"Build community. It will help you out a whole lot more than money when things fall apart."  -- Fran Peavey, San Francisco educator and activist.

For two years I have been trying to write the ultimate paper on industry cluster development, and especially  the development of a regional economy built on green industries and the restoration of our environment. This is especially tough because I am a psychologist, not an economic developer. But as a psychologist, I am acutely aware of the importance of social support and connection in human peak performance... in creativity... in sustaining commitment.  And I naturally extend that awareness to the potential for businesses to grow and prosper when they are functioning in a strong web of peer support with vibrant communications channels.  So the text for this sermon is my friend Fran's reflection, above.

Every Chamber and town business association knows the value of connection and shared leadership, when applied to promoting the businesses of a place.  But I haven't heard it said with a compelling voice, when applied to the emergence of green economy industries across the Hudson Valley economy.  A number of our county and regional agencies are exploring the potential of the "green economy."  I think we have yet to uncover the full potential of a cluster strategy that is anchored in an accurate appreciation of the role of internal and external connections.  In other words, industry cluster development happens whenever an agency throws money at similar industries... or brings them together in a conference now and then... or tries to brand the region as strong in this or that industry, be it tourism or Main Street business.  But that is what I'll call "shallow cluster development."  Something more is possible.

1. Start with enriching and using the communications channels.  Not just one-off conferences or external marketing - help strategic information and ideas, models and resources, to flow among your businesses and reward those who share.

2. Focus on business-to-business market-building.  Especially when the goal is to green the region through smart development choices, businesses are ahead of the general consumer population in recognizing the value of green investments and being willing to make them.   

3. Build on assets.  Asset-based economic development, starting with
serious investment in existing business and industry capacity, pays off
in regions that get it, from Appalachian Ohio to the Pacific Northwest.

4. Involve existing businesses in setting the agenda.  Seek to fill niches efficiently with minimal competition and maximum synergy so that very little effort is wasted and everyone plays to a strength.

5. Identify and invest in big projects that generate revenue and show quick benefits - an energy service company, a waste-minimization consulting firm, a "green trail" of attractions that showcase the region's distinctiveness.  

This kind of strategy, for the Hudson Valley, would put our green building, energy, and technology industries into good company with other clusters whose prosperity is understood to be key to the region's survival - culture and creativity, including human development and information technology as well as the arts, recreation, and historic preservation;  and the farm and forest base that - as I think about it - is an essential green technology in its own right. 

So we begin by bringing together the indigenous green enterprises - those tough, early adopters who have kept their businesses alive far ahead of the curve.  We convene and celebrate them, and we ask their wisdom on how to proceed.

If we truly listen, then we can't predict the outcome with any certainty. But we can recognize where the conversation is already going - in the form of many small confabs, meetings, proposals, and daydreams.  How about building up our green building, energy and technology sectors by the systematic greening of:

•  our food sector with more local, value-added production, incentives for organic certification, greatly expanded incentives for high energy efficiency and renewable power on the farm;
• our forest sector by creating sustainably-managed woodlots (following the model of the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative) and capturing "waste" for new applications such as manufacturing doors and siding and insulation from recycled wood "waste" and newsprint?
• our lodgings and restaurants, helping these critical businesses to improve their long-term economics and create more interesting destinations (as the ski people in Aspen are demonstrating)?
• our cultural, historic and artistic venues - where people gather and can appreciate the green comforts of indoor air quality, comfortable climate and beauty while taking information about the technologies home to their communities;
• and of course, our health care sector, where the removal of toxics and the creation of high-performance healing environments is the cutting edge of a more profitable, stable and effective industry.

 As the potential for these synergies is tested and demonstrated in public settings that these industries provide, successes will probably be noticed, consumers will get it and markets will expand.

In the meantime, this modest proposal could have an added impact, by sharing the responsibility for development of a green economy far more widely, and sharing it with those who have the most to gain - the existing business base that produces, and others that can benefit from purchasing, green goods and services. Advocates are calling this the "building blocks" strategy. Where it  has been tried - ranging from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Bellingham, Washington - it has added dynamism to the scene and carried out specific projects to catalyze key industries. One of the most systematic models is the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, whose work can be reviewed at www.vsjf.org.    Right now, economic development is primarily handled by a few dozen bright and caring people in suits, who are collapsing under their workload as they are expected to work miracles for our huge, complex region. Making the most of a cluster approach means  engaging  our home-grown, green and creative sectors in  a collaborative development model for shared success.

Please comment on this post.  If you are drawn to exploring this idea - especially if you are part of these sectors or work in economic development - please jump over to the pages on our upcoming conference, Cool Communities/ Living Economies: Building the Creative Green Economy, November 3 at SUNY Ulster in Stone Ridge, with a pre-conference reception and opening of the exhibit Creative and Green, at Tech City in Kingston November 2 at 6 pm.  We will celebrate the local entrepreneurs whose businesses provide a foundation for this regional vision. Please join us for these special events.