It's Your Business:Private, public and nonprofit collaboration needed for economic vitality

Our community should grow …. or limit growth.

The private sector is good … or bad.

Government is the source of many problems … or should fix everything.

Our public discourse is often divided along lines like these. And in our community, it’s easy to live or work in one realm without encountering people outside of our day-to-day lives. It’s easy to fall into one school of thought.

But we face challenges to prosperity that aren’t simple and are interconnected — like lack of attainable housing, high cost of living, lagging wages and available workforce. Communities across the U.S. face many similar issues. And at home, it can be deeply frustrating for longtime neighbors who feel disconnected from community changes or face difficulties accessing new opportunities.

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Everyone owns a piece of the solution. What if we realized our options are not binary? What if we reframed the conversation to tackle these challenges?

Growth can be intentional, targeted for the future vitality of our community, and shaped to address barriers to prosperity. The private sector is a multifaceted, major contributor to our community — 76% of all Monroe County jobs come from the private sector alone. Government can do many things, but true solutions require public-private partnership.

So what are our barriers and opportunities for growing good-paying local employment?

First, workers and employers both lose due to a lack of attainable housing. Monroe County’s largest employers report pulling half of their employees from outside the county. Commuting employees pay more in transit and time when moving outward to find attainable housing. This is a challenge for employers seeking staff. Commuting has an environmental impact. Monroe County also loses the income taxes of these individuals, which are paid based on where individuals live.

Second, properly zoned land, available buildings and streamlined development processes are needed for employment growth. Beyond housing, we must plan for current and future employment. A total of 400,000 square feet of space is needed across current Bloomington Economic Development Corp.-supported employment projects alone. This is exclusively for retaining and growing existing companies.

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Our community can address these issues by (1) developing attainable housing, especially for our workforce, and (2) ensuring land, building and policies are in place to meet the needs of our existing and future employers.

The good news — we have great possibilities ahead. The U.S. CHIPS and Science Act is investing in technology across the nation; Bloomington sits on an innovation corridor connecting Indianapolis to Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane. Indiana READI (Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative) is poised to infuse new funds into regions across the state. IU 2030 will impact us as Indiana University rolls out this new strategy for growth and engagement. The city of Bloomington is advancing the development of the Trades District and the new Hopewell Neighborhood (the former hospital site). Ellettsville is planning its future through Envision Ellettsville and an update to its comprehensive plan. And the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. is working with partners across the county to form a vision and solutions through the Economic Vitality Project.

Newly elected officials will have much to consider in addressing these challenges, but so do leaders in the business, education and nonprofit communities. We are all in this together. By creating a shared vision for our future, we are better positioned to address our challenges and leverage new opportunities.

Jennifer Pearl is president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corp.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Private, public and nonprofit collaboration needed for economic vitality