Dear Congressman Owens: Understand your district's assets, challenges

Congratulations to Bill Owens on winning the 23rd Congressional seat.

The race was contentious and became a national contest, with major figures from both parties offering endorsements and lobbyists all the way around lining up to seek opportunities for their interests. It might be worth it, amid all this hoopla, to take a look at what the economic issues in the district are actually like and what realities our new representative will face.

The 23rd Congressional District includes 10 northern counties, which together make up more than 30 percent of New York state's land mass but contain only 4.3 percent of its population. The district is largely rural, with great scenery and a population density a fraction of the state's average. That fact alone gives us our first economic reality. Distance matters and those vast tracts of empty land offer a real challenge to traditional economic development.

We cannot easily concentrate our work force or consumer markets, which means businesses and other organizations in the district cannot gain the economies of scale that are possible with denser populations. Instead of large regional medical centers that can sustain a broad set of specialists and niche services, we have an archipelago of small rural hospitals and clinics struggling to provide basic services to a dispersed population and attract the medical professionals they need.

Large business ventures are problematic in the district, as we cannot easily concentrate either employees or customers to serve those businesses. You will be representing a region of small and often marginal businesses that cannot easily grow, regardless of how many speeches you give.

Roads can help, and modern telecommunications helps even more. Telecomm service providers have little economic incentive to offer advanced services to thin markets such as ours, so public investment in the telecommunications/information infrastructure is vital. Please support any legislation that will improve our roads and wires.

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, along with representing almost 850,000 people, you will be working with just under 18,000 businesses, most of them with fewer than 10 employees, and another 44,000 "non-employers" — sole proprietorships where the owner is the only employee. Your district trails the state average by 20 percent for employers and 30 percent for sole proprietorships. This is a very difficult area in which to start a business, and we are falling behind in spite of our best efforts.

The region is in mild decline. With the exception of Jefferson and Clinton counties, the region saw steady population decreases between 2000 and 2008, while the state as a whole saw an increase of 2.6 percent. If the impact of Fort Drum troops is factored out of Jefferson County, it too would have seen a decline in that period.

Other than Jefferson County, every other county in the district has an older population than the state average, trailing noticeably in numbers of children and young adults.

Education levels are also low, with every county in the district trailing state and national averages for bachelor's degrees among the adult population. Among Americans in general, 27.4 percent of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher. The highest levels we can boast are 21.8 percent in Essex County and 21.6 percent in Madison County. Lewis County trails the district with only 11.7 percent.

Our household incomes are 20 percent below state average, and the median value of our homes is barely 50 percent of the state average. While we generally lack the serious poverty found in some areas of the state and country, we are not doing well by almost any economic measure.

In spite of the claims made in brochures from some local development agencies, we do not have a skilled work force for the 21st century. We have the means to produce such a work force, but without the ability to offer them economic opportunities, we cannot expect to retain them once they are trained. Please support any legislation that invests in our schools and universities, but look for ways to link that to broader economic development themes.

Although it is popular to have your picture taken while supporting plans to convert technical innovations from Clarkson University into local businesses, please think bigger. Our universities can generate economic growth through investments in the arts, health care, public administration, sports and recreation, and many other ways.

Just giving us federal money is not enough, although we will appreciate everything you can do in that category. We receive more federal dollars per capita than the state average — $8.36 in the 23rd district versus $8.10 for the state as a whole. Again, Fort Drum is a large piece of this.

There are two lessons here: First, Fort Drum is important. It is our largest economic engine in the region and brings both direct impact and a supply of skilled and educated workers and customers. It also allows a level of scale in the Watertown region that supports services we otherwise would not be able to sustain.

The second lesson is that just giving us money has not helped us keep up with the rest of the state or nation, although I shudder to think where we would be without that money.

Our district includes some of the most beautiful outdoor tourism opportunities in the country, but we trail the state in our per capita retail sales and revenues from lodging and food services. A study funded by a grant obtained by your predecessor, John McHugh, showed that we don't lack tourists. We lack the business infrastructure needed to better separate those tourists from their money. Please treat investments in tourism infrastructure like investments in other economic infrastructure. A new snowmobile trail or a hotel can be as important as a new fiber optic line.

This is a farming district, and the problems of farmers, especially in the dairy industry, are notorious. They already receive massive federal and state subsidies, and it never seems to be enough to maintain profitability. Help them if you can, but think about the future. Things like the production of specialty foods or biomass-based alternative energy supplies may be better long-term bets for agriculture and could be the things that draw a new generation of investors and farmers into the agriculture business in the north country.

Good luck in office and congratulations again. I hope, as you learn your new role, that you remember the special economic and business characteristics of the 23rd District. There are few easy solutions to our problems, but our problems can be solved. If my readers have ideas for you, I will be happy to pass them on.

Greg Gardner is an associate professor of business at SUNY Potsdam. His column on business issues in the north country is published monthly in Money Matters. E-mail him at ggardner@wdt.net.