Bloomington ranked as 16th best-performing small metropolitan

It’s always nice to come in first place, but for Bloomington, 16th doesn’t sound too bad.

The city advanced 41 spots from last year’s ranking of best-performing small metro areas in the U.S.

On Oct. 20, the Milken Institute, a global, nonpartisan think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif., released its annual ranking of the best-performing small metropolitan areas in the nation.

Out of 179 small cities, Bloomington ranked 16.

In rating the performance of a small metro — a city with less than 245,000 residents — the Milken Institute weighed a variety of factors, including annual and five-year job growth, wage increases and technological progress.

Skip Rimer, executive director of programs and communications for the Milken Institute, said only 86 small metros had job growth this year, including Bloomington.

“This means you are growing more recently,” Rimer said. “Which is really good.”

Bloomington ranked 25th in the nation in terms of job growth from April 2009 to April 2010 and had a 4.17 percent increase in jobs from 2008 to 2009, according to data from the Milken Institute. This putting the city at eighth place in the nation in terms of one-year job growth.

“Economic development is synonymous with quality of life, so these rankings are a sign that the investments the city and our public and private partners are making in Bloomington truly are paying off,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release.

In its city rankings, the institute sees many large and small cities gain or lose position based not only on their local economy, but also on the overall U.S. economic climate, Rimer said.

Large metropolitan areas in Texas, such as Killeen (Temple-Fort Hood) and Austin (Round Rock), fared particularly well, coming in first and second place respectively out of the 200 large metropolitan areas evaluated this year.

Because Texas has a diverse economy including oil activity, a military base and less housing loss than other large metros such as in California and Florida, Rimer said Texas is doing all the right things.

In order to compete with highly positioned small metros, Bloomington implemented certain initiatives such as the Bloomington Technology Partnership in 2008.

The BTP is partially funded by the City of Bloomington and aims to bring together technology experts and government officials to improve Bloomington’s hi-tech economy.

The BTP is a program of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, which fosters the economic growth of small businesses.

Jared Schlemmer, City of Bloomington communications director, said there are always improvements to be made but that an economy can really be bolstered by small businesses and entrepreneurs — things Bloomington has in abundance.

Schlemmer said the city’s ranking was likely improved by recent developments such as the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District and the B-Line Trail project.

Schlemmer said BEAD is focused on arts and entertainment, including anything from big art galleries to large cultural fairs such as Lotus Festival. It encompasses local bars, The John Waldron Arts Center, The Buskirk-Chumley Theater, the ethnic restaurant row of Fourth Street and other local arts and entertainment venues.

“BEAD has a real focus on how independent artists and other entertainment, restaurants and bars can really add to the economy of our city,” Schlemmer said.

In addition to BEAD, the B-Line trail project — currently in phase two of construction — was credited by Schlemmer as being the single biggest economic development of the city in recent years.

“The trail is giving people a wallet friendly, environmentally friendly way to travel,”
he said.

Finally, the comeback of the General Electric manufacturing plant earlier this month contributed to Bloomington’s overall job growth numbers, Schlemmer said.

GE plans to invest $93 million for infrastructure and equipment improvements at its one million-square-foot Bloomington facility, according to an Oct. 18 press release by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

“GE created about 200 jobs, getting some new hires as well,” Schlemmer said. “They are bringing a lot of those jobs back for people who had lost their jobs before. The plan is to create 500 more jobs by 2014.”

In the future, Schlemmer said he wants Bloomington to continue working with the IU’s small business incubator to improve the city’s economic health.

The incubator was opened in June 2004 at the IU Research Park on North Morton Street.

“We want to focus on technology and life sciences,” he said. “It’s right there where you want your growth to be.”