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Home / Washington Business - July/August 2003 / “Sweet Home Spokane”: A Regional Strategy for economic |
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“Sweet Home Spokane”: A Regional Strategy for economic |
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Written On: July/August 2003 |
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Written By: By Alexis Nepomuceno |
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While many communities emphasize terms like “infrastructure,” “tax incentives” and “regulatory reform,” the Spokane region has opted to emphasize something simpler: “home”—and it’s working.
“This is one of several strategies, but an important one,” explains AWB Board Chair Heidi Stanley, who is also the executive vice president of Sterling Savings Bank in Spokane. “The Homecoming strategy has the potential of being a vital economic development mechanism for bringing home individuals spread throughout the United
States who grew up or went to school in this region, thereby attracting new investments, ideas and companies.”
Reasons to come home
As the largest northern city between Seattle and Minneapolis, Spokane boasts a number of attributes that attract would-be residents and businesses. In fact, a Reader’s Digest poll of parents named Spokane as the eighth best place in America to raise a family. The main reasons behind the region’s score included: absence of crime, low rates of drug and alcohol abuse, good public schools, quality health care, clean environment, affordable cost of living and strong economic growth.
Consequently, Spokane natives John and Nancy Janzen moved back to Spokane to raise their two daughters and started Maplewood Software in 1996.
“We realized we were taking a risk by moving back to Spokane when we did,” Nancy admits. “The tech sector was still very small and we weren’t sure we could make a go of it as a company. But even though there have been some tough times, it’s the best decision we ever made.”
Leaving the bustling tech centers Seattle and Portland, the Janzens were in a position personally and professionally to make such a move. John had worked as a software consultant on projects for Nike, PacifiCorp and Health Systems Design.
While traveling nation-wide as a consultant, Nancy was raising their two daughters and maintained a professional focus in education and journalism.
“It really was a case of one thing following another,” John said. “As I traveled more and my job requirements became less location specific, we decided it was time to move back to Spokane rather than stay in communities where we had no roots.”
It all boiled down to quality of life. The Janzens benefit from the lower cost of living, family-friendly activities, short commutes, recreational opportunities, excellent schools and a burgeoning arts district.
Higher education helps area businesses
Maplewood Software’s proximity to higher-education institutions has benefited the company as well. As the home to six colleges and universities (Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Washington State University-Spokane, Whitworth College,and Community Colleges of Spokane), businesses in the region are able to tap into top-notch talent and resources. Helping support the company’s growth, Maplewood recruits heavily from Whitworth and uses interns from Spokane Community College.
Overall, both John and Nancy are very happy to have started Maplewood Software in their hometown. They realize Spokane is growing its technology sector and they feel strongly that the investments being made now will pay off over the next several decades.
“After all,” Nancy adds, “this is where we want our children to come home to as well.”
Access to resources afforded by area colleges and universities was a big plus for Dan and Terri Roark as well.
“The area offers good incentives to attract talented engineers and support staff despite a recessed local economy,” said Dan Roark, MatriCal’s chief executive officer.
The Roarks recently returned to Spokane with MatriCal Engineering, which manufactures instrumentation and consumables for the life science research industry. MatriCal maintains over 3,000 square feet of R&D space at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) and over 5,000 square feet of production and process
space at their Milton, Delaware site.
The MatriCal headquarters is located just across the Spokane River from Gonzaga University and just a short distance from Washington State University, Eastern Washington University and the University of Idaho. This high technology corridor provides scientists with access to a great academic environment and academic collaborations as well as access to a highly skilled and trained pool of scientists and engineers.
Homecoming targets
Finding a great place for their company wasn’t the only reason the Roarks moved back home.
“We wanted to raise our three children near our families and the cost of living is very low compared to Durham, Seattle and Southern California,” Roark said. “This allows us to maintain a slower pace of life and focus on raising our kids and getting involved in the community while making a good living.”
Who ultimately recruited the Roarks to the Spokane region? No, it wasn’t a blue-ribbon task force or a community entourage, but someone with a lot more influence.
“My mom started sending us the Spokane Journal of Business as a birthday present to entice us into moving back,” Roark explained. “It worked!”
The Janzen and Roark families represent one of the constituencies being targeted by the Homecoming strategy: professionals who relocated outside the Spokane area but look to make the “journey back home.” Other targets include local university alumni and top companies in key industry clusters with officers who have ties to the Spokane region.
A diverse economy and promising future
Although quality of life and a clever “Homecoming” appeal can be compelling reasons to prospective companies and families, the Spokane region offers much more.
“We are diversified—we’re like a regional center, so we have all of the transportation, communications, wholesale and distribution, etc.,” explains Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce President Rich Hadley. “In comparison to other parts of the state, we’re doing pretty well because we spent a lot of time during the last
15 years to diversify the economy.”
One of the diversified areas can be found in health care industry.
“Health care is huge in this region; about a third of the GDP (gross domestic product) in this county and a quarter of the employment is health care related,” describes Spokane Regional Chamber Chair Shaun Cross at AWB’s Spring Board meeting. In fact, Spokane is home to the second and third largest hospitals in Washington state.
Another major factor is government providing a steady base for Spokane’s economic engine.
“We have a lot of federal employment here; we have a fair number of state offices because we are far enough away from Olympia and the Puget Sound area that we need service centers here,” Hadley explains. If combined with education-related employment in the region, “probably the biggest aggregate of employment is in the government sector.”
Diversification, stability and “Homecomings” only complement an area already primed for growth. Spokane residents and businesses benefit from a world-class telecommunications infrastructure with more miles of fiber per capita than any other
area in the world.
Energy rates are among the lowest in the nation, while the average home costs only $121,920. The region also boasts a 19-minute average commute and a workforce of 350,000 that is considered among the most productive in the world.
“I have great optimism for the economic future of Spokane and this region,” Stanley concluded.
Opportunity is truly knocking at the door for the region. The knocking comes from former residents wishing to return and call Spokane home.
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