Charting a Course to Prosperity
By Kristen Lund and Maureen Hayden

Before the financial Markets began gyrating between euphoria and panic and months before the credit crunch threatened to throw the global economy off-kilter, key stakeholders throughout the Evansville economic region were asking tough questions about how we’d be able to compete in a 21st century economy.

They had studied the numbers over a decade’s time and were unnerved by the long-term trends they had spotted. While the incomes and employment statistics have improved over the last decade in our region, they knew it wasn’t enough. Compared with national averages over the last decade, our re- gion has been falling behind in population growth, personal income, and new jobs. Given the volatile economy over the last few months, simply doing nothing — waiting to see if the trend would reverse by itself — seemed like an act of neglect.

That wasn’t what economic development experts throughout the region were willing to do. So, in a kind of call to action, these stakeholders organized a meeting of the best minds: On Nov. 20-21, the top leaders in government, business, and academia from 26 counties around Southwest Indiana, Southeast Illinois, and Western Kentucky will converge on Evansville for a two-day Regional Economic Summit to discuss ways to counter our slowing growth and forge partnerships that cross city, county, and state lines.

Why 26 counties? Because that’s the force of geographic scope and power that makes up the “Evansville Economic Region” as defined by national and local experts. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis officially counts 23 counties that surround Evansville as an economic region, measuring it for such things as population growth, personal income, and gross domestic product. But organizers of the Regional Economic Summit have included three contiguous counties for their purposes, knowing that official county boundaries don’t mean much to the people who cross those lines to go to work or spend their money.

The summit is another step toward a process that began two years ago when civic and business leaders in Southwest Indiana recognized the potential of pooling their resources — both brainpower and money — to work together. The result was the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. The goal, says Greg Wathen, the coalition’s executive director, is to do more than “grow jobs.” As Wathen says, “It’s to grow wealth and prosperity.” That involves so much more than a short-term effort to lure a big new employer to the area; it involves a long-term commitment to cultivating an entrepreneurial atmosphere and innovative mindset for companies, citizens, and communities.

Some of the best and the brightest national experts in economic development will be at the summit to offer their insights, sparking what summit organizers hope will be an ongoing conver- sation among stakeholders from across the 26-county region. The two-day summit will kick off with a presentation by Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard. Karlgaard — who has written a Wall Street Journal bestseller, regularly contributes a column to Forbes, and often appears on the Fox News Channel — will enlighten the audience (estimated at 1,000 attendees) with his expertise in technology, entrepreneurship, and regional economic development.

A presentation by Karlgaard, who publishes the world’s leading business and financial magazine, is appropriate for the summit, given that much of the conversations expected to take place over the two days will focus on first assessing the region’s current economic state and then envisioning the steps necessary to improve the region’s economic vitality at a time when the national economy is reeling from a series of body blows.

The event is designed to target three distinct audiences: community leaders (including mayors, other local elected officials, and chamber of commerce officers), corporate and business leaders, and individual entrepreneurs. The compelling range of speakers includes Fortune magazine writer Nadira Hira, an expert on the revolutionary impact of “Generation Y” on the workforce; site selection expert Jim Colson of AngelouEconomics, which has of- fices in both Texas and Dubai; and Web design expert Mark James, who specializes in using technology to transform antiquated economic development efforts. Much anticipated, too, is the Nov. 20 dinner keynote speaker, James Bullard, who is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. At lunch that day, economist Mohammed Khayum, dean of the University of Southern Indiana School of Business, will lead a panel of economists reporting on the nitty-gritty details of the 26-county Evansville economic region. It’s a can’t-miss event for anyone with a stake in the region’s economic well-being.

The Regional Economic Summit will take place Nov. 20-21 at The Centre. To register, call (812) 425-8147; for more details on the summit, visit the Web site, www.regionaleconomicsummit.com.

Read the full feature in the October/November issue