Illinois
COMMENTRY

The new economy — the future for rural Illinois

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." Charles Darwin wrote these words more than a hundred years ago in his Origin of the Species to emphasize how critical "responsiveness to change" is for the survival of biological species.

Today his words could well be applied to communities, rural and urban, located almost anywhere in the world. There simply are no places immune to the effects of the rapidly changing world, the global marketplace, and what policy experts call the "new economy."

Ben Mueller

Robert D. Atkinson, of the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., recently addressed the Rural Community Economic Development Conference in Springfield, sponsored by the Governor's Rural Affairs Council, Rural Partners, and the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.

Dr. Atkinson stated that in the last 15 years, a "new economy" has emerged in the United States, driven by technology advances, which has been variously labeled the "information economy," "network economy," "digital economy," "knowledge economy" and the "risk society." Together, the whole package is referred to as the "new economy."

This change in our economy has to do with technology advances such as powerful personal computers, high-speed telecommunications and the Internet. An example of this is a farmer who sows genetically altered seeds and drives a tractor with a global satellite positioning system.

Another "structural change" of the new economy is in the way we do business. Atkinson writes, "The new rules of the game require speed, flexibility, and innovation. New, rapidly growing companies are selling to global markets, and established companies are being forced to reinvent their operations to stay competitive in the new terrain."

Dr. Atkinson states that occupational change also characterizes our new economy in the U.S.: "Between 1969 and 1995, virtually all the jobs lost in the production or distribution of goods have been replaced by jobs in offices.

Today, almost 93 million American workers (which amounts to 80 percent of all jobs) do not spend their days making things-instead, they move things, process or generate information, or provide services to people." Dr. Atkinson challenged those attending the conference to work with state and local government to develop policies that "lead to a fully digital economy characterized by continuous, high levels of innovation and a highly educated and skilled workforce."

What steps should rural citizens take to meet the challenges of the new economy? Charles W. Fluharty, director of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) offered an important set of strategies in his remarks at the Illinois Rural Health Association Conference in Effingham.

Mr. Fluharty's approach is a "New Rural Pragmatism" that encourages rural leaders to build broad partnerships beyond their towns' borders. He spoke about the difficulties facing rural areas and the central cities, while the suburbs continue to grow and prosper.

He suggested three strategies to strengthen our local economies and better leverage policy that favors rural Illinois.

While Mr. Fluharty recognized that agriculture is an important part of the Illinois economy, he stated that, "Rural is more than agriculture, and for rural to have a voice in policy making, agriculture and rural interests should unite."

He further suggested that rural residents must build a more effective constituency to support their interests, and that, "The residents of rural communities and those living in our central cities might

Ben Mueller is an Extension Specialist, Community Development, and is the CoChair of the Community and Economic Development (CED) team for the University of Illinois Extension. Ben served as field staff coordinator for Rural Partners, where his role was to assist 10 counties in Illinois develop their CED organizations and complete a comprehensive strategic planning process.

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These partnerships of agriculture and rural and the central city and rural should focus on state government policies that address rural leaders' issues and concerns for sustainable development, smart growth and sprawl that benefit the economies and wellbeing of rural communities.

For rural residents to be successful in building and working in a fully digital economy in rural Illinois, traditional barriers to collaboration should be removed and the collaboration building should be as innovative and flexible as the most successful private sector models of the new economy.

Anything less could mean real difficulties for the future of many communities in rural Illinois that are unable to be responsive to our rapidly changing world.

The opinions and views of guest commentators are their own and may not represent those of the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives or the electric co-ops of Illinois.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • MAY 2000