In a word, Yes.
Those who criticize the City of Irving for promoting the city to attract and retain companies are either naïve or refuse to understand some rather simple facts about economic development in the real world.
Those who criticize the City of Irving for promoting the city to attract and retain companies are either naïve or refuse to understand some rather simple facts about economic development in the real world.
First, cities in this and many other states spend millions on economic development every day of the week. If we are not willing to compete with them, we will lose deals that mean jobs and commercial-source taxes that help to keep Irving’s residential taxes among the very lowest in the north Texas region.
Second, while we who live here know what the city has to offer, that information will not make its way to corporate decision makers by itself. It has to be carried to them through a variety of highly competitive and costly channels. Throughout the United States there are conferences that brokers and corporate decision makers attend. There are magazines, brochures and similar marketing pieces that vie for the attention of those individuals.
The truth is: unless the City of Irving is an active player in the highly competitive economic development arena, it will miss the opportunity to attract new businesses and lose existing businesses to those cities who understand the reality of economic development and are willing to compete for business. Governments are often criticized for not being run like businesses, but no one could possibly point to a single successful municipality that has been able to thrive, let alone survive, without a marketing budget. Yet some appear to believe that an enterprise as large and important at their own city can somehow market itself without spending a penny.
