WOBX has launched a weekly commentary, “Sound Strategy”, from our publisher Clark Twiddy that will feature issues, ideas and information focused on our mission statement of “Covering the Business News of the Greater Outer Banks”.
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes once remarked, in considering the future of financial markets, that it was important to remember that markets can remain irrational longer than any one investor can remain solvent.
More locally when we think about the future, and our investments as a region whether on the public or private side, it’s the uncertainty of an outcome that we spend the most time disagreeing about particularly when we’re going to spend money to resource a uncertain outcome.
In other words, we wonder if we’ll be right about the future. Let’s apply that fear to our economic conclusions regionally – to start, there’s a lot of good there.
Whether it’s still remarkably strong tourism trends along the Outer Banks or positive news in the surrounding counties — let’s pause here and give three cheers for Pasquotank’s rise from a Tier One county — we’re optimistic about our region.
At the core of that optimism, of course, is the fact that northeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks still a great place to live, work, learn, and play.
We suspect that, as we consider the future, those good things will be consistent barring some kind of surprise.
Financially, we translate that suspicion into a consistent business and investment performance that prizes consistency for our residents and visitors. That consistency is the springwater of our optimism.
Of course, there are challenges too and that’s another good quote: ”If things are going to stay the same around here, then a lot of things are going to have to change.”
Housing, substance challenges, healthcare, and demographics all entail risk because each of them are menacing in their consequences around the consistency of our future.
In other words, we’re going to have to work hard at changing to keep things consistent. Change, as we know, is just darn hard and our tendency as a people is always to let others go first.
That’s all well and good to know. No idea is better than the action based on it, though, and action lies at the heart of strategy.
In short, I think two things stand out in terms of consistency.
The first is concerted efforts to keep investing in the visitor experience as that’s the foundation of so many other things.
The second, of course, concerns preparing for smaller visitation numbers as a region as economic conditions and market cycles fluctuate. We’ve got to build organizations that are resilient both in good times and bad.
Said differently, in our efforts let’s question our assumptions about the future and make sure that our public and private efforts consider some rain in addition to sunshine.
Previous columns:
Sound Strategy: Linking our state’s visitor economy to our own
