Purpose of Research

2. Purpose of Research • What are the most effective strategic actions to take to reach our full potential as a community?

3. Research Methodology(Update of similar research five years ago) Intuitive • 100 interviews with diverse leaders • Youth (high school) focus group • Young executive focus group • Three Leadership Knoxville focus groups Systematic • Review of local and regional economic studies • Review of “Salt and Light” community research • Review of Nine Counties. One Vision. research • Review of national studies on community building

4. Results of Interviews and Focus Groups

5. Dramatic Increase in Optimism • Question • On a scale of 1 to 10, how optimistic were you five years ago that our community was moving in the right direction toward achieving its potential, and how optimistic are you today? • Five years ago: 4.68 • Today: 7.40 • Why? • Changes in leadership – UT, ORNL, County Executive, County Commission, TVA, school system, and quality of candidates for Mayor • Downtown revitalization gaining momentum

6. What are the greatest obstacles to reaching our full potential as a community?

7. Need for Connections • We’re getting better at building bridges, but our independence still creates problems • Still have difficulty working together • Need better: • Organizational cooperation • Governmental cooperation (even unification) • Regional cooperation • Racial understanding and relationships • Connection of the faith community to the real needs of the community • Need for more of what social scientist Robert Putnam calls “bridging social capital”

8. Losing our Best and Brightest • Not fully competitive in retaining or attracting creative, talented drivers of the new knowledge economy (what researcher Richard Florida calls the Creative Class) • Regional workforce underprepared for the new economy • Lack of decent-size corporate headquarters • Inadequate support system for new-economy entrepreneurs

9. Need for Confidence and Leadership • Desperate need for successes • Too many starts and stops (particularly downtown) • Downtown revitalization is seen as the key • Must deepen the pool of “servant leaders” with high standards and a willingness to take risks

10. Environmental Concerns • Air and water pollution • Urban sprawl • Gradually destroying one of our dominant strengths–our natural environment

11. Dysfunctional Families, Disadvantaged Kids • Overwhelming response in 1997; not mentioned nearly as often in these interviews • Very positive comments about potential to build on Knoxville’s Promise and Project GRAD

12. What are the greatest strengths to build on as a community to reach our potential?

13. Economic Building Blocks • University of Tennessee • Great confidence in Dr. John Shumaker • Plan—with performance scorecard—to raise UT to international prominence by 2010 • Oak Ridge National Laboratory • Great confidence in Dr. Bill Madia • Major facility and scientific upgrade already under way • Aiming to be seen as the premier federal research lab • Best place in world for research on new materials (Spallation Neutron Source) • Other internationally recognized core competencies include computational science, biotechnology, nanotechnology, nuclear science, and energy research • Partnership between UT and Battelle Corporationto manage ORNL brings together educational, research, and private sectors in new way—enhances potential for commercialization of technology and new business formation

14. Social Capital Building Blocks • Good people • Strong work ethic • Giving and generous spirit, caring and concern • Relative absence of racial discord • Respect for the importance of family • Spirit of volunteerism • Love for the community and hunger to improve it • Potential of the faith community • Potential to build on Compassion Coalition and Venture 29/7 • Good leadership coming together across denominational and racial lines

15. Social Capital Building Blocks • Bridges already being built • Way region has been brought together by Nine Counties. One Vision. • Potential to build on Project GRAD, Knoxville’s Promise, Leadership Knoxville, & United Way • Increasing awareness of need for cooperation • Generational changes and broadening of leadership • Size and nature of community • Easy to become involved in community • Large enough for plenty of options, small enough for solvable problems • Effective institutions like KCDC, PBA, and Airport Authority • 91% of kids are in public schools—most public schools perceived as good

16. Quality-of-Place Building Blocks • Natural beauty and geography • Great Smoky Mountains National Park • Four seasons • Recreational opportunities • Central location • Unique culture and traditions • Music • Folk art • Storytelling • UT sports • Potential of arts and culture community • Unique history • Historic stock of buildings downtown • Great place to live • Cost of living well below national average • Comfortable place to live and do business • Great place to raise children

17. Most Relevant Systematic Studies • Three major compilations: • MDC – The State of the South 2002 • Richard Florida – The Rise of the Creative Class • Robert Putnam – Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

18. All Other Studies and Writings Reviewed Validate the Trends and Implications Detailed in the Three Major Compilations • Economic Review 2002 – East Tennessee Economic Development Agency • Knoxville Economic and Demographic Profile, November 2002 – Mike McCarthy • Cities on the Rebound – William Hudnut • Entrepreneurial Hot Spots – Cognetics • Regional Creative Scorecard – Catalytix, Inc. • America’s High-Tech Economy – Milken Institute • Small Business Survival Index 2002 – Small Business Survival Committee • Attracting the Best and Brightest to Memphis – Memphis Talent Magnet Project • Measuring Progress Toward a Vibrant Silicon Valley – Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley • Social Capital Benchmark Survey – Seguaro Seminar (East Tennessee research by Mary Kay Sullivan, Maryville College) • ORNL Renaissance – Knoxville News Sentinel • UT Scorecard – Office of UT President Dr. John Shumaker • Nine Counties. One Vision. – A Region Growing into Greatness • Salt and Light Guidebook – Compassion Coalition • The Church of Irresistible Influence – Robert Lewis and Rob Wilkins • Seeking the Peace of the City and The Myth of the Dying Church – Doug Banister

