Thinking regional is just the beginning
OUR VIEW
If regionalism isn't the big buzzword when it comes to economic development, we don't know what is.

Now that Clarke and Choctaw Counties have joined three others in southwest Alabama, we truly have a regional economic development organization working for us.

Regionalism is great, but globalism is the next word we need to tackle, and while it was thrown around plenty at the merger announcement Monday, we wonder if Seth Hammett's words really landed with the listeners.

When Hammett talked about manufacturers moving to be close to the market or the natural resources, he wasn't just talking about pine trees. When Mercedes-Benz built a plant in Vance, it's idea of the market wasn't Birmingham and Atlanta, it was the United States. Same goes for Hyundai, ThyssenKrupp, and Louisiana-Pacific.

When viewed in that context, regionalism almost sounds limiting, but it's a start. And it's a lot better than small towns and rural counties continually fighting each other. If we, and the people who make the decisions in these matters can wraps ourheads around this idea of truly competing globally, it will be interesting times coming to this area.

Even though a recession seems to be looming in this nation, good things can still happen in our little part of it.

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