Vanderburgh County residents will vote Nov. 6 on a referendum on whether or not to consolidate Evansville and Vanderburgh County.
A unified government will improve the business climate of the area, and, thus, the local economy.
Businesses will be attracted to the area if the local government makes it easy to start up and expand; job opportunities will increase; and young professionals will stay in the area and be more willing to relocate here.
Ultimately, the local economy will benefit with a unified government.
Business climate, economy:
The EDC of Southwest Indiana Business Climate Survey results (March 2011) indicated that proactive leadership is one of the greatest needs for the region to enhance its global competitiveness. Survey participants stated their reasons of ranking the business climate poorly:
Local government lacks leadership skills.
Local government is not visionary.
Local politics is too partisan.
Lack of coordination between state and local government for new construction.
Also, the same survey reported one of the challenges businesses face is the "cumbersome startup/expansion process." A unified government will streamline processes for starting and expanding businesses because of centralized decision making and a unified voice and vision. Improving the local business climate will lead to job growth, attraction and retention of young professionals and, ultimately, a larger tax base for public services within and outside city limits.
Attract, retain young professionals:
Between 2000 and 2010, Greater Evansville lost more than 5,000 people between the ages of 20 and 34. During the same period Evansville gained more than 3,000 people older than 60. This means right at the age young professionals may become house owners, pay property taxes and contribute to the local economy, they instead are leaving the Evansville area and leaving primarily for greater job opportunities — both in terms of quality and quantity.
The Greater Evansville:
The Place for Young Professionals Task Force found in its survey (December 2011) huge gaps between what young professionals valued and how they perceived each in the area. According to the survey, young professionals highly value a stable economy with good jobs, a broad choice of places to work and an entrepreneurial environment. But that is not what they perceive Evansville offering. There need to be more job opportunities, and it needs to be easier to start businesses.
With a unified government and visionary leaders, the greater Evansville area could provide a more solid, unified and positive business climate within and outside the city limits. Then, more companies would locate here, job opportunities would increase, and more young professionals and young leaders would be more apt to stay and relocate to the Evansville area and contribute to the local economy.
Sixty percent of the survey respondents who are not from the Evansville area came here for job opportunities. Imagine if there were more jobs to attract even more young professionals to the greater Evansville area.
Now is the time for a unified government with visionary leaders making unified decisions that will enable the local economy to grow and prosper.
