And it wasn’t. Arlen, boasting about 5000 residents, was certainly no Morgan, which had fewer than 500, and could probably comfortably sustain either Ray’s Convenience or Pete’s Corner Mart; but it was clear to both that it would not sustain two grocery stores. Arlen had been shrinking for years, slowly at first, but every year brought about more departures than arrivals as jobs increasingly urbanized and the ever dreaded rural brain drain pulled college graduates away from their hometown. The residents that remained were buying fewer goods as well, choosing instead to make the bulk of their purchases at the new corporate chain grocery store in Corpus Christi.
But it still came as a mild surprise to locals when the two put aside long held disagreements (whose central conflict no one can quite remember) and teamed up to lobby the mayor to appoint them as special advisors to the Economic Development Corporation. Temporarily establishing a mutual truce and growing the town to the point where it could sustain both stores, they reasoned, was the only way to maintain their ongoing hostilities at the currently comfortable distance.
The current Economic Development Corporation board was not incompetent, but the members did not have quite as much skin in the game as Ray or Pete. Before they joined the board, discussion and debate around authorizing the support of a wind farm had stalled. Residents were unhappy about the prospect of huge wind turbines, which residents claimed would be unsightly, noisy, and compete for farmland. The standing members were unconvinced that the project would bring a sufficient number of jobs to the town, as, once constructed, the wind turbines would spin on their own. Once the construction stopped, the engineers would likely commute from Corpus Christi if something needed attention. They judged the incentives the project owners wanted in exchange for the wind farm as unlikely to be offset long term by the “wind energy tourism” the slide decks had promised. The project was ultimately built in adjacent Taft despite a sudden influx of angry “bird watchers” at board meetings.
Once appointed, Pete immediately suggested considering lobbying Ecommerce Giant to build a warehouse near the city. On paper, Pete said, Ecommerce Giant was considering building several new warehouse and logistics buildings in Texas. A single center could allegedly bring a hundred jobs directly to town and many more in terms of contractors and suppliers. San Antonio was reportedly bidding for two. Surprising no one, Ray was not a fan. Ecommerce Giant had a history of attempting to extort local governments for tremendous incentives. Additionally, turnover rate at warehouses was sometimes more than 100% a year. So while the jobs might exist, there was no way that Arlen was capable of drawing and retaining permanent residents from such an adoption. Their decision was made easier later when Ecommerce Giant turned down their request. They were in the process of finalizing plans for a logistics center in Corpus Christie.
Told you it was a good idea, Pete was able to say at the following board meeting. But nevermind, what about a remote worker relocation program? Offer everything from hard cash to soft benefits like memberships to local gyms and free bikes to get around town. Greensburg, Indiana even offered weekly home cooked meals and on demand babysitting provided by kindly, local grandmothers, Pete cited. Was this some kind of obscene cougar pitch he had just heard? Ray mocked. Just how many people would this bring in? Ray asked. Were there even statistics on how effective grandparents were in drawing in young tech workers? Plus, would there not be a culture clash with the local, more down to earth Hispanic population? No, the answer was surely in local development. Revitalize the old downtown area. Make it a tourist destination. Give tax credits to spur artist studios and small, new downtown businesses. Make Arlen so lovely to live in and visit that people are naturally going to choose to live and play in Arlen. Arlen, a tourist destination? Pete scoffed. It takes someone either incredibly dense or incredibly optimistic to even imagine that succeeding.
It was not a particular idea that turned Arlen around. The Economic Development Corporation did end up establishing a remote worker relocation incentive program which drew some applicants but not as many as Pete had hoped. Funding a revitalization of downtown did make Arlen more livable to everyone’s benefit and it certainly slowed the exodus of residents. Small artists set up studios in the old buildings and small restaurants and bars took advantage of the tax breaks and set up shop there. Leveraging federal rural development grants and creating public and private partnerships was a big part in bringing new jobs to the area. They needed to be open to every option because not every partnership would work out. Some jobs required too much specialized knowledge that was simply not available in Arlen. But ultimately, they succeeded.
The town’s historians (of which there are none, so this will have to fill that role) will surely credit Pete and Ray with turning around the slow decline of Arlen. Their fiery passions certainly sparked a flurry of government activity in many sectors, from housing development to business development, that ended up growing Arlen two fold. It would be remiss to forget to mention that one can find neither Ray’s Convenience or Pete’s Corner Mart anymore. After the town grew big enough, a corporate chain grocery store moved in, undercutting both Ray and Pete and ultimately forcing both out of business. In the end, the town was too big for both of them.