Not so long ago, economic development in Chestertown was seen as a relatively passive dynamic. While a few manufacturing and service companies did indeed locate to Kent County over the last twenty years, this was more the result of an owner’s love of the Eastern Shore than extensive promotion or incentives by local government. Simply keep the town lovely and they will come was the formula of the day.
So successful economic development projects were such things as brick sidewalks, a visitor center, and more recently, a rails-to-trails pathway from the Chester River to Washington College’s campus. And all successfully have contributed to the town’s quality of life.
But those were simpler days for Chestertown. No one could have possibly imagined, even as late as 2009 , that within four years, the downtown would lose two major banks, two beloved book stores, and more than a dozen other retail businesses. While other quality merchants have filled some of this gap, the inescapable reality is that there is a permanent paradigm shift in both retail and manufacturing in this country, and as a consequence Chestertown must reinvent itself to remain vibrant.
How Chestertown’s six candidates for mayor will respond to this challenge, as well as the town’s long term economic future, should be of paramount concern for voters in the next six weeks.
The good news for those running for mayor is that there are several unique and innovative models in similar towns that show significant promise in keeping small communities competitive centers of commerce. The bad news is that each one of them comes with severe political realities and costs.
One example is the growing popularity of local community economic development corporations or authorities. These agencies have the ability to raise public and private capital funds as well as negotiate deals that are generally outside the formal oversight of local government. As well documented by towns large and small, these nimble organizations have had dramatic positive impacts in such diverse locations as Easton, Pennsylvania ( Easton Maryland just started one just a few months ago) or Perryville, Missouri.
And yet, in many of these cases, some citizens in these communities have decried the lack of a public process in the decision-making to create economic development initiatives. And at a time when many are asking for greater transparency from local government, the implicit nature of these quasi-governmental entities to work outside community involvement have raised growing suspicion and legal concerns.
Another example is where colleges and universities in “college towns” have dedicated significant resources and attention for the revitalization of their struggling downtowns. Colleges like Oberlin and Ripon in Wisconsin are just two examples of a growing number of private and public institutions making significant investments in the redevelopment of their communities.
A similar long term strategic process is now underway between Washington College and Chestertown with the recent formation of a joint town-college task force. While the committee’s report to the Town Council and the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors is perhaps months away, it is hard to imagine their recommendations not requiring significant investments from both institutions in terms of time, focus, and/or financial investment.
And, once again, similar to those who view economic development corporations with great apprehension, there will be those who will suggest that Washington College’s growing investment in Chestertown tips the control of the town’s future into the hands of the well-endowed college rather than the community. In countless cases, despite the best intentions of institutions and municipalities, town-gown conflict over real estate remain an ongoing and expensive battle.
In addition to these long term plans, there are current challenges that need immediate attention. A prime example is the lack of a robust fiber optic broadband network in Chestertown. The town must take a leadership role in the very complex process of finding the funds and the support of internet providers to build the expensive infrastructure required for fiber to reach homes and small businesses.
Without accessible fiber optic internet capacity, Chestertown will quickly be eliminated from consideration for many small service companies highly dependent on web services. It will also eventually be a deal killer for the growing number of work at home professionals whose employers will insist they have access to fiber. The same holds true for retirees eager to take advantage of webmed services only available on fiber optic networks or families wanting stay at home education programs for their children.
The next mayor of Chestertown must be able to articulately address these sorts of economic and political challenges to be an effective agent of change. The days of rallying the council to approve brick sidewalks for downtown has been replaced by the need to mount a sophisticated, proactive economic development initiative, some of which requires a level of risk the likes of which has not been seen here before.
Paula Ruckelshaus says
Editor,
Excellent synopsis of the current state of the local economy and necessary priorities and focus for the incoming mayor and town council. Could not agree more!
Jeff Maguire says
Editor,
Great article! Economical development is definitely paramount to me in the upcoming elections. I look to support a candidate with not only vision but the drive and managerial skills to make things happen quickly. So many good points were raised throughout this piece, I would love to hear our candidates thoughts on the subjects. Dan Buettner’s book, “Thrive” is a fascinating look into the success of communities. “More than any other factor, including income, education level, and religion, the place you live determines your level of happiness”. He identifies four top factors that help promote happiness; economic freedom, high employment rate, tolerance and quality of government.
Stephan Sonn says
Editor,
I like the publisher’s recent editorial on 2013 election implications because it addresses the classic what to do question. But, there are why/how factors that lead to the present state of affairs in Chestertown, between warring factions easily described by the century their reality fix is based upon.
On one side it is absolute control of all things Chestertown from colors to the nature of enterprise. They pit history against the future in an effort to sterilize the town from new influences and even cautious changes. The other side is the status quo antagonist. The protagonist/keepers are always on a constant job of polishing the town image so bright until it blinds the eyes like sunlight on chrome. Dirt under the rug never existed, say the keepers.
So it is an issue as to whether humans should live life in an environment that is not oriented to expectations of lifestyle, business profit or future. Before the keepers, Chestertown was hardly a sacred temple and still isn’t. A story is told of aristocratic house parties of the 1950‘s where car keys were placed in a wooden salad bowl at the door. Wives picked a key from the lot and went home with the owner of the key. People in any generation will express themselves by whatever means suits them, but those who resent the pollution of signs can easily ignore the biblical implications of sin, at will.
The keepers worship the Sultana project and stunt the Garfield effort over innovative illumination that will be universal soon enough. What a ruse for culture clash. The coming mayoral election has all of the usual candidates more or less, aristocrat, professional, placeholder, reformer, wild card, and this time a keeper-censor. This may be the election that installs a city hall faux unity government where staff and mayor have the exact same mindset.
No wonder the why and how of it all is in the perpetual seeking of permanent advantage by one faction to the disadvantage of the actual majority by whatever name. Personally I would rather take my chances with the Thursday Morning Breakfast Club’s business as usual, than the Keepers Club pretenses.
Does all of this sound familiar or maybe like the preface to a book?