They had to understand themselves and their shortcomings before they could build a successful Magic Valley economic engine, said Dr. Jerry Beck. Beck, who recently retired as president of the College of Southern Idaho, said community leaders in southeastern Idaho became frustrated with their economic development strategy about 12 years ago. "It just seemed like the way we were doing business was not working as well as it had in previous years," Beck told board members of the Lake City Development Corp. on Wednesday afternoon. "Six or eight of us would jump on a plane and fly to some company to tell them what a wonderful place we were to live and that they ought to come visit and put their business there in the Magic Valley, but we were just not able to close those deals." So they hired a consultant to look at their economy and determine what they could or couldn't be/Jeff Selle, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (Press photo by Shawn Gust: Jerry Beck, former president of College of Southern Idaho, speaks to Lake City Development Corporation board members)

Thoughts?

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