Opinion

Editorial

New EDC Leader Faces Stern Challenges

In a way, Richard Sullivan is assuming leadership of the Economic Development Council (EDC) of Western Mass. at an ideal time.

Indeed, there are many signs of progress in this region, and the outlook is generally quite positive.

A Chinese company is making Springfield its North American headquarters, and it will soon begin producing subway cars at the old Westinghouse site. Meanwhile, in the city’s downtown, there is a burgeoning undercurrent of entrepreneurship and innovation that could eventually lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs and put this region on the map as a place to start or build a company. And then, there’s that $800 million casino that will soon start to take shape in Springfield’s South End.

Beyond the city’s borders, a host of promising developments are taking place. Holyoke is building its own innovation district, and the Paper City is increasingly seen as a destination for entrepreneurs because of its abundance of affordable real estate and improving quality of life. Meanwhile, Westfield’s long-moribund downtown is coming back to life, East Longmeadow is booming and becoming a preferred residential and commercial mailing address, and the Northampton-Hadley-Amherst corridor continues to thrive.

There are other success stories unfolding, and together they would seem to put Sullivan, former mayor of Westfield and currently Gov. Deval Patrick’s chief of staff, in the right job at the right time.

But there are some obvious challenges ahead, and many fall outside of what many see as the standard definition of economic development — filling industrial parks with new employers.

Let’s start with workforce issues. If this region is to thrive and attract new businesess, it will need a strong workforce in place, and there are emerging trends that will make this a difficult assignment. As the story on page 24 explains, analysts project a large and potentially harmful shortfall in the number college-educated people in the years to come, and Western Mass. could be one of the harder-hit areas.

Meanwhile, the demographics of this region are changing in a profound way. The minority population will soon comprise the majority, and for many in this constituency, there are roadblocks in the way of becoming part of a highly trained workforce.

One of the challenges for not only area colleges and universities, but also economic-development leaders, is to find ways to get more area young people through high school, into college, and then through college with a degree. If this doesn’t happen, the region’s economic growth will be stunted.

As for the casino, yes, it will bring jobs, change the landscape in downtown Springfield, and make this region a much more attractive site for meetings and conventions. But it will also pose challenges — to individual businesses in the hospitality industry, and to communities such as Northampton, which are popular destinations for tourists. It is incumbent upon the EDC and other business-related groups to develop ways to integrate the casino into the business community and not have it dominate the picture.

Other challenges include the ongoing consolidation of many sectors, especially financial services, which could cost this region jobs and career opportunities, as well as the need to develop new jobs in such fields as the biosciences and clean energy, because manufacturing and a casino will not be enough.

While doing all that, the EDC must also do a much better job of making this region’s business community aware of its mission, how it fulfills it, and why area business leaders must continue to support this agency.

Back in the spring, we encouraged Sullivan to pursue this position because we thought he had the various qualities — everything from intelligence to imagination to strong leadership — needed to get the job done.

He now has the job, and we believe he’ll do well with it. That’s because he won’t shrink from those challenges, but instead address them head-on.

He’ll have to do that, because the continued vitality of the region is at stake.