Hometown Summit 2017

Some 75 percent of state and local economic development dollars--more than $100 billion--go to fewer than 1000 large corporations, such as oil and coal conglomerates, technology and entertainment companies, and big-box retail chains. But the benefits of the current incentive system are unclear at best. Notably, as much as 90 percent of the apparent direct benefits of such incentives are offset by losses suffered by the subsidized companies’ local competitors. More, the system encourages states, cities, suburbs, and towns to compete with one another for the same pot of dollars. This session tests alternatives to this zero-sum philosophy of economic development: favoring locally owned business, as well as data-driven investments in public services such as education.