Regional Development Organizations Encourage Public Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is usually thought of as a private sector attribute. However, executive directors and staff of many governmental regional development organizations have successfully created programs and projects that benefit their citizens using the entrepreneurial skills of successful business people. As public funding has decreased in some states, regional organizations are being asked to continue or implement programs needed by their local governments and businesses. As the following stories show, regional organizations are providing innovative approaches to budget cutbacks and funding vital public services.

Regional organizations make signs and money

Employing Teens to Make Road Signs
The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development District (RP&EDD), an Economic Development Administration (EDA) funded district in Perryville, combined a need for adequate road signs with an available teen workforce to provide revenues for its operations and services. Executive Director Thomas Tucker remembers when emergency medical technicians were not able to respond to 911 calls without experiencing delay due to poor signage on rural roads. Tucker learned that the region’s cities and counties wanted signs to make it easier to locate rural roads, but thought it would be too expensive. Tucker did research, met with 3M and proposed a sign-making business for the district. With a $4,750 investment to buy equipment, Southeast Missouri RP&EDD began manufacturing street signs, safety signs and county road numbering signs.

Originally, the region paid for labor with local funds, but this proved too expensive. Tucker hired high school and college students to work part-time making signs, in addition to printing and various administrative office tasks. Southeast Missouri RP&EDD typically employs three high school students who work up to 40 hours a week in the summer, on vacations and after school during the school year.

Southeast Missouri RP&EDD eventually entered the business of refacing signs, which provided a way to recycle aluminum and cut costs for the county and other local governments. The region continues to create and reface signs not only for county and municipal governments but also handicapped signs for local businesses. According to Tucker, “Sometimes the project makes money, sometimes we just break even. But we think of the project as a service for our member entities. You need a lot of volume to make real money.” At the same time, Tucker feels that he has helped keep local youth in school and even helped them attend college. He explains, “I’ll bet that 98 percent of the kids we have employed have gone to college. And these kids come from families who don’t have a lot of money. We’re helping students learn strong work values and ethics, which will, in turn, help them to be hired for other jobs.”

In addition to the signs, the region sells maps produced with their geographic information systems (GIS). Southeast Missouri RP&EDD produces detailed utility maps for municipalities. Tucker explains, “We call ourselves ‘Rent a Staff.’ Right now, we have ten people for seven counties and 35 cities. These GIS maps we sell help pay for our mapping staff.”

“I’ll bet that 98 percent of the kids we have employed have gone on to college. And these kids come from families who don’t have a lot of money. We’re helping students learn strong work values and ethics, which will, in turn, help them to be hired for other jobs.” — Tom Tucker, Executive Director of Southeast Missouri RP&EDD

Turning Trash Into Cash
Serving eight counties in northeastern Mississippi, Three Rivers Planning and Development District (PDD), an EDA funded district in Pontotoc, operates its own regional landfill providing a variety of solid waste management services to counties statewide. Three Rivers PDD is the administrative arm of the Three Rivers Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, organized as a solution to the pressing problem of solid waste disposal in the region. The authority owns and operates the region’s sole landfill. A uniform “tipping fee” for disposing of trash in the landfill is charged for transporting waste from strategically located transfer stations to the regional landfill.

The district offers solid waste collection management services including custom design and management of collection routes and systems, assistance in selecting and purchasing equipment, cost estimating and establishing fees for solid waste collection to counties on a fee for service basis. The district also offers solid waste fee billing and collection services to member counties and has developed a public domain software billing package. The collection phase includes mail-in, local bank collection, and bank drafting options for clients. Currently the counties served include Benton, Calhoun, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Monroe, Pontotoc, Tallahatchie, and Union. This solid waste fee billing service accounts for $6 million in annual revenue, part of which goes back to the counties.

Three Rivers PDD also offers computer services, Internet services, safety training and collections. Twelve local governments use Three Rivers’ fiscal management system software to manage their accounts. Eight counties use their Internet and email services. Other counties use their regional imaging system, which scans county documents to a CD-Rom format. Currently, Three Rivers PDD is in the process of purchasing an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in order to provide affordable Internet access to its residents.

Finally, they have a company car program. Rather than paying employees to use their own cars for trips which tends to lose money, Three Rivers PDD has a fleet of 16 company cars. These cars do not go home with people, but rather stay at the Three Rivers PDD headquarters. They buy and sell the cars locally, adding to the local economy. They do not pay for mileage on staff personal cars, unless there are no more company cars available. In this way, the driver of the car can charge the miles to the carpool and it comes out of their program. According to Randy Kelley, Executive Director, "In the ten years we've been using company cars, our creditors have loved it, because we can keep track of our mileage better. When you sign a car out, you have to specify where you’re going, who you’re seeing, the starting and ending mileage. We’ve made $30,000 from this program plus we’ll eventually get money from the sale of the cars."

Strategic Plans Make Money
Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD), an EDA funded district serving three counties, contracts with nonprofit organizations and local governments to help them prepare a strategic plan for community and economic development activities in their area.

NEOEDD also offers contracted staffing services for regional organizations. Currently NEOEDD serves as staff for three cooperative state/local government programs and one nonprofit organization. NEOEDD provides fiscal administration and board management services for the Northeast Oregon Alliance region (Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties) and board management services for the Baker-Morrow Regional Partnership. These regional boards select and develop initiatives funded with Oregon Lottery revenue through the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department’s Reg-ional Investment Program. This program allows comprehensive investment in private businesses, cities and counties for a wide array of services, from municipal playgrounds to feasibility studies to reviewing the historical significance of a county courthouse.

NEOEDD also serves as staff and fiscal administrator for the Region 13 Workforce Investment Board which coordinates workforce development activities in Baker, Union and Wallowa counties. NEOEDD staffs and is fiscal administrator for Northeast Oregon Business Development which offers a regional loan program in the District.

According to Sara Miller, Economic Development Specialist, “It is very unusual for a regional development organization to have a real entrepreneur as a staff person. Entrepreneurs usually feel constrained in a public sector or nonprofit framework.” Miller also explains that their fee for service program has allowed their organization to grow from one and a half employees when she first started to six currently.

Northeast Oregon counties and other local governments have very serious restrictions on their revenue and income. However, the EDA planning grant money to NEOEDD, although a small amount, is a flexible source of income for project development. NEOEDD’s contractual services help small cities and counties in numerous valuable ways. For example, NEOEDD can contract to administer US Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grants for their small cities. In the event of an emergency or natural disaster, NEOEDD can contract to administer Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief funds.

Miller explains, “The demand for services in our area and many small rural areas is strong. We are very lucky to be able to focus on providing services for our small cities and counties.” l

For more information, contact Tom Tucker of Southeast Missouri RP &EDD at (573) 547-8357 or on the web at http://members.tripod.com/~SEMORPC/index.htm; Randy Kelley of Three Rivers PDD at (662) 489-2415 or on the web at www.trpdd.org; Sara Miller or Lisa Lang of NEOEDD at (541) 426-3598 or on the web at www.neoedd.org.

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