19. The State of the South 2002 • Report for Southern Growth Policy Board and Southern Governors – update from 1986 • Days of economic growth through recruitment of low-wage, low-skill manufacturing are over • Need a broader vision and new framework for economic and community improvement

20. Big Forces Pushing the South • Globalization – Communities must measure strengths and weaknesses in context of a global economy • Technology – Transforming all businesses, yet Southern states (Tennessee included) rank low on preparation for the knowledge economy • Demographic Destiny – Population gains turning the South from biracial to multiethnic • Metropolitanization – Shifting from a largely rural to a predominantly metropolitan region • FiscalAnemia – “None of the states has modernized its [tax] system to conform to today’s more service-and-knowledge oriented economy”; therefore states’ ability to respond to new challenges is weakened

21. “In light of the forces of globalization and technology, today’s South confronts a sweeping economic challenge with an impact more devastating that the sum of its parts.”The State of the South 2002

22. Three Most Important Priorities • Education • Regionalism • Leadership

23. Education • “In an economy gone global and technological, education has become a lifelong imperative.” • Education is also an equity issue • “The line that separates the well educated from the poorly educated is the harshest fault line of all.” Former Governor of Mississippi William Winter

24. Regionalism • “The South needs leaders who can guide their communities in forging regional partnerships and new metropolitan governance structures” (such as regional confederations) Talent clusters in geographic regions; good jobs will grow best in those metropolitan regions that are the greatest talent collectors

25. Leadership • “Every Southern state should pursue leadership development at the grassroots, in the civic sphere, and for public elective office. Universities have a vital role to play in bringing knowledge to bear on the major issues facing states and communities—and in arming elected and civic leaders with knowledge and the skill to lead in an often fractious democratic society. Traditional leadership development programs that focus on building a network among a limited representation of the community are not the answer. States, cities, towns, and counties require the development of leaders—knowledgeable of trends and issues, representative of all residents, skillful in guiding citizens in a participatory process—to meet the public-policy and human relations challenges of the 21st Century.” Leadership needed that can help communities adapt and change in a knowledge economy; can build a common vision; can create an entrepreneurial culture; can create opportunity for everyone; and is inclusive

26. Richard Florida – The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) • H. John Heinz III Professor of Regional Economic Development, Carnegie Mellon University • Substantial new research, and review of existing research, on the people who are driving the new economy, and their effects on communities

27. Major Findings • Regions that are succeeding in the new economy have high concentrations of creative people (what Florida calls the new Creative Class). • “Access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steel making. It determines where companies will choose to locate and grow, and this in turn changes the way cities can compete.” • Cities that retain or attract the Creative Class are greatly outperforming other cities economically.

28. The Creative Class • Distinguished from lower-wage Working Class and Service Class, who are paid to execute according to a plan • Creative Class is paid to create • They have considerably more flexibility in their jobs • Scientists, engineers, architects, designers, artists, musicians, educators, researchers, and those who use creativity in business, law, and health care • 30% of U.S. workforce – over 38 million people • “The Best and Brightest” • Choose places to live on the quality of the place • Companies are moving to places with a thick concentration of the Creative Class, and companies are forming and growing up there

29. Creative Class seeks the “three T’s” • Talent– Attracted to places where there is a critical mass of other bright, creative people • Technology– Attracted to areas with a strong technology base, and by being there they help build an even stronger base • Tolerance– Attracted to places with tolerance for diversity. Creative people come in all races and styles. They value individualism, self-expression, and openness to differences.

30. Florida’s Creativity Index measures the “Creative Capital” of every City-Region in the Country (Composite measures of the “three T’s”) • Knoxville ranks 89th out of 331 U.S. metropolitan areas • We rank 15th out of 32 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) between 500,000 and 1 million in population • At the national average on measures of talent • For example, Knoxville’s MSA has college graduate % of 24.6%; Raleigh Durham–Chapel Hill region has 41.2%; Austin has 36.7% • Above average on general entrepreneurship; above average on patents per capita, but below average on supporting technological entrepreneurship • Below average on measures of tolerance

31. Importance of Florida’s Research • A country of rapidly developing economic winners & losers • Widening divide between Creative Communities—high wage, wealth, and economic prosperity—versus … • … Working and Service Class Communities with much less prosperity • Why communities lose their “best and brightest”

32. Economic Prosperity Creative Capital High Medium Low

33. How to build a creative community that retains and attracts the Creative Class and creates a place where it can flourish • Creative Class prefers authentic urban cores with renovated historic buildings • Major research university or research facility is “a basic infrastructure component, more important than the canals, railroads, and freeway systems of past epochs—and a huge potential source of competitive advantage” • Attracted to a “world-class people climate” – urban parks, greenways, bike lanes, excellent schools, outdoor recreation, reduced sprawl, and a great natural environment • Attracted to thriving arts and music scenes, an active street and neighborhood life, and authentic cultural activities • “Communities need to be open to diversity and invest in the kind of lifestyle options and amenities people really want”

