Among all the discouraging numbers noted in a recent Journal-World story about Lawrence’s stagnant growth, the most disheartening may be the statistics related to economic development and jobs.

The story listed a number of indicators that pointed to a decline in Lawrence’s population: new utility connections, new housing construction, etc. But perhaps the most telling statistic concerned jobs. The Kansas Department of Labor estimates that the average number of jobs in Douglas County has decreased from 51,900 in 2002 to 51,000 in 2006. That’s a 1.7 percent decline and a loss of 900 jobs during the same period that jobs in the Kansas City metro increased by 4.3 percent.

It’s hard to draw people – or even keep them – when you can’t offer them a job to support themselves.

Over the years, Lawrence has spent a lot of time talking about jobs. Mostly we talk about wanting “good” jobs. We’ve passed rules requiring companies that receive tax abatements to pay a “living wage,” and we’ve tended to turn our noses up at warehouses or other businesses that didn’t provide enough “good” jobs. We’ve also questioned the use of tax abatements to attract businesses. Lawrence is such a nice community, some people contended, that tax abatements aren’t needed to attract new companies.

Whether it was the national economy, an elitist mindset or just not working hard enough, it seems that our economic development efforts have stagnated in the last several years. In the current economic climate, it’s not enough to dress ourselves up and wait for prospective beaus to come along.

Lawrence is an attractive community, but competition is intense. Touting Lawrence’s advantages is part of the job, but putting Lawrence’s best foot forward also calls for vision and imagination. It takes leaders who will connect dots that other communities may not connect and put together deals that are tailored to capitalize on our unique strengths and serve the special needs of prospective businesses. Companies have many offers; what they are looking for is a unique opportunity.

Things have been pretty quiet on the local economic development and job creation front recently. Jobs were a big issue in the last Lawrence City Commission campaign, and it’s a positive sign that the city plans to begin meetings this month with the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, its economic development point person. City and chamber officials plan to work on a study to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and determine how economic development efforts can improve.

Jobs and business are the key to any community’s long-term health. Just ask communities in western Kansas that are losing population as we speak. Businesses support the tax base and provide jobs for residents who feed the local economy. It seems clear that that economy engine in Lawrence could use a little revving up.