THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994 TAG: 9406160505
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940616 LENGTH: EASTVILLE
On Tuesday, the county's Sustainable Development Task Force held a workshop to brainstorm about new industries. The workshop followed Monday's meeting of the county Board of Supervisors. The board tabled an action plan that detailed a strategy for economic revival.
{REST} Paul Hawken, founder of the $60 million gardening catalog business Smith and Hawken, spoke at the workshop. Hawken has published several books, including ``The Ecology of Commerce.'' He said Northampton's situation is common.
``Basically, you are, without anyone intending it, an exploited Third World country,'' Hawken said about Northampton County.
Like a Third World country, said Hawken, Northampton is selling its goods at low commodity prices, and buying finished products at higher rates. The net result is an outflow of cash and resources.
``You're not buying things from each other, you're buying things from out there somewhere,'' Hawken said.
Hawken suggested that the county focus on creating finished products and businesses that keep the county's cash circulating locally. And, he said, protecting Northampton's natural resources is a key factor in improving the county's economy.
``All our wealth comes from nature. Period, end of subject,'' Hawken said. He said sustainable development is the economy of the future.
``It doesn't threaten anything but waste. It does threaten that,'' he said.
After Hawken's talk, the workshop's 50 participants formed small groups to think about new industries that could be started in Northampton.
They wrote a long and varied list: Make soy ink, infant formula and tofu from local soybeans, some said.
Make cosmetics from local produce, like the cucumbers that are wasted in the fields, said others.
Hawken recommended that the county focus on creating a world-class research and convention center for environmental issues. He said conservation groups around the country are forever looking for a place to meet.
``They would love to come here,'' Hawken said. ``It's unbelievably beautiful.``
by CNB