Introduction
The economic development strategy for the Columbus area is a plan for improving the economic opportunity and material welfare of the population of the Columbus area and Bartholomew County.

Strategy is an organization's planned response to its environment. Any successful strategy tends to be valid for a period of approximately five years. During this period of time environmental conditions change which will cause the strategy to become obsolete. For example, our current strategy is one of attracting high value-added jobs in manufacturing and developing new clusters of high value-added jobs in the information technology (IT) and life sciences sectors. Similarly, this strategy is expected to have an approximate five-year life before environmental conditions will change and cause it to be revised and updated. Careful monitoring of any strategy on an annual basis is required in order to stay sensitive to underlying trends that may be developing.

Historical Perspective
Columbus, Indiana is truly a remarkable community. It is a regional center for healthcare, retail, education and manufacturing. It is the home of Cummins Inc., world renowned architecture and a citizenry that wants and expects the best for Columbus. It has enjoyed exceptional growth in employment and income throughout the post-war period. However, during the past quarter century, Columbus has found itself on the same economic roller coaster as other American communities that were predominantly durable goods manufacturing centers.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s downsizing and layoffs caused local unemployment levels to reach 12%-14%. Beginning in 1985, an aggressive world-wide economic development strategy was launched bringing in new companies from around the globe that matched the core competencies of our workforce – manufacturing. This aggressive economic development strategy, together with the economic recovery and growth during the 1990s drove unemployment to record lows. This success brought with it a new set of problems: Wage rates of $7 to $9 replaced previous jobs that paid $12 to $16. The economic growth and recovery of the 1990s brought with it in-migration of workers. Our population grew in excess of 12% but wages continued to remain in the $8 to $10 per hour range.

During the late 1990s and the turn of the 21st Century, new competitive forces resulting from globalization impacted the Columbus manufacturing sector in the same way other manufacturing communities were impacted. The new economic realities resulting from globalization resulted locally in layoffs, plant relocations, plant shutdowns and in-migration of Hispanic workers, primarily from Mexico, to satisfy the demand for low-wage hourly workers. The effects of globalization have created an economic enigma locally and regionally – low wages and low unemployment.

During this same period of time, two studies impacted the economic development strategy in Columbus. In the first study, in 1996, the Economic Development Board (EDB) contracted with the Hudson Institute asking; what are the major issues facing the community; what should the EDB consider in formulating its strategy and what is required to successfully carry out a refocused economic development strategy.

In the second study in 2000, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) contracted with Battelle Memorial Institute's Technology Partnership Practice to study the Central Indiana region and make recommendations.

Over the past decade, Columbus' economy has become increasingly integrated with that of the Central Indiana region in which we live. While we have a long history of people who work in Indianapolis choosing to live in Columbus, increasingly there are also many people who work in Columbus choosing to live in Indianapolis. Local companies that recruit nationally have, in some instances, opened offices in Indianapolis to accommodate employees who live there and travel a great deal. Regional issues of quality of life are increasingly important to our ability to attract people and companies to Columbus.

Two organizations have been formed in the last several years – The Indy Partnership and Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) – that are pursuing economic development strategies on a regional scale. Indy Partnership markets the greater Indianapolis region to companies domestically as a place to locate and expand operations. CICP is attempting to create economically vibrant clusters in the same areas of interest as Columbus. We see benefit in regional cooperation and we should align our economic development efforts with those of the regional organizations in order to achieve maximum benefit for Columbus and this region.

Together, these two studies form the basis for continued evolution of the Columbus economic development strategy. The central themes of these two studies are: improving secondary and post-secondary education, focusing on the creation of high value-added jobs, focus on cluster development of the advanced manufacturing, life sciences and information technology sectors. These themes are the embodiments of our current economic development strategy.

