My Little Town

Brooking is a great place. The tag line used to be “Brookings, Someplace Special.” Sounds hokey, but it fits.

A contentious issue is bubbling to the surface in my little town. It is likely provoke each of us as it grows and eventually bursts.

Signatures are being gathered to refer a recent decision made by our City Council to offer substantial incentives to entice and secure a large retail store. Lowes has expressed an interest in opening one of their “Improving Home Improvement” outlets in our fine city. However, Lowes is only interested in coming to Brookings if they secure the financial encouragement. Some cry the proposed incentive as a handout to a large corporation who doesn’t need it. Others insist it is an investment to help recapture sales tax revenue lost to neighboring Sioux Falls and Watertown.

Should a community offer incentives to a retail business? It is not a new question. The issue is representative of the kind of challenge faced and debated by other communities throughout South Dakota and the surrounding area for approximately 25 years. There has been lots of discussion but no true consensus after all this time. Each community has or is struggling with finding the best strategy to continue to grow, and in all to many cases, maintain the status quo or merely survive.

I haven’t made up my mind on the issue. Before I can come to any conclusions I need to gather more information. As I do, I will try to post it here. It may provoke some discussion, which would be welcome. I believe it could be a worthwhile exercise.