Creative minds

There was a time when it was easier to create and build a business in PrinceEdwardCounty. A time when, even as many on council did not yet understand the value being created by the young and ambitious in their midst (and some actively worked against it), these folks felt supported and appreciated.

Shire Hall’s economic development office made sure of it. Though the department was never properly funded, as measured either by need or relative to similar jurisdictions, Dan Taylor was highly skilled at leveraging the few dollars he was able to get from County council to extract funds from senior levels of government. He used these funds to reach out to investors and entrepreneurs using the County’s unique competitive advantage.

Taylor was among the first to understand how the ideas of Richard Florida and Roger Martin might be applied in a community like PrinceEdwardCounty. Now principals in the Martin Prosperity Institute, part of the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, Florida and Martin were able to see more than a decade ago that Ontario’s manufacturing and industrial economy was in long-term structural decline.

Florida predicted in his 2002 study that the creative class would be the leading force of growth in the economy. Taylor knew instinctively these principles would have particular resonance in a place such as PrinceEdwardCounty. The strategy he developed and implemented was called the creative rural economy.

Essentially, Taylor understood that PrinceEdwardCounty had few competitive advantages to attract industry or manufacturers. By then, County council had paid at least two sets of consultants to explain to them that this community had neither the transportation infrastructure, skilled workforce or supply network to support this kind of investment.

But PrinceEdwardCounty was a great place to live. The creative economy enabled many entrepreneurs to untether their lives from unsatisfying urban existences and serve customers and markets around the world. They could do this from the County—amid the inspiring natural beauty, warm main street atmosphere and healthy lifestyle.

This was clearly the County’s competitive advantage. The creative rural economy was a strategy that reached across all sectors, encouraging innovation in businesses as diverse as agriculture, venture capital and tourism. Even specialized manufacturers such as Clearwater Design and Universal Fan and Blower were drawn to establish and grow their businesses in the County, because it is a great place to live and raise a family.

Among many of the initiatives that sprang from the creative rural economy was a website dedicated to telling the stories of the County’s entrepreneurs. Build a New Life (buildanewlife. ca) was a beacon to investors, entrepreneurs and dreamers. The site also presented business opportunities and links to funding and financing agencies.

Build a New Life was an accessible one-stop shop to begin a PrinceEdwardCounty business. There were links to research papers and reports that provided a wealth of information on a variety of aspects of the local economy. There were also links to universities and academics intrigued by the leadership this community had taken in the emerging new economy in Ontario. PrinceEdwardCounty had become the model of the creative rural economy. Other municipalities sent delegations to the County to see how it had been done.

But some on County council were never able to see what others saw. The strategy was too fuzzy and hard to measure in traditional ways. They wanted real jobs. Factory jobs. With benefits and pensions. The creative rural economy was new and unfamiliar. It frightened the tired old minds sitting around the council table.

In exasperation, Taylor finally took his talents and vision to a more receptive local government.

Shire Hall’s creative rural economy went with him. The Build a New Life site has lain fallow and unattended, it appears for three years. The most recent news item dates back to 2010. A wasted opportunity.

Gone, too, are a series of informal gatherings, Taylor dubbed Creative Rural Minds. Here, young entrepreneurs were encouraged to come together, to share stories—their challenges and their successes. They could forge links with potential suppliers, investors and talent.

When Taylor left, the Creative Rural Minds gatherings ended too. The need for such events, however, never went away. Just as investment in the County has continued, despite council’s indifference, entrepreneurs and businesses have continued to carve out opportunities for themselves.

Into the vacuum created by council, individuals and groups are stepping in to fill the need for such gatherings.

In Hillier, Jane MacDonald has been hosting business cultivator events each month, targeted toward women building businesses in the County.

And this week, the folks at Small Pond Arts, along with council candidate Lenny Epstein, announced they will host the first of what they hope will become a series of events to bring local entrepreneurs together. Inspired by Taylor’s work, the event is repurposing the title Creative Rural Minds.

It is too easy to say that Taylor was ahead of his time, or that council was too dull or frightened to seize or cultivate the opportunities of the creative rural economy.

With much of Taylor’s strategy now lying in tatters, it would be nothing less than a humiliating tragedy—were it not for the spirit of the entrepreneurs, investors and creative minds in this community who have pressed on to realize the promise of Dan Taylor’s vision.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca