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Fairs & Expos Magazine |
Fairs & Cluster-Based Economic Development
By: Norm Landerman-Moore Dramatic shifts in world, national, regional, and local economies are changing land use decisions and local or regional economic development strategies. The reason this is important to fairs is that collectively, the forces at work are altering the nature of competitiveness, influencing land use patterns, and impacting economic productivity of businesses and the fiscal stability of communities . . . hopefully for the better! This we know: our changing economy is influencing formation of sustainable growth while creating adjustment problems. In some cases, entire communities are experiencing a disconnect from sources of economic strength and the dynamics of public and private investment. Others have seized upon frameworks for solid economic development based on the recognition that local and regional economies are composed of “industry clusters” and their supporting economic participants and related infrastructure. These industry clusters consist of interrelated, geographically concentrated businesses, along with their key suppliers of goods and services, and supporting institutions, including public and private resources. Collectively, they may have the potential to accelerate commerce to sustainable levels of activity, creating business and investment opportunities, jobs, and increased prosperity.
Partly driving and partly reacting, industry clusters, when properly entitled and structured within the community, are in a better position to respond to competitive demands, market development opportunities, investment objectives, and the challenges of economic performance. Fairs can be an effective part of, or the core of, an industry cluster. The simultaneous competition and collaboration that occurs within an industry cluster helps participating businesses in terms of efficiency, innovation, and increased market penetration. Thus, industry clusters are “agglomerations” of competing and collaborating enterprises networked into horizontal and vertical economic relationships, involving strong buyer-supplier linkages and relying on a shared foundation of specialized economic institutions. These specialized economic institutions may be foundationally based on the fair, exposition, special events, sports, and leisure industries. Event(s) production, attractions, and ongoing user activities may serve as the catalyst for market-based, public and private investments and business development. The dynamics of a geographically positioned industry clustered enterprise zone or sub-area within a community potentially create regional benefits in terms of economic impacts (direct, indirect, and induced) and jobs creation, improved personal per-capita income and tax revenue, and, most importantly, improved economic performance of a fairgrounds. The following model explains the principle of industry cluster economic development.
The approach to cluster economic development, and attendant land use or zoning structure, must be adaptable to political, comprehensive, or general land use plans, as well as economic and social conditions. A cluster-based framework is of most value and effectiveness if predicated on the following principles. 1. Market Driven: The premise of cluster-based economic development is to develop markets more effectively by concentrating key industries (demand-side) with many related private and public resources of economic inputs (supply-side) from throughout the area. 2. Inclusive: To reach out and invite participation of companies, large and small, as well as suppliers and supporting institutions. To establish initiatives for the private and public sectors to cluster their business development and investment interests, and public service powers, in proximity to the fair and exposition industry, which may serve as a foundation. 3. Collaborative: A unique quality of cluster-based economic development is collaborative solutions representing both user and supplier sides of the economy with direct accountability for actions and performance by all participants. 4. Strategic: Economic participants (public and private stakeholders) collectively create and maintain a strategic vision. They maintain a focus of economic development activities and serve as motivators. A shared economic development vision helps integrate development activity with an emphasis on complementary rather than competing or opposing efforts. 5. Value Creation: The concentration of economic participants (businesses located in an industrial cluster) facilitates commerce through vertical linkages or spin-offs and start-ups, which ultimately may become horizontal linkages. Often, regional competitiveness is strengthened, a niche is expanded, and opportunities for business development and investments become added values to the foundation industry. The fairgrounds, as a property, and the multi-faceted event production capacity it represents, is a legitimate foundational industry upon which to build cluster-based economic development. Talk with your Economic Development Council and political leadership to determine how you can participate in, or help create, local and regional cluster-based economic development.
Norm Landerman-Moore is president of Landerman-Moore Associates, Anacortes, Wash.
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