Brains and Bucks Part 4: Main Street

[Part 4 of a series on Universities, Research, and Economic Development, based on presentations by Dr. Douglas Knowlton, President of Dakota State University, and Dr. David Chicoine, President of South Dakota State University, at a forum on the role of universities in commercialization, held on the DSU campus Tuesday, July 24, 2007.]

Part 1: South Dakota as Community
Part 2: Audience Statistics
Part 3: Hard Numbers
Part 4: Main Street
Part 5: The Ivory Tower

In the midst of our discussion, Dr. Cecilia Wittmayer, DSU's VP of Academic Affairs, brought up the issue of Main Street revitalization. Dr. Wittmayer pointed to the final item on Dr. Chicoine's list of key ingredients in promoting economic development: "interesting, vibrant communities." Madison offers plenty of attraction for folks who like the outdoors, whether they like to hunt, boat, fish, and bike, or whether they just like to have a big house on the lake. However, said Dr. Wittmayer, "Not everybody is going to live at the lake," and even those who do still want someplace to shop.

Madison's Main Street ought to be the central attraction for shopping, but in Dr. Wittmayer's view -- a view shared by many in the audience at the forum -- our beloved Egan Avenue isn't meeting that objective. Echoing comments from Mrs. Madville Times on the state of Main Street Madison, Dr. Wittmayer said Egan Avenue doesn't project a "vibrant, interesting, compelling" image. Most of the buildings are occupied, but an increasing amount of the space has been taken up by service agencies -- e.g., lawyers, insurance agents, and realtors. A vibrant downtown needs more retail, diverse shops where people can drop in and browse for a while. Egan Avenue has seen a decline in retail. For example, where there used to be five new-clothing stores and one shoe store, we now have just one new-clothing store and one consignment shop. Much of our downtown retail has been lost to the big discount stores -- Pamida and Lewis in town and Wal-mart et al elsewhere -- and the proliferation of dollar stores (the third opens here in September). Dr. Wittmayer, an expert in retail and marketing, agrees that Main Street needs to be built on retail; otherwise, the town won't have the complete vibe that will make people want to live and work here.

Dr. Wittmayer didn't suggest directly that the universities need to take a direct role in promoting this sort of downtown retail revitalization; such efforts lie beyond the scope of the information and direction on research and commercialization offered by university presidents Knowlton and Chicoine at the DSU forum. In conversation after the main presentation, local Wells Fargo branch president Ed Fiegen suggested that Egan Avenue needs another renovation like it received about twenty years ago. The trees from that round of renovation have grown quite nicely; another spruce-up could bring flowers and benches and create more inviting public space. A number of downtown buildings could also use physical improvement, inside and out. A better image could encourage entrepreneurs to start or move their retail operations downtown, but those efforts require capital from government and business, not the university.

The university may not have a direct role in promoting retail downtown (then again, it might, but that's part of the dissertation the Madville Times will start working on at DSU this fall!). However, as we turn our attention to research and commercialization in hopes of promoting economic development, we university types mustn't slip into thinking that we can solve economic development problems all by ourselves. We can research and patent all we want, but if we don't help create a "vibrant, interesting, compelling" community, we won't be able to draw the entrepreneurs, workers, and capital necessary to translate all our brain work into big bucks for our hometowns and home state.

Outside of the labs and campuses, university professors, students, and administrators need to be aware of all the other factors involved in making the local economy grow. Dr. Wittmayer and others in the forum audience demonstrated exactly that awareness. The universities will help with economic development in their area of expertise: research. Investors, city officials, and residents can do their part by supporting efforts to preserve and expand retail and other projects that will draw people to the heart of the city and promote solid economic development.

But note that universities have expertise that can be of immense help in revitalizing downtown. Dr. Wittmayer is an excellent example. With her background in retail and marketing, she gets the key issues. She can identify problems and help businesses, the Chamber, the LAIC, and the city commission see the directions they need to take. Not all of the research the university produces has to turn into a specific commercializable product or service. Sometimes the university does its job just by drawing experts to the community who can then help us see and solve our problems.