In 1999 Mc­Kinsey & Company was commissioned to study the Winston-Salem area and report how the area stacks up against similar cities as well as what objectives need to be met in order for future growth. Of course this was at the start of the Winston-Salem Alliance and it’s hiring of Allen Joines whose prior job at the time was Winston-Salem’s Assistant City Manager for Economic Development not to mention being a director for both Downtown Development Corp. and Winston-Salem Business Inc. The follow up on that report coming ten years later will show not only has Winston-Salem not met goals but is falling behind other cities of similar size and background.

According to Don Flow the new report will say Winston-Salem has fallen behind in three areas, per-capita income, population growth and quality of life. So here we are ten years later, the same business leaders running all the same clichés, The Chamber, The Winston-Salem Alliance with Allen Joines taking over the Mayor’s office yet the report will say nothing had changed for the better, in fact it’s worse. Of course we have Dell now, oh yeah they have yet to meet their hiring goals and laid off hundreds. Oh wait we have a $24, no scratch that $42 million dollar stadium, oh wait scratch that, make that a $42 million dollar incomplete mud bowel. But we have Fedex, oh wait they not hiring as expected either. Well darn there is of course a growing airline service company at Smith Reynolds, oh I forgot PACE Airlines just shut it doors.Well that’s ok because we have United Guaranty, oh I guess I forgot again as they laid off how many so far?

So let’s see, ten years later, same business leaders running the same groups and a Mayor running unopposed. Sounds like Same Song and I expect the Same Dance from these “leaders”. I guess the only change this time around will be there won’t be a Bud Baker to say he doesn’t think the Winston-Salem Alliance would be around in 3-5 years.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Business News, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.