Beliefs and Hopes for the Future
In interviews and previous discussions with citizens over the past years, the following themes have been consistent and constant:

• Raising the standard of living (wages) for more citizens so that two parents don't necessarily have to work and a single-head-of-household can make a decent living to afford adequate housing
• Unwilling to sacrifice those Columbus elements of livability including the small-town atmosphere
• Creating a community where children wish to stay or to which they will return after getting their education.
• Keeping current businesses in the community thriving
• Being a welcoming community that encourages diversity and promotes inclusiveness
• Offering opportunities for personal growth for all residents
• Creating a "family friendly" community where people can spend time with their families and where the development of youth is a top priority for the community
• Wanting economic success to benefit all members of the community

Framework for Understanding Economic Development
One of the most important factors affecting the quality of life of Columbus area citizens is their standard of living. Improvements in the standard of living of the population are tied directly to economic growth opportunities that positively impact the material welfare and personal development of our citizens, increasing the upward economic mobility of the labor force within the Columbus area.

The process of improving the standard of living (and therefore contributing to the quality of life) depends on the availability and skill of the resident workforce and the quality and number of jobs available. More and better jobs mean more people and more economic growth - as long as the resources exist to accommodate an expanding population, such as housing, education and infrastructure.

This process is a very dynamic one. Figure 1 identifies the cause-and-effect relationships that couple a community's population to its economic base. There are two sets of basic relationships or feedback loops that come together to influence the local unemployment rate.

The top loop in Figure 1 shows how the rate of population growth responds to the availability of jobs. When jobs are plentiful and unemployment is low, people move into the community and the population increases. The labor force expands with the population. Labor force training and education affect how well matched the labor force is with the jobs. Over time, the expanded labor force reduces any labor shortages.

The bottom loop in Figure 1 shows how the rate of job creation responds to the availability of jobs. When unemployment is high and/or labor is inexpensive, businesses tend to locate or expand within the area, increasing the rate of business construction and the number of business structures. The resulting increase in the number of jobs reduces unemployment. Conversely, when unemployment is low and/or labor is expensive, businesses tend to locate elsewhere, reducing the rate of business construction and the number of excess jobs available, so, the labor shortage is diminished and unemployment tends to rise. These dynamics interact over long periods of time and will cause conditions to change over the next 5 years. Applying this simple model to the current environment and projected trends, described later for Columbus, will provide a realistic assessment of the current economic and demographic landscape of the Columbus area.

These conditions will change slowly over the next five years. An effective economic development strategy will help these conditions to change positively for the Columbus area citizens by recognizing and leveraging these causal relationships that connect the Columbus population to the Columbus economic base. As such, the EDB has adopted the following strategic plan to address the current environment.

FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF COLUMBUS AREA

Columbus EDB Strategic Plan

Mission (i.e., What Do We Want to Be?)
EDB mission is to contribute to building a world-class community in a small town setting by enhancing the quality of life of the citizens of our community and improving their economic opportunity and material welfare.

Environment – current environment and projected trends include:

• Demographic trends
  1. Flat under-30 population
  2. Declining 30-60 population
  3. Doubling of over 65 population
  4. Growth in single parent households with young children
• Current low unemployment
• Globalization of unskilled and entry-level skilled positions as well as knowledge-based jobs
• In-migration of unskilled labor
• Shortage of educated labor in all skill segments
• Large number of applicants lacking basic education and workplace disciplines
• Regional assets
  1. Life Sciences
  2. Advanced Manufacturing
  3. 21st Century logistics and distribution
  4. Information Technology
  5. Education (Regional: PU, IU, Rose-Hulman. Local: IUPUC, Ivy Tech, Columbus Learning Center)
  6. Thought Leadership
• Young people leaving the area for better socio-economic opportunities elsewhere (region-wide)
• A smaller proportion of total jobs in durable goods manufacturing
• A larger proportion of lower wage jobs
• Increasing divisions between the "haves" and "have nots"
• Limited access to healthcare for the unemployed and underemployed.

Strategy (i.e., What Do We Want to Do?) – to support EDB's Mission and in the context of the current environment, the EDB's Strategy should be to:

1. Keep our profitable existing businesses healthy and growing
2. Target our recruiting efforts at new businesses domestically and internationally which will:
   • Focus on job opportunities in high value-added manufacturing, service and technology companies which support the growth of:
     • Advanced manufacturing
     • Life sciences
     • 21st Century logistics and distribution
     • Information Technology
     • Agri-Business
     • Others as identified;
   • Provide workers opportunities for upward economic mobility;
   • Export a product or service outside the community and/or
   • Diversify our local economy beyond the automotive industry and draw upon regional assets of the 21st century

How Are We Going To Accomplish Our Strategic Objectives?

