County pushes economic summit

Spokane County Commissioners say they plan to convene an economic development summit to push the creation of good-paying jobs.

During last week’s regular meeting, Spokane’s commissioners unanimously agreed to ask economic development groups to join the summit, along with elected officials and higher-education leaders.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin said she’s discussed the idea for several months with other regional leaders. The goal, she said, is to “reach consensus on the direction we take for economic development in this area.”

A summit date has not been announced, McCaslin said last week. She was ill and unavailable for comment on Monday.

Another goal of the summit will be to clarify the roles played by the assorted groups that are attempting to shift the regional economy from a reliance on natural resources to a knowledge-based economy.

As their roles become more clear, it will also be important “to hold those different groups accountable,” McCaslin said.

The development summit would include elected officials from the City of Spokane, the county, and the cities of Liberty Lake, Spokane Valley, Cheney and Airway Heights, said Jon Eliassen, president and CEO of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council.

“This idea (of involving key government officials) has been done elsewhere. But it’s not necessarily been done here, on that scale, before,” said Eliassen.

Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris said he supports the summit, noting “I hear people say it’s going to take 10 years to make an impact. Well, I can’t wait for 10 years to get better jobs here.”

Harris said he believes there is a need for some economic development groups to merge or operate together. “I see some need for mergers,” he said. “I think INTEC (a nonprofit focused on technology growth) should be part of the EDC,” Harris said.

McCaslin said she doesn’t have that agenda.

“We recognize there will be overlaps among area groups,” she said. “But it’s important that everyone work more efficiently, and the way to do that is through coordination of effort.”

Eliassen said he supports having elected officials involved in planning, especially given the need for higher funding for economic development groups here. “A lot of what we want to do long-term has to be publicly supported,” he said. As city mayors and county officials examine and identify the kind of growth they want, those elected officials are more likely to increase spending on development, Eliassen said.

“That’s why it’s important that this summit be convened by our public leaders,” he said.