former Executive Director of the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission. larrylee33@charter.net.
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