Attract new industry, not old ideas

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Kansas City has long sought to become a leader in industry. In the 60's it was defense manufacturing with Bendix. In the 70's Armco Steel was the hope for many to maintain a strong base of manufacturing jobs. In the 80's, the emergence of Sprint promised to make KC the backbone of a fiber optic long distance telecom network. The 90's saw the emergence of bio-sciences led by The Stowers Institute. With each passing decade we attempt to latch on to one particular industry in the hopes that we have found the it thing. The only common denominator seems to be that we continue to fail in learning the lesson that singularity of focus in economic development leads to eventual failure. With the recent announcement that Smith Electric Vehicles is coming to the United States, and intends to build a manufacturing facility in North America, it stands to reason that EV's (Electric Vehicles) will soon grace the streets of our more progressive U.S. communities. It's no longer a question of if the United States will begin pursuing alternative fuel transportation modes, but when. I am the first to admit that the alternative fuel industry is hardly mature. The metro only has one EV dealership to date and it remains to be seen whether suburbanites will catch on to electric cars as anything more than a fad. Solar power is viable today, but only in states with significant subsidies. Our current group in Jefferson City is more enamored with ethanol than a truly clean and renewable resource like the sun. Wind and hydrogen power also show promise but are mired in technological problems that have yet to be solved. Yet even with these limitations, the promise of a new industry based around sustainable energy is too great to ignore. The Automotive X-Prize will elevate the profile of real solutions to our dependence on fossil fuels. Tesla Roadster has gone into production of their Lotus-designed electric sportscar. Phoenix Motorcar is already making fleet deliveries of their electric SUT (Sport Utility Truck) and will soon follow up with an electric SUV. Even General Motors is still sticking by their assurances that the Chevy Volt is more than just vaporware and will grace showroom floors in 2010. Back to Smith EV. Usually by the time a company issues a press release, the opportunity to make the pitch to Consider Kansas City has probably passed, but I think it is important for our economic development officials to stay on top of new opportunities involving sustainable energy. Once Smith EV arrives and begins making inroads into the US delivery truck industry, other manufacturers are sure to follow suit. These are the kinds of gambles we should be taking in the area of creating new jobs. I'm certainly not advocating pursuing green industry while forsaking all others. We should certainly continue to invite all types of industry to locate in the metro. It just makes sense to me that if everything is going to be "up to date in Kansas City" we need to be up to date on what's coming over the horizon, not fading into the past.