Hazy Image Hampers Spokane Recruitment Efforts Economic Development Expert Says City Needs A Stronger Identity

Spokane needs to establish a stronger identity for itself if it is to maintain its competitiveness in the difficult arena of economic recruitment, according to an economic development expert.

“There’s nothing bad that anyone in America thinks about Spokane, Washington,” Jack Wimer said Wednesday. “The problem is, they just don’t think about it much.

“Spokane needs to be known for something.”

Wimer, editor of Expansion Management Magazine, made his comments at the Spokane Area Economic Development Council’s semi-annual meeting.

He said Spokane competes directly with midsized cities throughout the nation in efforts to attract relocating and expanding companies. Those cities include Huntsville, Ala., known for its work in the U.S. space program; Rochester, Minn., known as a medical center and the location of the Mayo Clinic; Des Moines, Iowa, known as the seat of the insurance industry; Tulsa, Okla., known for its aviation support industries; Charlotte, N.C., becoming the East Coast’s banking center; and Richmond, Va., on its way to being an East Coast silicon valley.

“These places are known for something,” Wimer said. “And the fact of the matter is that Spokane doesn’t have a signature industry.”

He said Spokane must determine what it wants its signature to be, and pursue that goal.

He also suggested a four-point path to economic development success. He said a regionwide approach to economic recruitment is important, rather than each entity in a region going its own way. University and business connections are important, and Wimer said the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) gives Spokane an advantage many cities don’t have.

He said the most successful recruiters use expansion and retention of existing business and industry as an important indicator of the health of the local business climate for prospective recruits.

And, he said, name brands are important. The attraction of companies with names that are known nationally and globally helps attract other companies.

“A ‘name-brand’ strategy should be incorporated into your marketing plans,” he said.

Bob Cooper, EDC’s president, said the EDC set a goal of recruiting 15 new companies and 500 new jobs to Spokane in 1996. So far, five companies with 74 jobs have moved here this year.

Cooper said five more companies are very close to making commitments to Spokane.

The EDC emphasizes the recruitment of plastics, instrumentation, electrical component and software manufacturers; distribution companies; and service providers.

, DataTimes