34. Robert Putnam–Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2001) • Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard • Details study after study showing disintegration of sense of community (social capital) over last 30 years, and how it has affected us

35. “Over the last three decades a variety of social, economic, and technological changes have rendered obsolete a significant stock of America’s social capital. Television, two-career families, suburban sprawl, generational changes in values—these and other changes in American society have meant fewer and fewer of us find that the League of Women Voters, or the United Way, or the Shriners, or the monthly bridge club, or even a Sunday picnic with friends fits the way we have come to live. Our growing social capital deficit threatens educational performance, safe neighborhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health and happiness.” Robert Putnam

36. Bridging vs. Bonding Social Capital • Bridging – inclusive (example: Nine Counties. One Vision.) • Bonding – exclusive (example: country clubs)

37. Putnam’s Recommended Agenda: To yield a “more civil, more trustworthy, more collectively caring community” • Focus on civic engagement of youth – civics education, community service, increased extracurricular options in schools • Make workplace more family and community friendly (reward volunteerism) • Reawaken the faith community (“arguably the single most important repository of social capital in the country”) to get outside its walls and deeply engage in the community (Bridging Social Capital–building trust and tolerance) • Foster new uses of electronic communications to link people • Enhance opportunities for active participation in arts and cultural life • Encourage more active participation in the public civic life of the community

38. National Benchmark Study of Social Capital • East Tennessee Foundation participated as one of 40 communities • 21 counties in East Tennessee study • We ranked higher in measures of faith-based participation and generosity with time and money • Ranked lower on measures of trust and tolerance • Conclusion – We need more bridging social capital

39. Strong Sense of Community Social Capital High Medium Low

40. Disturbing Fact: Communities that ranked highest on creative capital ranked low in social capital and vice versa. Creative Capital High Medium Low Social Capital

41. “What is really needed, and what growing numbers want, is a new model. More and more people in my interviews are leaving places like the Silicon Valley to build what they envision as real lives in real places. They yearn for some balance between being themselves and having some sort of community, not the old-style community Putnam romanticizes, but a new and more accepting kind.” -Richard Florida

42. Civic Community Inclusive, tolerant, bridging sense of community (Bridging Social Capital) IndividualisticYou do your thing, and I’ll do mine Anarchic War of all against all Social Capital and Tolerance: Robert Putnam’s Four Types of Society Low Social Capital High Social Capital HIGH TOLERANCE LOW TOLERANCE Sectarian Community In-group vs. out-group (Bonding Social Capital)

43. Knoxville’s Unique Opportunity • New Model Community that achieves the balance of which Florida and Putnam speak • Community with its own three T’s: • Talent. • Technology. • Trust.

44. Why Knoxville Can Achieve This Balance Vibrant downtown and confidence Support for technology entrepreneurship More tolerance for diversity More trust and tolerance Need for more connections High Medium Low Social Capital Creative Capital Size & nature of the community Bridges already being built Potential of faith community Giving,generous people Quality of Place Building Blocks ORNL UT

45. What are the strategic actions to take as a community to achieve that vision?

46. Talent • Building on Project GRAD to ensure educational excellence and opportunity for our most disadvantaged kids • Building on the relative confidence in the Knox County Schools to aggressively pursue a world-class school system • Encouraging and supporting regional and state efforts to make excellence in education the top public policy and funding priority (Education Means Jobs) • Creating a strong, authentic downtown with a vibrant street life and a creative music, arts, and cultural scene • Investing in parks, greenways, bike lanes, recreational opportunities, and other amenities • Supporting policies and initiatives that limit sprawl and protect the natural environment Create a world-class people environment through:

47. Technology • Supporting the efforts of Dr. Shumaker to transform UT into an internationally recognized research university • Supporting the efforts of Dr. Madia and UT-Battelle to solidify ORNL as the premier federal research laboratory. • Using targeted recruitment and the synergy between UT and ORNL to become a talent attractor for world-class scientists, researchers, research and development consortia, and technology companies • Determining how to support UT, ORNL, and Technology 2020 in commercializing technology and creating a more entrepreneurial regional culture (e.g., incubators, research foundations, seed capital, the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, the Technopreneurial program) Build on the technology research and development assets of the region by:

48. Trust • Creating a “leader full” community by including, training, and engaging people in leadership development across the full diversity spectrum • Making a particular effort to engage young adults in the efforts to plan for and improve the community • Mobilizing the community of faith to “get outside its walls” into bridge-building community volunteerism and partnerships, continuing the work already started by Compassion Coalition and Venture 29/7 • Seizing every opportunity to build bridges of all kinds—between competing governments, regional partnerships; organizational partnerships; and new ways, direct and electronic, to link individuals together Although seemingly at opposite ends of the individuality spectrum, the strategic actions to build both tolerance for diversity and togetherness (stronger community) in Knoxville are the same—that is, building bridges and new levels of trust between diverse people through:

49. The New Model Community High Medium Low Social Capital Talent Technology Trust Creative Capital

50. A place where we want our kids to grow up, and a place to which they will have an economic opportunity to return.