In support of both strategic goals, EDB will:

1. Work with community partners to achieve better alignment of local training and educational programs with the needs of existing industry and real job opportunities. The aim is to improve skills and competitiveness of the local workforce. Specifically, the EDB will actively support education and workforce development initiatives.
2. Continue to help forge links, provide thought leadership, and garner support for public/private development of infrastructure to support growth. Current areas of focus include:
   • InfoTech Park
   • Certified Tech Park
   • Tech Incubator
   • Public infrastructure expansions (e.g., water, high speed connectivity, waste water, etc.)
3. Participate in and help lead efforts to harness knowledge and technology to help companies compete more effectively. Promote and encourage innovation, in both products and processes that build on and strengthen our community's skills and technology base. This may include activities such as:
   • Strengthening technology programs at our local schools;
   • Support and actively assist recruitment of high-quality faculty and staff for local post-secondary educational institutions
   • Encouraging the development of a venture capital network;
   • Taking steps to encourage the use of regional assets
   • Support efforts to identify and commercialize local intellectual capital to create high-value jobs
4. Take steps to encourage the use of regional assets by participating in, forming alliances with or collaborating with regional economic development initiatives such as the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Indy Partnership and others as appropriate.
5. Focus EDB's efforts on companies that have environmentally friendly or clean operations

Specifically to support the first strategic goal (focusing on existing businesses), EDB will:

6. Maintain an active process of keeping in touch with our local business community to ensure we are responding to their concerns
7. Continue calling on the parent headquarters of companies to forge tighter relationships between the company and the community
8. Recruit companies that have special knowledge and technologies that will allow existing companies to become more competitive

Specifically, to support the second strategic goal (focusing on recruiting new businesses), EDB will:

9. Build on existing strengths (knowledge, skills, and business connections) in the durable goods manufacturing sector, without adding to our concentration of employment in companies tied to the same cyclical economic factors
10. Expand the proportion of our local economy involved in high value-added service sector businesses. We will do this by leveraging regional strengths in life sciences, engineering, and manufacturing
11. Participate in sectors that are growing rapidly and are projected to continue that rapid growth during the coming decade
12. Focus recruiting efforts on companies that employ a relatively high proportion of "knowledge workers"
    
    The top prospects fitting these criteria on which we will focus for the next several years include, but are not necessarily limited to, businesses in the following sectors: life sciences, advanced manufacturing, IT (generally in support of life sciences and advanced manufacturing), and other emerging growth businesses
    
    The EDB will not automatically discourage any company that expresses an interest in locating in Columbus, including those in the automotive sector. However, going forward, EDB will focus its recruiting efforts on companies which would bring our community the benefits noted above

How Will We Measure Success of the Strategy?

The following measures will be tracked and used as metrics of success of our strategy:

Direct/Annual Measures (Further Defined in EDB's Annual Plan of Work):

1. Active participation as an Advisor, Thought Leader or Board member for local and regional workforce and economic development initiatives.
2. Number of local companies contacted and reviewed.
3. Number of parent headquarters visited.
4. Number of potential new companies contacted.

Measures of Indirect or Long Term EDB Efforts:

1. Jobs and Investment:
   1. Total Jobs
   2. Unemployment rate
   3. Manufacturing as a percent of total employment
   4. Knowledge based services as a percent of total employment (Finance and Insurance, Information, Professional Scientific and Technical, Education Services, Healthcare and Social Services)
   5. Number of new manufacturing jobs created (from tax abatements)
   6. Amount of new manufacturing investment
   7. Number of new companies
2. Income:
   1. Average annual real wages per job for manufacturing, knowledge based services and retail
   2. Per capital income (absolute and relative to rank in state)
   3. Median Household Income (absolute and relative to rank in state)
   4. Poverty rate
3. Population:
   1. Population growth
4. Education:
   1. Learning achievement as measured by SAT scores
   2. Percent of bachelors degrees and higher for age 25 and over in Bartholomew County