Last Sunday a good article appeared in the Washington Post about Danville, Virginia, an economically depressed town that was heavily reliant on the textile and tobacco industries. As those sectors withered, so did the future of Danville. But the town refused to give up:

Manufacturers gave up on this small town in Southside Virginia years ago. Textiles disappeared. Tobacco wilted. But scrappy little Danville refused to give up on itself.

Last week, its determination paid off when Ikea celebrated the opening here of its first furniture factory in the United States. Ikea, a Swedish company that has about a dozen factories in Europe, said it chose Danville in part because of the large, skilled labor force eager to work after years of layoffs and downsizing. The city paved its entry with new facilities, secured permits and state tobacco commission grants.

Additionally, the city invested in its historic downtown area and commissioned public art to prove their commitment to a better future, which helped attract employers. Danville should get enormous credit for undertaking so many efforts to revitalize their town. But when I see articles like this, I get a queasy feeling.

Because too many people think that attracting big industry is the only way to really improve a town. In Danville's situation, such projects are vital, given the rapid downturn in it's economic fortunes. It is extremely difficult to replace an industry like textiles, with tens of thousands of employees. Even Ikea and the various other large employers will not come close to replacing the number of industrial jobs lost in the previous decades. But they will provide some jobs to a population that desperately needs them.

I've haven't seen any details of the incentive package put together by the city and state to lure Ikea and others to the area. I fear it is the same typical boondoggle junk that happens in other areas. No doubt the government officials who put it together would claim the incentives were vital to securing the jobs, and even if they are wasteful everybody else is doing it, so they have to do the same. Unfortunately there is a grain of truth in that statement.

And I should note that this strategy will never work in an area such as the one where we live. Danville has approximately 50,000 residents.  Our towns are too small and our people scattered over comparatively vast distances. Encouraging micro businesses (five or fewer employees) is a much better use of our economic development dollars. That's not to say something like an ethanol plant or light manufacturing isn't important. But our tax dollars are a scarce resource, and we'll have a far better return on our investment if we put them into Main Streets instead of industrial parks.

In the end, we can all agree that putting together Ikea shelves is not the job of the future, and will probably require ever-less labor as time passes. Therefore, the key is to combine these sorts of (relatively) short-term fixes with long-term investments in training and education. And by education I mean everything from pre-K to college. If we want to have 21st century small towns with thriving economies, we need a 21st century workforce. All towns are made up of people, and it's time to stop focusing on bringing Ikea to town and start focusing on the people who live there.

Read the whole article here (and look at some nice pictures).