STEP II

I attended last Friday's STEP II forum at the Pamlico Community College's Ned Delamar Center. It was a bit discouraging.

The point of the STEP effort is to develop an economic development plan. As I have said before, the difference between economic development and business development is that business development seeks a bigger piece of the pie for a business owner. Economic development seeks to bake a bigger pie.

The criteria for a successful economic development program is increased economic activity, particularly jobs.

STEP II has decided the most promising areas to focus on are:

1. Tourism;
2. Agriculture;
3. Marine Trades.

Personally, I would reverse the order. I think our most valuable asset is the water, and the most promising area for economic activity that brings jobs. Working waterfront, including seafood industry, is already a more substantial economic engine in Eastern North Carolina than tourism.

Still, last Friday's discussion was interesting. The conclusion I drew about tourism is, we don't have enough attractions for tourists and, if we did, we don't have enough accommodations.

I think a more promising approach is to seek "Lone Eagles," but this requires better high speed internet access.