What would you do in JeffCo if you knew you couldn't fail?

[Shelby Alexis Smith]

What risks would you take? What business would you start? What idea would you throw out there to the world? What group would you create? What adventure would you launch?

[Aaron]

What would I do / suggest? I'd find out what the county offers in terms of high-speed internet and discounts or tax incentives for telecommuting. Why isn't there a business center where smaller groups / businesses can partner, share some high speed communications costs, possible at a discount or subsidized by the state or county. Start building facilities to house some of these business divisions / spaces that are viable across the net and begin attracting young families of workers of companies in Seattle or Portland. Provide the incentive and start up means to make it work in Port Townsend or Port Hadlock. The future is in telecommuting... how many times do we hear that? But for how often its said, how many people can we reference as having made it work? And why not? If I could be a catalyst in making this happen I would... but for now living thousands of miles away its a dream, a wish... something that if I can get up there to PT and start working on I think needs to become a reality if only to help bring younger people back to the area and bringing in wages that can cover the cost of living and homeownership in the area. Thoughts? Suggestions? Does something like that already exist and being 2,000+ miles away I'm just unaware of it?

[Gabriel Bernier]

Hi. As for shared telecom costs: PA's got the sweet set-up at the Skills Center--a product of Clallam NetWorks (Economic Development Council) and ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia--with all these great resources for entrepreneurs, including but not limited to high speed internet, office machinery, and expertise.

As for the question that starts this thread:
it's in the works... keep your eyes peeled... but i tell you what: it ain't gonna be no kitty trinket store.
i see bikes everywhere and edible landscapes, and lots of parties.

[Rev.Raikes]

The place where I work, WSU in Port Hadlock, we have a direct fiber-optic drop with about a 100Mb speed. The connectivity exists and we supply neighboring offices with it. As far as subsidies, that would be a great idea to lay on the chamber of commerce.

Now the telecommuting thing. I've been thinking on that. As with any historical workplace advances, I think we as workers have to start demanding that "right". There's no technical reason we can't, aside from having customer service or device maintenance responsibilities. The problem is idealogical, and it's the old-guards' loss.

[Frank]

I really like the idea of having a creative/professional space that people can use to augment their home-based business. I have been doing a bit of research to help me visualize just how this type of facility would work in Jefferson County. As the city of Port Townsend spends hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to breathe life into the failing tourism economy, it becomes apparent that rewarding small high-tech companies and attracting telecommuting indies is a much more efficient way to build a diverse/sustainable local economy.

I would really like to hear how other local entrepreneurs would use such a facility. Meeting with clients, collaborating with peers, sharing business services? As my own business grows, I see the need for all of these things.

[Shelby Alexis Smith]

I too am super keen on exploring this possibility. I think people could and would use such a facility in all of the ways you mentioned. What I wonder is, how can we get it off the ground? Would it be an investment that a private individual or small group makes, with rental fees, etc? Would it be structured like a co-op, and if so, how do we get initial capital to pull it together? What would the key ingredients be-- etc. etc. etc. I have no experience with thinking through all the steps that might be included in pulling together a "business plan," for lack of a better term.

As a small business owner, and seeing the need for meeting space, collaboration space, shared business service, what do you envision? What would be most useful and compelling from your point of view?

[Jesse Olson]

1. Start a non-profit based affordable housing organization that could acquire properties and offer reasonable rent, or through some creative thinking offer some form of ownership that people could actually get into. The basic premise here is that once a non-profit owns a property free and clear, it would have to charge very low rent because it cannot make "profit" just to cut the owner a fat check. After properties were paid for the rent that is charged would of course to to maintenance but could also be used to improve the properties (green energy, bike racks, garden, etc), or to acquire more in the interest of providing more affordable housing to the community.

2. Get more outdoor and hands-on curriculum into the public schools. I'm not really sure how you achieve this, but through my recent experience with the on-water education program run by the wooden boat foundation-maritime center, I've found that getting kids outside and doing practical hand-on things is by far the best way to learn. A lot of time and money gets wasted trying to teach things to children that are half-asleep in a classroom. A big change in curriculum would have to be started somewhere, it would be a challenge to convince existing teachers to start integrating more physical, outdoor, hands-on, project based activities into standard curriculum.

[Jesse Thomas]

Hey, did you happen to go to the Lopez Island affordable housing lecture up at the community center?I couldn't make it, but I heard from Kees Kolff about their model.
There is an affordable housing land trust group that is pushing for developments in Jefferson and Clallam, but I forget their name. Do you know anything about this?

[Jennifer Jane]

Risks? If I couldnt fail? Build a bad-ass self-sufficient house where Otter Crossing is, complete with a well and a windmill! I'm only half-way kidding.

I've thought about the business thing for a long time. The film business is working really well in New Mexico- they give a 25% rebate to production companies for every local they hire (thanks Richardson!) The result? Over three billion dollars in business. NM used to be one of the poorest states in the country, and now, well, it's not nearly as bad as it once was. And it's cheap to live here (houses in-city go for $150,000 average). So, you can see how well this works. You make cash, you dont live paycheck-to-paycheck and everyone wins.

I'd like to see something like that on the oly pen. Why not? Get some investors to build studios in hadlock or something, each movie hires at least 100 people... But the government would never go for it. But that's what I'd do if I knew it wouldnt fail. Bring art and work to the community.

Either that or open a ridiculously fabulous gay bar. Or just a bar. Either works.

[Anne (Holloway) Stern]

I work in the field of higher education and study abroad. I have been tossing around ideas about how to provide in-depth intercultural learning opportunities for students in the Port Townsend / Jefferson Co. area (High school? Home school? Peninsula College?). I think it is becoming more and more important to experience cultures beyond our local communities -- it creates a perspective necessary to function in our very interconnected world... In my experience, international education creates a level of cultural awareness unmatched by traditional learning environments. I guess my little Port Townsend dream would be to create an organization or business that educators could utilize to develop international learning experiences for their students. There are many models already in existence, so it might be better to not re-create the wheel, but form partnerships with reputable organizations already providing these services and opportunities. The point is finding a way to bring it to the Jef. Co community in a way that is tangible, and dare I say...affordable? The one consistent factor among all the students I have worked with is that they say their education abroad experience "changed their life." I guess I believe that the culmination of these powerful individual experiences could lead to broader change at the family and community levels...perhaps creating greater curiosity and empathy towards the multi-cultures that comprise our world...

[Anne (Holloway) Stern]

P.S. Interesting article on this topic...

http://www.twq.com/08summer/index.cfm?id=303