During the September regular meeting, the Benton County Industrial Board approved the consulting services of POLICOM under the direction of company president, William H. Fruth, according to county mayor Brett Lashlee. In addition, the board discussed the sale of a parcel of land to Belisle Tool who is currently in the process of expansion at the Industrial Park. In a public sale, they purchased the lot for $35,000 and will be located between Jones Plastics and TN Rehab Center.
Lashlee said, “I consider this a big win for all parties involved. The industrial board utilized an opportunity to sell off one of the more complicated lot designs in its inventory, a lot that was not conducive to industrial recruitment. However, Belisle Tool was able to gain a parcel of land that has available utilities and location to its customers (Jones Plastics and Dunbarton Door Company). The industrial board and the citizens win in that it set up a local business for expanding its operations and potential success thereby resulting in possible job creation in our community. The parcel sale was the best of government, the citizens, and private business all coming together to the overall benefit of our community in the end.”
With the approval of Fruth’s services, the county will receive an in-depth industrial developmental review and strategic plan.
Fruth wrote an overview. He wrote, “The economic future of the residents of Benton County is in your hands as you are the only ones who can determine it. As with politics, economic growth is “local.” He continued, “It seems every month we hear on the news what is going on with the national economy. Nationally, unemployment might have gone down or factory orders have increased or retail sales reached a new high or wages have declined. However, for most people, national economic data likely has little meaning relative to their economic quality of life as national data bears little resemblance to what is happening in the hundreds of local economies in the nation.”
Explaining local issues, Fruth said, “The economic quality of life for virtually everyone depends upon the condition of their local economy. Benton County has been on a gradual economic decline for many years. The county is not unique, as many rural areas in the United States over the last 20 years have declined in population and commerce. Benton County appears to be weaker than the average small economy. When compared to the 551 Micropolitan Areas (small economies), the rate of growth of employment for the 10 years from 2008 to 2017 ranked 443rd as the county had an average annual loss of jobs of .7%. The county also had an average annual loss of population of .3% which ranked 417th.
There are fewer people working in the county today than in 1996. Of even greater concern, the average annual earnings per worker in 2017 was only $34,447, which ranked 536th among the 551 Micropolitan Areas and was only 60% of the national average, the same as the average of the 10 weakest small economies in the United States. Area residents have had to look for other locations for employment. The Census Bureau estimates that more than 40% of the resident working population commutes outside the county for their jobs.”
Fruth said, “Each year POLICOM Corporation ranks the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas for economic strength, which is the long-term tendency for an area to consistently grow in size and quality. From this analysis, it studies the characteristics of the strong and weak areas. There are also hundreds of weak, dismal local economies in the United States. In these areas, large and small, employment has been declining for many years. Young people have moved away, some schools have been vacated for lack of students, local governments struggle to provide basic services, businesses close on a regular basis, and the residents have become just as depressed as the economy, as their economic future is uncertain.”
POLICOM is designed to point out the weaknesses in the local economy and show ways to redesign a community for success.
Fruth will be in town again on Thursday, discussing industrial development, among other things, according to Lashlee. He will provide a small presentation and answer questions about his services.
