ORGANIZATIONS COMING TOGETHER FOR COOPERATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Berrien County is entering a new era of cooperation when it comes to economic development. That was the message last week from Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette at a meeting held in Buchanan.
Fette talked about his department’s responsibilities as well as the recent efforts to have regional organizations work together. His department is responsible for public works projects, brownfields, Berrien Bus, the county planning commission and water-sewer and other infrastructure projects.
“The department started with economic development to help existing businesses and bring new companies into the area,” he said. “Right now, 80 percent of our efforts are in helping existing businesses and 20 percent is about bringing in new companies.”
Over the years, he said there’s been a growth of other organizations doing the same sorts of activities. Those organizations include Cornerstone Alliance and Watervliet-Coloma Economic Development on the north end of the county as well as the Southwestern Michigan Economic Growth Alliance in the south county along with groups in Bridgman and Harbor Country.
He traced the growth of the different economic development organizations including Kinexus, the former Michigan Works! organization that covers Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties, to the fact that Berrien County doesn’t have just one population center but several. “Everyone is spread out so each one created its own organization,” he said.
“We’ve always had this bizarre mishmash of organizations doing the same stuff,” Fette said. “It worked for a while but over the last decade we’ve realized that we’re duplicating efforts. With so many organizations, it made for unnecessary competition.”
He said it also created confusion for businesses. “It ended up inhibiting our ability to bring in new companies,” he said. “It was easier for them to work with unified entity rather than several.”
“Some years ago we were working to get a big company and they said there were too many people to work with,” he said. “It was tough medicine, but important to hear. When we talked about incentives and quality of life they wanted to know if we had the skilled workers they needed … We need to encourage people to get training and to stay here.”
He noted that this isn’t the first time that organizations in the county have tried to come together. “I’ve been here 15 years and we’re starting our third effort to figure out how to work together and have less duplication,” he said.
Fette said he thinks this effort will work because more entities have signed on including the Southwest Michigan Leadership Council which was created last year. “The council’s goal is to bring people together and get rid of turf battles,” he said. “Last year, local leaders signed a contract to work together and establish each organization’s expertise.”
With this new effort, Cornerstone Alliance and SMEGA have been identified as the lead contacts for recruiting new businesses and helping existing ones. Fette said his department along with the rest of Berrien County government will be providing “back office support” to handle items like financing, regulations and infrastructure needs.
“Each organization is identifying what they do best,” he said. “They’re also agreeing not to compete with each other on things like who gets credit. That can be a problem when organizations have to answer to their own governing boards.”
He said that while it’s been a challenge, leaders from around the county have convinced everyone that it’s best to encourage development no matter where it goes in the county. “If a company locates either in the north or the south, it’s good for everyone,” he said.
With the changes in staffing and leadership that can come over time, he said that leaders have worked to make sure that a permanent structure is in place to keep people working together.
Toward that end, the county reincorporated the Berrien County Economic Development Corporation six months ago. “It now has permanent members who get together regularly to coordinate activities,” he said. “We’re creating a structure that respects the independent organizations.”
“We’re all hoping that it will make us more competitive as a county and be in a better position to recruit new business and help existing businesses expand,” he said.
Fette noted that promoting the county when it comes to economic development can also mean lending support to nearby governments in Southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. For example, New Carlisle is hoping to land a Toyota project and Berrien County is supporting them because it would mean jobs for people here.
“We look at the distances people travel for work and any development from Kalamazoo to Elkhart to LaPorte is good for Berrien County,” he said. “We’ve thought of political boundaries too long. If Toyota locates in New Carlisle, there are companies here that could benefit. It’s good think of the economy on a regional basis.”
Fette noted that while the big projects like Toyota are the ones that get attention, job growth is actually coming from smaller companies. “You don’t hear about companies that hire five to 50 people, but that’s where the growth is at,” he said. “That’s why we put most of our effort into local business.”