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Straight Talk

By James Hettinger
Senior Advisor, Battle Creek Unlimited
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In a perfect world, economic development practitioners would control all their processes and operations from start to finish. Because much of our work is out in public, it is far from a perfect world and sometimes the hard work of many people can be compromised almost instantly by a careless or bitter remark made by a local citizen.

In previous columns, I have written of the many ills and challenges that have visited Michigan, dropping our economy and standard of living straight into the tank. Many of these ills originate outside of Michigan. Trade imbalances, tax inequities and poor environmental policies have hit and will continue to hit Michigan hard.

With all this going against us, why on earth would we want to make it difficult for ourselves? There is another ill besetting Michigan. It is us.

Many years ago, I was working with a British auto parts maker that was considering U.S. production sites. As time passed, the search was narrowed to three competing locations. Battle Creek was the only Michigan site in the mix.

The British prospect asked us to compile a list of local companies that might be able to supply certain components needed for the finished product. I was able to compile the list easily and I submitted it to the British company, which seemed quite pleased with the fast response. In the midst of the promising direction of things, I had made a bad, actually fatal mistake.

The British prospect carrying out its own research began to call the companies to discuss parts procurement. Until they came to a company that asked, “Why are you coming to Michigan? Companies don’t come to Michigan. They are leaving Michigan in swarms.”

The comment by a credible person in a credible company had the effect of a devastating body blow that resulted in the state of Indiana winning another world-class auto parts supplier. From that point forward in my young career, I made sure I vetted each and every list of anything that was sent to prospects.

But it is not that easy. Over Memorial Day weekend, a prospect was in town, doing some due diligence on their own. One of my associates had been working with the prospect who was interested in acquiring a Battle Creek company and keeping the jobs in the area.

At the local country club, the prospect encountered a local business person who promptly trashed the community, calling it “a city in decline” and saying he “wouldn’t invest a nickel in Battle Creek.”

This comes from a person who has made a ton of money starting and growing a business in the supportive business infrastructure provided by the people of Battle Creek. Such gratuitous commentary is about as helpful to the cause of community development as a high wind to prairie fire fighters. Fortunately, the sour notes did not spoil our song. Enough positive commentary from other business people apparently drowned out the message of the sales prevention department. But the negative event was significant enough to come to our attention.

Such occasions make it all the more difficult to sell Michigan. This has happened to every economic development practitioner at some time, whether they know it or not.
Given the state of our state, we cannot afford to make such silly mistakes. As my mother and many others have said, “If you can’t say something nice, keep your mouth shut.”

Amen.

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