DaytonDailyNews.com

One of the nice things you hear said about Dayton is that it's small enough that individuals can make a difference, but big enough that there are always good people to help do so. Consultant Richard Florida, the academic who popularized the importance of the "creative class," has to see that as an asset — as should all those of us who live here.

Mr. Florida has been hired to teach a local class, so to speak, on the principles of his theory of fostering economic development. In a nutshell, he argues that communities that don't cultivate and retain young professionals, whose bread-and-butter relies on creativity, are going to struggle. Creative energy helps make a place livable and, if conscious efforts aren't made to attract thinkers and creators — and provide them the amenities they thrive on — a community is going to be stuck.

Mr. Florida's views have been embraced as well as doubted, but they unmistakably resonate with recruiters who see young, entrepreneurial types voting with their feet and choosing places to live that have remarkably similar attributes. Those traits include diversity, an urban feel, lots of places to hang out, a vibrant arts scene and an unabashed atmosphere of tolerance.

Mr. Florida's consulting group — no surprise here — has a formula for how he thinks people can be organized to tap underground creative people and energy. A local task force wants to give his ideas a try. They're looking for 30 people to be part of a work group.

Ideally, that body will grow, but there needs to be some structure for getting started. Once the members are chosen, they'll pick initiatives to work on that they think would impress and attract creative people, and then see what they can do to make them happen.

The enterprise will be a year long, which is long enough to immerse the group in Mr. Florida's principles and maybe time enough to get some good ideas rolling.

The initiative is being organized by the Southwestern Council on Higher Education, and the $150,000 bill is being paid by area companies, universities and nonprofits.

Ohio's brain drain is documentable. Plenty of local parents in the region don't need a Census study to tell them that what's happening across the state is happening here, too. They see that their own kids aren't coming back once they're graduating from college; and they see it with their friends' kids.

When young people are leaving because they want to go anywhere but home, there's a limit to what a community can do to overcome a powerful instinct associated with youth.

But when the next generation leaves because there's not enough to keep them here — not enough jobs, too little nightlife or not enough edginess — that's a different thing.

That problem can be fixed.

Meanwhile, Dayton is fortunate to have so many universities nearby that are importing young people who are ready-made recruits. If at least some students, after being in the region for four years, aren't persuaded that there are employment, cultural and recreational opportunities here for them — or that there's an effort under way to fill the gaps — there's no one to blame but us.

Mr. Florida isn't peddling magic bullets, but his mantra about caring about creative, young talent can't be dismissed.

Where to learn more

For more information about the local "Creative Class" initiative, contact the Southwestern Council on Higher Education at www.soche.org or (937) 258-8890.