10 Great Challenges Facing the South

By Rick Farmer

Since the end of World War II, the South has made tremendous strides in creating jobs and wealth. An industrial revolution of sorts has forever reshaped the region's economy.

With the help of a pair of Southern economic developers who have nearly 70 years of combined experience, we've compiled a list of 10 Great Challenges Facing the South. Bob Leak and Bob Goforth of Leak-Goforth Co., LLC, believe that in the coming years, how Southern states and communities deal with these issues will likely determine the growth and prosperity for future decades.

With great progress often come great challenges. But largely, the South has recognized the areas it needs to improve and is working hard to overcome every obstacle.

#1 Improving Education - This is the no-brainer of the group, certainly deserving of the top spot. The South has made great strides over the past few decades in reducing illiteracy and increasing basic skills. The percentage of children ready for first grade has increased, for instance, as have the SAT scores of college-bound students. Education funding is up all across the South. And, the "silver lining" is that now it is widely accepted that the South needs to do more to stay competitive. In fact, education is the major theme in 2002 southern political campaigns.

#2 Work Force Training - The South has to take its innately strong work ethic and leverage it to build proficiencies that 21st Century employers require. Giving students the basic life skills to be successful has long been a challenge in public education. Soft skills like punctuality, teamwork, responsibility and ethics are hard to train, but also vitally important. The South's challenge is get to kids sooner, no later than middle school, and to start preparing them early for the realities of the workplace.

#3 Air Quality - It was once a problem relegated to the congested northeastern metropolises and the freeway-happy western communities. But with the continued explosive development of the South, preserving air quality is an issue even in mid-sized cities. Finding a way to clear the air without suppressing needed development is a great challenge the South must address.

#4 Loss of Manufacturing Jobs - The transition of the national economy from a manufacturing model to a service model has leaders all over the South wondering where their place in the new economy will be. Textiles and furniture jobs, two mainstays of the southern economy, are being lost to overseas manufacturers at a rapid rate. There may be no way to stop the bleeding, but the great challenge to the South will be to replace these jobs with new, higher skilled jobs. State governments across the region are implementing bold plans to attract and incentivize creation of such jobs.

#5 Growth Management - It's a byproduct of the success the South has enjoyed for the last 50 years. Growth in Southern metropolitan areas has been phenomenal and has created numerous issues in cities like Atlanta, Jacksonville and Charlotte. Some of this growth has been fueled by population declines in rural areas, where students and workers flee for lack of opportunity. But it's not all negative; the growth of many of these areas has fueled peripheral growth and prosperity for smaller communities surrounding them. The great challenge will be to reduce uncontrolled growth in these metros while simultaneously promoting growth in rural markets.

#6 Preserving Natural Resources - Growth places pressure on natural resources, but so do things that can't be controlled. Much of the South is currently in a four-year drought that sees water sources drying up. And deforestation in the areas surrounding metro markets that replaces trees with asphalt can even change weather patterns. Many southern communities recognize the danger of destroying the very attributes that made them attractive locations in the first place. The challenge here is to protect these natural resources without stifling business growth.

#7 Bringing in 'New Economy' Jobs - Much of the South is reinventing itself as the kind of place where New Economy firms can thrive. Every southern market must identify and develop the type of environment that software developers and information technology companies demand. Also, the South needs to look for opportunities to develop support services for New Economy growth.

#8 Attracting Tech-oriented Companies - In the 1990s, the South shattered old stereotypes and attitudes when a handful of high-tech chipmakers, automotive and other manufacturers located in the region. The South has done a remarkable job at creating organizations and institutes to prepare itself for such skilled work, such as centers for excellence in manufacturing. Creating cultural and social opportunities is important, too, because the majority of growth of these companies in the South has been in major metro centers. Preserving the South's exceptional quality of life is a key to enabling tech-oriented companies to attract and retain top talent.

#9 Providing a Climate Where Research & Development Can Thrive - The South has learned how to create linkages between research universities that historically have been competitors. The Research Triangle Park in North Carolina was a pioneer in this strategy, and the newfound academic cooperation has created efficient systems that reduce overlap and make the area an attractive investment for knowledge-based industries. Several southern states have also cultivated new funding sources for higher education, which help create endowed chairs, scholarships and specialized research facilities.

#10 Continued Decline of Agriculture - The agriculture sector may have finally bottomed out after a half century of decline. Or has it? The big question mark is how the South's agricultural roots will fit in a new economy. Biotechnology has great promise to create markets where agriculture can once again thrive. Discovering new uses for common agricultural products may well open the floodgates to a new marriage between farming and high-tech manufacturing-with the South leading the way.