By Tom Easter
June 27, 2005

Conference President Akron (OH) Mayor Don Plusquellic held a discussion panel during a Special Session of the 73rd Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors.

Plusquellic brought together a panel that consisted of Atlanta (GA) Mayor Shirley Franklin, Charlotte (NC) Mayor Patrick McCrory, and Cedar Rapids (IA) Mayor Paul D. Pate, along with three highly-regarded national experts. The panel centered on how concepts like "The Rise of the Creative Class," "Hot Jobs and Cool Communities," and "Building Manufacturing and Technology Economies" could best be used to ensure that metro economies can continue to grow by attracting and retaining businesses and workers.

"How do we make cities competitive in the 21st century?" Plusquellic asked, noting that "Metropolitan areas are responsible for 85 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product with a total of $9.4 trillion."

The first presentation was by Dr. Richard Florida, Hirst Professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Florida authored The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class. He discussed transformations in the work/leisure community and everyday life.

"The one thing that drives the U.S. economy in our cities, the one that brings us all together, is that each and every one of us is creative," said Florida. "The great opportunity of our time is to harness the creative capacities of human beings for economic growth."

The second presentation was from Dr. Edward W. Hill, Professor and Vice President of Economic Development at Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and non-resident senior fellow of the center of Urban and Metropolitan policy of the Brookings Institute.

"People move for income and opportunity and they stay for cost of living and family," stated Hill, referring to how the economics of a city have not changed. "We need to change the notion of a central business district to make that district the region's premier live/work environment and offer diversity of residential choices," said Hill, speaking of how to get residents to return to the cities.

The third presentation came from Rebecca Ryan, President and Founder of Next Generation Consulting, which has conducted interviews and focus groups with over 6,500 young professionals. She tracks their careers and community migration trends and has been a guest author or expert in business expansion management for Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

"Quality of place is a differentiator," said Ryan stating that, "Communities that don't have quality of place indexes and are failing in some of these indexes are net exporters of talent."

Finally, the mayors and panelists entered into an in-depth question and answer session, which focused on helping mayors to improve their cities through human capital investment.

If you would like to view the entire session visit the website usmayors.org to view the webcast.