You decide Butte's fate

The interesting thing about Larry Swanson's report on the economy in Butte is that things are not nearly as bad as have been portrayed.

Swanson, an UM economist, visited with Butte's leadership and residents for the past two days as part of a new effort called Butte On the Move.

Now we know it's may be easy to dismiss the newest effort since Butte does not lack in groups trying to promote and grow a city that seems somewhat stunted when compared to neighbors Missoula and Bozeman.

At last count, there have been at least 13 or so different groups all putting forth earnest efforts to clean up, shore up, shape up and talk up the town.

But what cropped up in Swanson's talk is that Butte has some real selling points that we may have overlooked.

For example, Butte is a city, which in itself is a real plus. Cities are where growth happens and even being close to a city prompts growth for nearby towns.

Swanson points out the futility of trying to condense the entire state of Montana into one cookie-cutter economy, preferring to concentrate efforts on a local level. Every city in the state is unique and has unique needs and opportunities.

For example, although Butte has about 32,000 residents, it draws nearly 70,000 people from the region, making its pool and clout much larger than thought. Butte also has a real advantage in being located close to acres and acres of public lands, which have proven to be a magnet for growth and accompanying prosperity.

Swanson added that some sectors of our economic pie are doing very well, such as health care and professional business services, are doing well, although again, not on the level of nearby cities.

Even big-ticket sellers, like car dealers and furniture stores, can vouch for good, or even record sales. And the mine is up and running which helped level out some of the turmoil in the economy caused by such things as job losses.

Of course, nothing is as simple as that and Swanson presented reams of demographic material, which also feed into a city's future.

Swanson pointed to the emptying out of Montana's Eastern plains and the explosive growth seen in the Rocky Mountain Front. People have become much more mobile and for the first time, can choose where they live since many are not dependent on local wages for their livelihood. Investment earnings and transfer payments — in the form of social security or other payments — make that possible.

For its part, Butte seems to be top heavy with baby-boomers, those age 40 to 60, but lacks opportunities to keep younger folks here.

But Swanson's sunny words — at least sunnier than Butte has seen — come with a caveat. Growth comes to what Swanson terms as "cities of quality." If a city does not position itself for future growth and capture opportunity, people will pass it by.

That's where local efforts, like Butte on the Move and its sister groups set up in nearly every other Montana city, come in. Developing a cohesive strategy for Butte and the surrounding area needs to come from the local level with the future in mind.

Let's hope that Butte On the Move doesn't start out with a bang and end with a whimper. As in all things local, success depends on those willing to invest the time in making Butte a city for the future.

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