Essays from West of 98: Good Jobs
A few months ago, I wrote an essay called “A Post-Pandemic Rural Mindset.” In this essay, I tried to consider some of the opportunities that might be available to rural communities, as the COVID—19 pandemic has opened up flexible work options and created new demand for slower living in smaller communities. As I continue to consider that post-pandemic mindset, I have circled back to thinking about jobs.
I have been thinking about revitalizing rural communities (and Stamford in particular) since I was a college student. Ever since I sketched out my earliest, most rudimentary ideas on the topic, one of the critical components has been jobs. Simply put, you have a hard time convincing people to move to a community if they do not have a way to make a living.
Over the last 50 years or so, our piece of rural America has struggled with just that question—providing good jobs to our residents. Our population peaked in Stamford at the height of the labor-intensive agriculture economy, when that economy needed the maximum number of laborers to farm crops and raise livestock. As agriculture became more mechanized, fewer workers were needed and farms and ranches became larger. With fewer people working the land, there were fewer people buying supplies, shopping in stores, buying groceries, eating in restaurants, sending their children to schools, and so on. Not everyone worked in agriculture at the height of Stamford’s population, but a large part of our labor force was impacted it by it, whether directly or indirectly.
Nostalgia is a dangerous thing because it can be fueled by selective memory. I have written of my disdain for the term “good old days,” because it usually fails to consider whether the old days were actually good for everyone. But as we look back on past prosperity and work towards increasing future prosperity, we can look to *why* those days were prosperous, without trying to recreate something that cannot be recreated. Without a doubt, good jobs are essential to that conversation.
Back in late May, a friend sent me a tweet that achieved semi-viral status within some rural and agriculture circles. A rancher and business owner in a small Colorado town was griping that, of 27 graduating high school seniors in his community, only one planned to stay local. This person complained that local taxpayers had wasted large sums of money educating this group of teenagers who were leaving. This attitude (that students are somehow beholden to a community, regardless of whether job opportunities even exist) did not sit well with me, so I fired off this response:
“Counterpoint: what have local businesses and community leaders done to encourage skills to keep their youth home? Or to return home after getting educated? It’s a waste to have total brain drain. It’s a bigger waste when a community gives its youth no reason to stay or return.”
My tweet sparked some interesting conversation over the next several days. As a result of economic trends, rural communities have struggled to provide suitable job opportunities for their young people. Sometimes, students graduate and leave to get educated or explore the world, then they return. Too often, they do not return (the “brain drain” referenced in my tweet that we have discussed in this space in the past). Our goal in providing job opportunities should not be forcing our students to stay home. Rather, we should give them reasons to WANT to stay home, or to return home.
Job creation is something of a chicken-or-egg thing. How do you attract jobs without having a suitable labor force? But how do you attract a suitable labor force without first having the jobs? I have mulled over this topic in the last few months and I have had a nagging thought that I will explore in more detail next week: in the quest for more, better jobs, maybe our first step is to reconsider how we value the jobs that we have in town right now.
What do I mean? Stay tuned!
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and podcast. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to West of 98 wherever podcasts are found.