Montana’s regions must drive own economies

"Montana is a geographic place, not an economy."

That bit of nose-on-your-face wisdom comes from veteran Montana economic analyst Larry Swanson of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula.

EDITORIAL Great Falls Tribune

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040809/opinion/1007350.html

In a way it seems obvious, but for folks who plan and implement state policy, from the governor’s office to the Legislature to the university system, it’s easy to forget.

For proof look no further than the one-size-fits-all policies and development strategies we implement in this state.

Montana is one state, but it’s at least three economies — western, eastern and central (ours) — and maybe more, depending on how you analyze it.

That’s one of the basic tenets of the "Montana on the Move" project, a joint effort of the CRMW and several other organizations.

It’s a message Swanson brought to Great Falls Friday for the third in a series of community forums planned around the state.

One of Swanson’s points is that those three regional economies are vastly different, and that lumping them together statistically gives the wrong picture of both the state and the regions.

People are moving to the western region, and its economy is growing rapidly; the central area also is growing, but slowly; and people are leaving the east, so its economy is shrinking.

Further, he notes that the seven biggest cities in Montana — which along with their counties comprise about 60 percent of the state’s population — are the repositories of 80 to 90 percent of the economic growth the state has seen in the past decade.

It makes sense, then, to suggest — as Swanson does — that the cities and regions need to become masters of their own destinies. The state can help, but it probably can’t lead.

Montana on the Move aims to support regional and community development efforts by providing accurate information and analysis, and by helping the regions and population centers communicate to solve common problems.

That’s a mouthful; in other words, MOM is a resource that local officials and developers would do well to use.

Swanson’s economic perspective also would benefit state politicians.

Among other things, he says Montana’s economy isn’t nearly as bleak as we’ve been led to believe.

For example, Swanson picked 29 other cities in America with demographic profiles similar to Montana’s cities, then added the Montana cities to the list. He discovered that per capita income in Billings ranked fifth, Great Falls 13th and Missoula 16th — far different from the statewide figure of 47th among the 50 states so often referenced by political candidates and, of course, newspaper commentators.

Happily, Swanson told his Great Falls audience Friday that the city is "moving in the right direction."

"You have your eye on the ball," he said. "In the state of Montana, there’s times we don’t even know what the ball is."