BVEP's new leader focuses on bringing jobs to the Treasure Valley | Local News | Idaho Statesman
Clark Krause is a blunt man with a clear mission: Find jobs that pay well for the Treasure Valley, where unemployment hovers above 9 percent.
Krause is the new executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, the industrial development arm of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. He shared concerns and strategies in an interview. Here are highlights:
BUILD ON THE PAST TO BOOST RECRUITING
The partnership’s five-year, $5 million prosperity initiative did good work getting the Valley on the map for companies looking for new locations, he said. “There seemed to be a lot of people interested in the Valley, but we just couldn’t get them to the finish line. Somewhere between them landing in the airplane and then making a decision of where they are going to go ... there is something not happening here.”
DON’T WASTE TIME ON TRADE SHOWS
“I don’t want to go to a trade show and meet with a middle manager. I want to go meet with an executive that is in charge of assets. That may be a CEO of a company. It may be a CFO.” Krause plans on 100 trips a year with the goal of “getting in front of ... those decision makers at the companies.”
FIGHT ONLY FOR FIRMS WILLING TO MOVE
If a company is “tried and true and they are in Oklahoma and they are staying in Oklahoma ... that’s not one we will probably visit. What we’re looking for is where there has been a bankruptcy, there has been a merger, there has been a consolidation, there has been an executive change. They’ve gone public. They’ve gone private. Something that is happening in that company.”
FIGHT THROUGH THE DOWNTURN
“The reality is things are brutal right now. The time of decision (to move or expand plants) has gone into a crawl. Most of the decisions being made are merger/consolidation. They are not expansion. Most executives aren’t willing to put their name on an expansion even if it’s needed, because they are worried about the next 90 days. With that being said, site visits are up here. And they are starting to percolate all over the country.”
FIGHT WITH INTENSITY, NOT JUST INCENTIVES
“Business goes where it is wanted the most and stays where it is treated the best. It’s not necessarily that we deliver the biggest check (to a relocating business) when it comes to political will. ... They are looking at Idaho. They are looking at India. They are looking at China. So it is truly a global decision anymore. You best be one of those that shows ... you are stretching yourself as far as you possibly can to bring them to your community.”
FORGET MOBY DICK — FISH FOR THE MINNOWS
Landing “whales,” those plants that hire 5,000 employees, is not likely. But the Treasure Valley labor force could be a drawing card. “People have scavenged this Valley for work force and gotten a lot of talent to move out of here. There are a lot of people that aren’t moving that have talent. I think you see Chinese companies, Korean companies, Silicon Valley companies that will see a pool of talent here and say, ‘Well, they don’t really want to move. Why don’t we create a boutique location within the Valley?’ They won’t be huge job wins, but they will be significant in that if they are successful doing that, they will grow here.”
SUMMON THE WILL TO DO WHAT IT TAKES
“I hope the Valley knows they are at their bottom, and that now the willingness to do the things that they need to do ... is here.”
Bill Roberts: 377-6408
He's right. I just hope there's someone of equal will on the other side of the legislative line, ensuring that Mr. Krause remembers that what's best for people is ultimately what's best for business.