BROOKINGS Tim Reed is a man of many talents former Brookings mayor, current state senator and recently retired CEO of the Brookings Economic Development Corp. but its his focus on economic growth thats a commonality across all of his endeavors.
When you have a community that has that vitality to it, thats where people want to stay, he told the Brookings Register. The good jobs are here because they know they can get the good employees. And so thats really what economic development is about, is just to have a community thats very good when it comes to economic prosperity.
He means business, too. After all, think about it: Communities generally wither as losses pile up perhaps employers close their doors, or a school shuts down or maybe a population simply doesnt have enough young people or families to sustain it. None of that is happening in Brookings, and Reeds mindset is a big reason why.
Its one of the reasons I got involved in politics, he said. I wanted to make sure that there was opportunity for whether its a kid graduating from Brookings High School thats going right into a job or if its somebody that leaves here, make sure they want to come back here and take a job, or we keep the college students when they graduate.
Its heavy lifting doing the work of economic development, but seeing the results such as sales tax growth that in turn supports city services such as snow removal, swimming pool, parks and public safety means a lot to Reed, 59. Hes lived in Brookings his entire life, graduating from Brookings High School in 1983 and from South Dakota State University in 1988.
That was always how I kind of drove my life in politics is that because I got to stay, he said. Im a lifelong resident of Brookings. When I graduated from college there was a job available for me at 3M.
It was there he met and fell in love with Mary. They would later wed and have a family a daughter and a son, both adults now together, all in Brookings.
We chose to stay here, Reed said. I guess I want that opportunity for young folks that are either graduating from high school or graduating from college that want to come back to their town, or attract new people in I think thats whats really important.
Having the right stuff
As CEO of the BEDC for a little over three years, which he retired from at the end of December, Reed was uniquely positioned to further enhance Brookings economic credentials. He started doing just that by honing BEDCs capabilities. How so? Well, it involved having the right people and the needed specializations.
We have a business development director, we have a marketing person, we have a person that is research and data, Reed said. So now weve got these folks that are focused on individual areas and (are) very good at what they do. Weve kind of gotten away from having one person that has to do all those different jobs.
He acknowledged such an approach costs more money, but also pointed out it improves efficiencies as well.
Its not just the city of Brookings, either, that has seen benefits from that kind of change after all, while Brookings is part of its name, the BEDC has regional partners. These include the communities of Volga and Arlington, and some of the corporations funding has been provided by Brookings County.
If a business comes along and says, OK, wed like to place this business. Where can it go? Well, we dont just say just Brookings, right? Well show them Brookings options and if theres some options in other cities, we will show those options, too, Reed said. Well, over in Arlington they have a business park.
We have to think about this regionally you cant think just about Brookings city, because you think about how important the whole county is to Brookings, he continued. Where do people come to shop? They come to Brookings. We want all the communities to have economic vitality.
His retirement
As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And so it was with Reed, who laid out his reasons for retiring from the BEDC.
The reason why I decided to move on was I think the organization I split my time between legislative activities and the BEDC, and I think the BEDC needed somebody that was there 100 percent of the time, Reed explained. Splitting time wasnt working out that well, but I was also when I got into this role, I was only thinking it was going to last a year to two years at the most, and here we are at three years with it.
He continued, I was ready, too. I was semi-retired; I was just doing legislative work when I took this role on. So Im kind of just reverting back to that. Its just a good time, I think, to bring in another leader.
Since Reeds retirement, the BEDC has named longtime board member Victoria Blatchford as its interim director. She most recently served as senior vice president at HME Companies.
Joining forces
Regarding the citys plans to unify its economic development efforts news that came after Reed announced his retirement he said it has real potential while offering a caution or two as well.
Reed noted that if the now-separate groups the BEDC, the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Brookings and Visit Brookings merge, its important to have an overarching plan, which he said were doing this really well right now.
We all kind of work underneath the citys economic development master plan, he said. There are tasks within there there are goals, there are special tasks, initiatives that are within that.
He said the directors of the organizations including the Research Park at South Dakota State University, which isnt part of the citys merger plan meet on a monthly basis to discuss what each group is working on, and how they can assist each other.
Thats the kind of thing that has been happening, and I would assume if you got a new organization like that it would continue to happen, Reed said.
On the flip side of the coin
Concerns are when it seems to be driven down through the organizations, and sometimes its better for it to come up through the organizations to make sure that everything is being covered, Reed said. And so I hope that they really do take a talk to the directors and talk to the business community to say, OK, what do you all think about it doing it this way?
Reed cited the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce as an example, saying its there to represent the businesses in the city that are members and not necessarily the city so much so that one of the Chambers charters specifically states it has to lobby the city to help businesses.
So all of a sudden youre starting to get into a little bit of a conflict of interest, Reed said. There are organizations that have done these kind of things, made these mergers, that have kind of figured out how to do that. But I think the business community really needs to be consulted on that.
That said, he knows theres quite a few details that will be coming into focus. One example he pointed to was the BEDCs role in the land transfers from the city to private ownership to further economic development such as what occurred with the Brookings Marketplace and Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Companies. The whole idea behind that, and its found in state law, is to make it a sort of arms length transaction between the city and the BEDC.
The BEDC makes sure that this is good for economic development purposes, then they transfer it to the private individuals, Reed said, adding its those types of operations that need to remain at arms length from the city. I think thats going to be important to make sure that gets accomplished.
He continued, These organizations cant report directly to the city, so you get concerns when it says, This is how you will operate is kind of whats come out of this. You guys are going to join an entity together. And so theres just a lot that has to be thought of when theyre looking at this.
The city hopes to have a new board to oversee the merged economic development organization, along with a new CEO/president, in place by this coming fall, according to a news release from the city. Progress updates will be provided at City Council meetings.
The unified approach will allow Brookings to better leverage resources, encourage collaboration, and implement innovative strategies for sustainable growth, Deputy Mayor Nick Wendell said in the release. This is a pivotal step forward as we invest in our communitys future.
Areas greatness
In closing, Reed reflected on his lifelong commitment to the city and its residents one that continues in his role as District 7 state senator including his time at the Brookings 3M plant, now known as Solventum.
He said he could have gone anywhere while at 3M. After all, its a huge company with many opportunities at plants in other parts of the nation and, indeed, the world. But Reed and his family chose to stay.
Why would we go anywhere else with our great education system and great town?
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
Leave a Reply