Monday, October 04, 2010
 
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Plan to refocus Logan County's economic development: competing in a global economy

Part 1: Assessing our strengths and weaknesses

Editor's note: Before beginning you may want to open the document that is referenced throughout this article:
Logan County Economic Development Master Plan.
(PDF file)

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[October 04, 2010]  Thursday evening the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership hosted a public meeting to unveil the Logan County Economic Development Master Plan. The plan was put together by Vandewalle & Associates out of Madison, Wis., who specialize in helping communities realize their potential from a new perspective: competing in a global economy.

InsuranceAlso involved in devising the master plan was Richard Longworth, author of the book "Caught in the Middle." Longworth's book takes a frank look at the Midwest mindset and how it has an adverse effect on a community's ability to keep up with the times.

Longworth became interested in Lincoln and Logan County when his book was used as a teaching tool by Dr. Keith Ray, president of Lincoln Christian University, during Mayor Keith Snyder's second economic summit, held in January.

Last week Vandewalle associate Scott Harrington presented an abbreviated overview of the new master plan document, which totals just under 60 pages of information pertaining directly to Logan County. The plan presentation was in Restoration Hall on the LCU campus.

Harrington began his presentation by delivering the bad news. Logan County is in a slow but steady decline, and that decline is going to continue unless something is done to change the face of the community.

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Inside the master plan several charts show comparisons that prove there is indeed a decline in the county's youthful populations.

On Page 7 a diagram outlines the change in the county's demographics since 1990. The number of young children age 15 and below has dropped from over 20 percent of the county population to about 17 percent.

The number of young adults in their mid- and late 20s has decreased, while the number of people in the middle-age range of 40 to 55 has increased, along with the number of older people age 75 and above.

This shows that at the moment, Logan County and its cities and towns do not have enough of what it takes to draw youthful residents.

Harrington also pointed out that while there are three significant colleges in Lincoln, the majority of the work force in Logan County has little more than a high school diploma. "Within the state of Illinois and the nation as a whole, approximately 25 percent of the 25 and older population has a bachelor's or master's degree compared with only 14 percent in Logan County." -- Page 11

Harrington said this enforces the theory that those who are graduating from our higher education institutions are leaving the area to build their careers. He said this is a trend that the county needs to address and will have to do so through revitalization of the downtown area, offering greater shopping opportunities, more recreation and entertainment sources, more modern housing options, and of course better employment opportunities as well as opportunities for entrepreneurship.

He noted that the new generation of young adults is not interested in joining the country club and spending their days golfing. They are interested in moving to communities with walking paths, bike trails and gyms.

In addition, they are looking for newer homes. On Page 10, a chart shows that only 13 percent of the homes in Logan County are less than 30 years old and 35 percent were built pre-1940, while in other counties such as Champaign County, where they are seeing growth in their younger populations, the statistic is almost exactly the reverse.

In addition to all this, the county is not satisfying the needs of the current population. The chart explaining this is featured on Page 15.

Harrington said that based on the current demographics, the potential for retail sales is not being met. Residents of the county are consequently going outside the county for at least a portion of their consumables. He did note that there is one area in particular where the county offers all that is needed and more, and that is in the area of gas stations.

Otherwise, it falls short in total retail trade and food and drink, motor vehicle and parts dealers, furniture and home furnishings stores, electronics and appliance stores, home centers, food and beverage stores, health and personal care stores, clothing and clothing accessories stores, sporting goods, book and music stores, limited-service eating places, and general merchandise stores.

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Harrington also presented a SWOT analysis of Logan County, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Among the strengths of the county: its proximity to larger metro areas, existing highway and rail infrastructure, presence of multiple electric transmission lines, hospital, colleges, productive farm land in large tracts, coal and wind as natural resources, and a reputation for a work force with high skill levels and good work ethics.

A few of the weaknesses listed on Page 32 are lack of broadband Internet, aging local infrastructure, shrinking labor force, high dropout rate, and a disconnect between local schools and regional higher education providers.

In the area of local government, Harrington noted and the master plan states that the strengths of the local government include a progressive new leadership, while the weakness is a poor history of working with others both internally and externally. Harrington did say that everything indicates progress is being made in this area, and he encouraged community leaders and entities to continue making progress in working together for the good of everyone.

This concludes Part 1. The development report also pulls out weaknesses to address, identifies what is good and shows many prospects for the future.

Part 2 will cover Harrington's discussion of an action plan and who should be involved in it, and Logan County Board chair Terry Carlton and Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder also weigh in with their opinions of the master plan.

[By NILA SMITH]

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