Wind Harvest in Gratiot County

Driving north on 127 out of Lansing, the terrain is fairly flat.  Then, all of a sudden, they appear:  wind turbines.  There are one hundred thirty three with thirty four more on the way.  They draw attention and they change the view.

They stand in testimony to the fact that an economic development organization can make a real difference.  Without the work of Don Schurr and the Greater Gratiot Development Company (GGDI), it is highly unlikely the wind turbines would be there at all.

Economic Development is a fad-ridden business, whether it is robotics, life sciences, or green energy.  The rhetoric in economic development far outstrips the accomplishments in green energy.  Gratiot County stands alone in Michigan, a true best practices case, in making a green energy strategy work.

Don Schurr is a thirty five year veteran economic development practitioner.  He is place based in that he has spent his career in Gratiot County.  Economic development work in Gratiot County mandates an understanding of the agricultural economy and nobody understands it better than Don Schurr.

So, when small family owned farms began to disappear across the country because they were at a severe competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis the emerging giant corporate farms, Gratiot County realized it had to do something to assist the families who had farmed for decades.

GGDI gathered many of the farmers together and asked if they were open to a harvest of a different kind.  Instead of growing and harvesting vegetables and fruits, the farmers were asked if they would consider the harvest of wind energy for sale.

Studies had shown that the flat terrain of Gratiot County was conducive to the placement of wind turbines.  The circumstances were right for this kind of agricultural land use, only this time the product would be renewable energy.

A land pool was formed throughout the county.  People had to indicate whether they were interested in having a turbine placed on their property.  They also had to agree that the sites selected would be done through a strict process governed by engineers who would select the most likely sites for success.

The next step was to gather all governmental units within Gratiot County in a room and stay there until they crafted a countywide ordinance.  A countywide ordinance was necessary as there is considerable risk for the investor.  The ordinance was crafted to protect the citizens of Gratiot County and to provide some reasonable assurance to energy investors.

They came out of the room with two things:  a new ordinance and a level of collaboration worth a brand.

In my own mind, there are many questions about green energy as an economic development strategy.  There are other considerations such as advancing technology in oil and gas extraction that now promises our country full energy independence.  While the advanced technology is new and promising, it must be part of a bigger picture where all possible sources of energy can be harnessed to meet the needs of our country.

There will be more about green energy in future columns, but for now, Michigan should be proud of what a small county and a plucky economic development operation have successfully accomplished.