Norman — Editor, The Transcript:
Reference the Wednesday article by reporter Andrew Knittle titled “Seeds of Prosperity.” Andrew wrote about the recent visit to Norman of economic development guru William H. Fruth who traveled all the way from Florida to tell us about the economy in Cleveland County. His visit was sponsored by the Norman Economic Development Coalition and specifically its “Centurions” who are business, health and education leaders in our fine community. In the spirit of full disclosure I am a long time member of the Norman Chamber of Commerce and also a dues paying member of NEDC which makes me a “Centurion” was well.
I learned two things from Fruth’s interesting presentation. (1) Facts and statistics can be manipulated to prove or disprove almost any preconceived notion. As you may know I’ve been accused through the years of doing the same thing so like pornography, I know it when I see it. (2) Generally the greater the distance traveled by an “expert” the more his conclusions and advice are accepted as “gospel.” Since Mr. Fruth, a proud resident of Florida, had never been to Oklahoma, let alone Norman, I was somewhat surprised that his wide ranging advice seemed to be generally perceived as the truth when it comes to economic development.
As your article accurately reported the main conclusion of Fruth’s exhaustive and I’m sure expensive examination of our economic situation is that “eight out of 10 universities don’t cause economic development” and “one out of 10 causes decline.” It was clear from his charts and comments that OU, at best, fits in the category of eight. Remarkably, zero substantive data was presented to support this hair brained theory. Other university cities that came in for criticism as well were Ft. Collins, Colo., Gainesville, Fla., and Madison, Wis. Ironically, most if not all of these communities generally show up with Norman in surveys and studies that identify America’s most attractive and livable mid size cities. For example our community was recently ranked sixth best in this nation by Money Magazine and poor old run down, anti growth and insular Ft. Collins was ranked second in the entire country. It also just happens to be the home of Colorado State University.
I strongly believe that the Norman Economic Development Coalition, which is supported by OU, the city of Norman, Cleveland County, the chamber and private sector donors, has done much good over many years to enhance job opportunities and economic development here in Norman. I also recognize the battle for new and expanded quality jobs and industries is competitive and fierce and we have to offer many tools and incentives to effectively participate in the global economy. However, I also believe Norman’s, and indeed, Oklahoma’s greatest economic engine is the University of Oklahoma with all its multi-faceted research, teaching and job creating efforts. Can Oklahoma’s flagship university do more to grow and develop our state? Of course. Does it cause little to no job creation? Even a first-grader in our excellent public schools knows the correct answer to that question but apparently a decision was made to pay an expert from Florida to come here and peddle the wrong answer.
In closing, I’ll have to give Fruth credit for one thing and it obviously is not the data supporting his conclusions. He is at least an equal opportunity criticizer of many locations throughout America, including even one county in Florida. It is named Martin County and ironically, Fruth has moved there. Could it be the quality of life experienced in Martin County had something to do with his decision to relocate there or was it the cost of a sewer or water hook up? In order to have my facts correct I think I’ll check.
CAL HOBSON
Norman
