Create West Virginia

The success of academic Richard Florida's effort to broaden awareness and action around the growth of the Creative Class has sparked numerous efforts around the world similar to Create West Virginia. Here is an initiative from Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

If everyone is making a mad dash to attract these New Economy creatives, it begs the question: can we compete? Is there a limited number of innovative people to attract, and would they choose West Virginia over other regions that seem to have more going for them?

Here are a few reasons why we should not let these kinds of worries keep us from aggressively carving out our own creative niche:

• The New Economy industry sectors continue to grow. It is an enlarging pie, and it is easier to carve out your piece of a growing pie than a shrinking one. There isn't an artificial cap on creativity and entrepreneurship.
• Our "quality of place," while certainly needing more refinement and development, is strong. This is especially true for any creatives seeking out natural, inspiring surroundings yet wanting to stay closer to East Coast urban centers.
• Creatives and entrepreneurs tend to follow a few key things that motivate them in addition to the "quality of place." They seek big challenges and working with peers in their realm of work. This is why it is so critical that we jump on opportunities to become world-class leaders in research and development in a few key "clusters" such as energy, healthcare and biometrics. These opportunities are nicely laid out in the recent Battelle Report. It's a reason why we should seek to develop compelling artististic and cultural communities that attract others from around the world. There are plenty of niche opportunities available, we just have to choose ours and develop them.

It is critical that the recent bombardment of low-rankings for WV in many business and quality of life polls doesn't paralyze us from acting creatively and swiftly to build our opportunities in the New Economy. What are your reasons for hope and confidence? What other assets do we currently possess or could we be close to developing that would strengthen West Virginia's "creative competitiveness"?