It seems the ‘all knowing’ Randell Beck at the Gargoyle Leader and Slater Barr, President of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation figured out something most of us working class stiffs in Sioux Falls have known for years; attracting businesses to Sioux Falls based on the ‘cheap labor’ mantra doesn’t build a strong local economy. The more you pay workers, and the more skilled labor you have, the more they can invest in the community. Keep paying shit wages to the average Joe, and he will continue to shop at Walmart and live in trailer parks.
One person interviewed for the study put it a bit more bluntly: “Growth has been driven by emptying out of South Dakota’s small towns. What’s next? Where are our future workers going to come from when that trend slows?”
I call it the Sioux Falls ‘vacuum’. Instead of trying to attract ‘skilled labor’ businesses we attract ‘cheap labor’ businesses and those who want to get out of the small towns see Sioux Falls as a beacon. Until of course they get here and realize they are working twice as much just to get by.
“It used to be that economic development was shoot anything that flies and capture anything that falls,” Barr told Argus Leader reporter Anna Bahney, explaining the way most cities, including Sioux Falls, once tried to attract prospective employers. “But now we’re asking, ‘Does it boost wages? Does it raise the bar? Does it create, attract or retain wealth for the community?’ “
No. Fuck NO! And why would you think it would? It amazes me (and trust me, I do have great respect for Beck and Barr) that these two guys with all of their experience and knowledge cannot grasp simple economics, and that they have to come to some king of ‘realization’. Pay people shitty wages and you will get a shitty return on your investment.
Compared to most regional cities, Sioux Falls ranks near the bottom in metrics such as advanced degrees and, of course, income. While we are rightly proud of our small-business heritage, we have a limited capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Gee, I wonder if there is a freaking correlation between the two? Dead end jobs, that employee dead end people, pay dead end wages. I also find this column to extremely hypocritical. Do you know what the Gargoyle Leader pays their staff? It is embarrassing.
Why not set an example Randell instead of just pissing and moaning in your weekly rant. Of course, that might cut into your bonuses and wages . . . huh . . . and we wouldn’t want that, would we?