Quality of Life: Is it Still Relevant in Economic Development
Recently, Claremore was featured in an article entitled Happy Places by Global Corporate Expansion Magazine. This feature along with other recent discussions about the outstanding quality of life in Claremore have a raised a few significant questions.
- How are we currently defining quality of life?
- What are the components of a strong quality of life?
- Does quality of life matter to site selection consultants?
For our purposes we will broadly define quality of life as those local characteristics and amenities that contribute to a better standard of living for current residents and help make the city a destination for businesses, visitors and future residents. Here a few key quality of life components: education, history & culture, economic climate, recreation, entertainment, and weather.
Does quality of life matter to site selection consultants? While it may not be a top 3 or even top 5 concern for site selection consultants, quality of life will always be relevant as long as businesses have to hire and retain employees. In spite of current economic challenges, workforce is a major factor in site selection. Site selection professionals want to know if communities can support their business with a steady and highly skilled workforce. This only happens when skilled workers want to live in or near cities that create jobs. Cities that are concerned about job creation must then continuously improve their local quality of life in order to continue to attract new workers. A proud history and culture, strong economic climate and the continued growth of local recreational and entertainment amenities will keep Claremore strongly positioned for future job growth.
Tim Hight
Executive Director
CIEDA
www.claremoreusa.com