Who Can Save Ketchum?
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Michelle Griffith: No housing, No community
The economic base for our community in recent years has been real estate development and tourism. Many organizations are correctly suggesting that we must reinvent ourselves and diversify by drawing on the unique features of this area to encourage responsible, sustainable growth and entice additional varieties of businesses to locate here.
Providing local incentives to businesses, which relocate or expand responsibly would be very beneficial to the entire community. It is tempting, in this economic environment, to view any economic development as positive and to regard any requirement beyond relocation or expansion itself as burdensome. However, because we need sustainable growth, we must bear in mind that good corporate citizenship includes more than just living here.
Sustainable growth in our community must include workforce housing. As the economy recovers nationwide, workers will once again have the benefit of choosing where to live and work. If we expect that these workers will choose our community, they must be able to live here and raise a family. While housing prices have declined locally, they are still well above the national average. Since continued decline in real estate values will delay recovery, we must address housing differently. We must incentivize businesses to provide housing as they develop or expand. Failing to do this will force the wider community to either provide the necessary housing or watch the businesses relocate as their workforce elects to live in places with lower housing costs.
There are a number of ways in which businesses can be incentivized to include workforce housing in their expansion. If tax incentives were provided for the initial relocation or expansion, the tax benefits could be expanded when housing is appropriately addressed. Local and state government should be actively working on establishing these tax incentives.
If new construction is part of the expansion, the approval-permit process could be expedited (a process known as “green taping”) when housing is addressed. If transportation of goods or people is a component of the new or expanded business, transportation subsidies could be awarded in exchange for providing housing. Finding creative solutions on a per-business basis is possible. We need the will and forethought to include housing at the initial stages of relocation or expansion where it is most efficiently addressed. Failing to do so will result in further, harder to solve problems down the road.
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