Economic Development in American Cities: The Pursuit of an Equity Agenda

3. REFLECTIONS ON AUSTIN IN THE 1990S: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH WORK FORCE INITIATIVES

CHAPTER THREE REFLECTIONS ON AUSTIN IN THE 1990S: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH WORKFORCE INITIATIVES Robert W. Glover, Dan O’Shea, and Christopher T. King INTRODUCTION Social equity in Austin during the 1990s offers a cautionary tale. Austin clearly is a community with advantages that are the envy of cities across the country. It has a tradition of progressive civic leaders from all sectors, including elected officials, business, education, and the community at large. The local economy has long benefited from an economic structure that was largely immune from wide swings, in large part due to the presence of state government and the University of Texas. It also boasts a robust array of supporting institutions, including education and training providers (e.g., The University of Texas and Austin Community College) and intermediaries such as Skillpoint Alliance and Capital IDEA. And Austin’s leadership clearly “gets it” when it comes to committing to and investing in equity-oriented strategies . Yet, with all of this going for it, Austin still made only minimal progress on the equity front in the 1990s. Is this largely a problem of insufficient scale relative to the size of the problem? Do modern market structures depend on a certain level of inequity to perform as they do even under the best of circumstances? Austin presents a real paradox. Despite having solid public and private leadership committed conceptually and financially to an equity agenda, robust 81 82 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICAN CITIES and innovative institutions, and largely favorable labor market conditions, especially in the 1990s, it has not made substantial headway in terms of equity. The initiatives described in this chapter all produced societal benefits, but they have not dramatically turned around conditions that challenge the livelihood prospects of low-income individuals, families, and neighborhoods. Individually and collectively, they have not reached a scale sufficient to dramatically eliminate the inequity of housing, education, health care, career preparation, and other social conditions more frequently endured by poor and minority residents. In fact, despite the laudable aspirations of local elected officials, in a 1998 report to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, ICF Kaiser found Austin to be the least equitable city it had studied. Nevertheless, Austin—in many respects—fits our definition of a progressive city in that its citizens have been mobilized, multiple mayors have embraced equity policies, and a civic consensus has emerged to institutionalize program and policy ideas. Austin bet on linking workforce and economic development and strong business partnerships to meet the needs of economic growth and tight labor markets. The Austin Equity Commission documented the paradox of poverty amid prosperity and challenged Austin citizens and institutions to create an “Opportunity Economy.” Austin experienced widespread pressure for an equity agenda, and a widely shared leadership has promoted this agenda. Austin’s consensus in support of equity-oriented economic and workforce development has persisted despite having primarily Anglo mayors and a city council elected totally on an at-large basis.1 Heated political fights have been held on other policy issues. Austin has waged bitter battles over clean water and other environmental issues in development, but the city has widely embraced over time the goal of promoting equity in education and workforce development. To some extent, agreement that local low-income residents should benefit from economic prosperity has defused the “no growth” movement. But the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce’s adoption of human resource development as a top priority each year since 1992 resulted from concerns about the tightening labor market. City and county elected officials have consistently voiced their support and invested local tax revenues to translate words into deeds. Grassroots community groups, especially Austin Interfaith and its network, have consistently created and maintained political pressure to ensure that these things happened as well. In contrast to the experience in other urban areas, support for such policies has also come from business groups such as the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Austin Area Research Organization. The chamber has even made substantial longterm investments of private resources. For example, it served as an incubator and supporter of and host for the Capital Area Training Foundation (subsequently renamed Skillpoint Alliance). It raised funding from its dues-paying membership to support education and workforce and economic development efforts for youth and adults, including from its most recent $13 million 83 REFLECTIONS ON AUSTIN IN THE 1990S Opportunity Austin campaign in 2004. This campaign seeks to...