Capitalizing on Duluth

Duluth was once a burgeoning, empire building, economic center. Growth industries of the day, such as steel production, the railroad and shipping industry, among others provided jobs, unprecedented economic opportunity and growth in practically every measure of economic health.

Things have changed dramatically. We now have a tourism based economy with new focus and growth in the medical industry, higher education and general aviation. The most notable thing about the past heydays of Duluth's economy, was the diversity within that economy. Growth industries provided widespread wealth and generated almost limitless opportunities for the neighborhood entrepreneur. Small businesses such as corner restaurants, neighborhood grocery stores and even small banks were able to open and thrive. Vitality is a function of diversity. Both are inextricably entwined, the yin and yang of economic growth. Also a very important factor and another player in the yin and yang is Government. There has to be a balance of taxation to fund infrastructure and public safety, as well as sound long-term economic policy.

To effectively capitalize on Duluth, we need to fully inventory the assets, both fiscal and physical. Duluth has an International Airport with the longest runway in the State of Minnesota. The Duluth-Superior harbor boasts the world's largest inland port. We have rail infrastructure that has deteriorated but where the most expensive and critical piece of the pie is still in place, the right of ways to construct new rail. We are the terminus of Interstate 35 which goes all the way to the Mexican Border and continues via highway 61 all the way to the Canadian border. Within the City itself we have vast natural resources, albeit most are off limits to all but hikers and naturalists. A high proportion of our population is highly educated and the Minnesota work ethic is well-known. We have a huge amount of land available for development, including areas that have previously been developed, are set aside for development but currently sit vacant.

On the other hand, we must be cognizant of our liabilities. The most significant liability is largely political. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is extremely dominant in Duluth. Their most important and significant constituent groups are public employees and Unions. State imposed legislation gives Unions and Public Employees an extraordinary amount of power. This has created a disproportionately pro-employee, anti-employer environment. Due to the dominance of the DFL Party, policies typically associated with the Democratic Party have been taken to the extreme, such as very burdensome and sometimes outlandish policies related to environmental protection, preventing or inhibiting most developments. The Duluth City Council has adopted even more extreme policies and has been a difficult hurdle for all but the best connected and completely benign developers.

Taking all these factors into account, how do we capitalize and grow our local economy? Most importantly, how do we grow our City, and successfully navigate the political mine-field? First, with regard to our assets, the large amount of land and previously developed but vacant property needs to be evaluated, quantified and marketed. We need to determine and detail the infrastructure available to those properties and develop contingency plans for how to get infrastructure in place should a developer decide on a given location.

We need to quantify and market those properties that will need little ramp-up such as the Northwest maintenance facility and find other operations that will be a good fit. Most importantly, we need to recognize, quantify and market the unique combination of transportation facilities available. Some possible fits would seem to be no-brainers. With the growth in internet marketing and sales, resulting in a huge increase in drop-shipping, a shipping hub for a UPS or Fed-Ex type of operation seems a natural fit. Duluth is centrally located on the North American Continent, again, with an International Airport and a huge facility, essentially sitting empty.

While the auto-making industry has taken huge hits lately, the best defense is a good offense. A great offense for them would be to take a hint from the Japanese and focus on innovation. Duluth would be a great location with it's proximity to vast natural resources, extremely flexible shipping where cars could literally go from ramp to container, to ship, to anywhere in the world. With our high level of education and innovation, we could build a super high-tech auto factory with the sole aim to produce better, more reliable vehicles than our Japanese competitors.

General Aviation is also a natural fit for Duluth. Again, with a facility at the existing airport sitting essentially empty, there is a huge opportunity knocking. Any of these would create spinoff industries and immediate growth.

Duluth needs to better capitalize on it's location on the largest body of fresh water on the planet. We need to be more welcoming to boaters. With a relatively tiny investment in our existing waterfront, we could be hosting cruise ships, yachts from all over the great lakes, charter boat operations, sailboat races, kayaking, canoeing and myriad other water-related activities.

Finally, with all the great minds currently working on solving this crisis or that issue, or marketing small-town pork projects, we need to get a group together that does nothing but market Duluth. That group would not market Duluth as a tourist destination but as a place to do business and raise a family. We currently have a Mayor who's sole focus seems to be taking care of all those who are disadvantaged, out of work, homeless or drug and alcohol dependent. We need a Mayor who, instead of taxing the producers to pay for the non-productive, will market Duluth to Producers and try to find a way to make the non-productive, productive. Instead of rewarding them for bad behavior, let's encourage them to stop it by putting them to work. We need to make Duluth a place that is unattractive to the unproductive and make it attractive to producers. Bottom line, we need leadership and vision.