Local Engagement

I read a few articles recently that discussed what local towns were doing to reignite an emphasis on creating sustainable communities.  When I say sustainable, I mean a majority of goods that are consumed in that particular area originate from that area.  This ranges from agriculture, textiles, crafts, manufacturing and much more.  Obviously that type of philosophy is contingent on the type of resources available to you locally.  Keeping consumption local adds jobs, creates economic value, and can potentially add stability to a region.  Mass production of goods has revolutionized our economy and our world, but there are downfalls to such advancements.  Certain events that occur, will have consequences that adversely affect some consumers over others.  For example, the governments initiative to mandate a certain amount of production of ethanol gasoline for our vehicles has had unintended consequences that very much hurt local businesses and consumers.  Ethanol fuel’s raw material is corn.  Over a third of the US’s capacity of corn was dedicated to the creation of ethanol fuel.  Taking this much capacity out of the market place led to an increase in the price of corn that was quite noticeable at the grocery store.  But a spike in the price for corn, to the normal consumer, is not that big of a deal.  The issue arose for farmers because cattle feed is mostly made of corn.  The spike in the cost of corn led to a spike in the cost of animal feed which of course led to a spike in the cost of beef.  This also led to farmers using alternative methods to feed their cattle to avoid a completion erosion of their already thin profit margins.  The alternative methods are much less palatable than corn feed, so research at your own risk.  The mandate has been rescinded by the EPA, so hopefully prices fall back in line.

Who’s to say that if beef and corn were locally sourced, then the effect of this ethanol mandate wouldn’t have been felt in all but only some communities?  If this were the case, some of us would have avoided the increase in our grocery bill every month.  Local farmers producing their own corn, and raising their own cattle would lead to some stability in the price we pay for those products.  It also gives farmers an incentive to farm, because the demand by the consumer is satisfied by local supply and not national supply.  Just an FYI, the average length of travel for the food you eat is 1700 miles.  Think about the added cost to transport this product, and how much that increases your grocery bill.

Keeping economic activity contained within a geographic area also creates economic value for that area.  It creates profitable local businesses that employ local people.  Then that local government will see an increase in tax revenues and will be able to provide better services to their citizens.

This type of philosophy can be adopted by more than just the business community, it should be embraced by local schools as well.  There was another article about what local public schools are doing to produce students that are more prepared to enter the work force.  Their solution was not to add computer games that teach math, or create some crazy progressive curriculum.  Their solution was to engage local businesses and identify their needs.  They found that their biggest worry as business owners was the lack of unskilled labor available to them.  The school worked hand in hand with local manufacturing firms, computer programming firms, and hospitality companies like restaurants and casinos to build programs that provide their students with the skills to fill job openings locally.  So far the program has been successful.  The students are more confident and excited to work and local businesses are having their expectations satisfied.  It’s a win win for businesses and students.  It also cut out the need for students to attend expensive for profit trade schools that sell you on a high job placement rate but leave out the fact that you will be 40k in the whole when you graduate.  The program offered by public schools is free for students.

There is no reason that this type of methodology can’t be utilized in districts across the country.  Every community has niche jobs that need to be filled.  Our current homogeneous curriculum in public schools and lack of engagement with local businesses ensure that the void will never be filled. 

60 years ago, when American manufacturing was at its peak, people knew what they had to do to enter this career field.  The job market was so weighted in manufacturing jobs, that young people needed little guidance on how to achieve their goal of entering this field.  People in Detroit worked for US auto and people in Pittsburgh went to the steel mills.  You had to work your way up, but once you acquired the skills then you had a career and not just a job. 

That is the difference between manufacturing jobs then, and manufacturing jobs now.  Companies do not want to invest the time and money to develop someone off the street to perform at a high level.  They expect that once that individual is hired, that they can step onto the line day one and create value.  This is an opportunity in which the public school system can make a difference.

All districts should work with local business leaders and figure out what they are looking for, then the school needs to adjust their curriculum to ensure those needs are met.  Asking an 18 year old after graduation what they want to do in life, and you get a blank stare is an epidemic that needs to be solved.  We need to provide guidance to all students on career pathing so we can avoid the blank stare. Molding students to be skilled laborers to enter the workforce upon graduation could lead to a resurgence of the middle class because we will make a shift of people having jobs, to people having careers.

The benefit of combining local production, local consumption, and tailoring education to continue that production is a very realizable goal worth exploring.  I believe that ensuring American excellence is going to take leadership on the local level more so than the national level.  Local communities know their needs more than the federal government.  But if we don’t empower people and work together to find a solution, then how can we blame the federal government for overreaching.  Each community can figure out their own solution with this philosophy and then the American community as a whole can be more prosperous.