[Vision2020] Fw: why is Moscow growing?

[Tom Ivie]

Should we look to other places to see why "the right" businesses have moved there?  Does the cost of property, labor, and electrical rates play a part?  And to what extent?

The first place that comes to my mind is the city of George, WA.  They are in the process of having major companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. relocating some of their business because 1. land is cheap, 2. labor is relatively cheap, and 3.  electrical rates are ridiculously low (maybe the lowest in the nation).  I don't know if their location to a major interstate is a factor or not, but they are within 15 min. of I-90.

Bruce and Jean Livingston <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com> wrote:     v\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } o\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } w\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } .shape {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) }    st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }                 One other thought that occurs to me as I mention high tech  companies that fit the bill for the kinds of economic development we ought to be  encouraging is that I totally spaced the infrastructure improvement that the  City has recently sought to undertake which is directed toward the kinds of  companies that we hope will grow and develop here -- extending a fiber  optic connection in a continuous  loop beyond downtown, extending   to Alturas business park up Mountainview to D Street (Eggan Youth Center,  I believe) and back to downtown.  And in thinking about that, I realize  that I completely forgot the host for this list, First Step Internet, which has  also extended high-speed connectivity
 throughout Latah County and their local  ISP competitor, Cactus Computers.  I'm sure there are other businesses that  I've forgotten, EMSI, for example, but my list was not meant to be  exclusive,  just illustrative. 
  
 Bruce  Livingston
  
    
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 From:  vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Bruce and Jean  Livingston
Sent: Tuesday,  September 19, 2006 8:55 PM
To:  Bill London; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] why is Moscow  growing?

  
  Bill, one reason not to scrap our economic development  efforts is that being a bedroom community doesn't pay the bills.  The  expenses of extending infrastructure and fire and police protection exceed the  tax revenue brought in by mere residential property, and retail is not  significantly better.  We would be much better off if we could continue to  bring in and grow companies like AHA, Terra Graphics, Eco-Analysts, Alturas  Analytics and Anatek Labs, etc.  Encouraging emerging businesses to develop  from their infancy here, and recruiting others that value our quality of life  and do not depend on extracting scarce natural resources, particularly water,  for their business to succeed, is a sensible endeavor.  And it does wean us  a bit from dependence on the University, while transferring some of that  brain-work to the taxpaying side of the ledger.  Bruce Livingston


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