A Conversation With ... Tim Rosenbury

Why was diversity identified as a priority for the Springfield chamber?
Back in October 2009 at a planning retreat, in response to several studies and reports … that identified Springfield’s lack of diversity as a potential impediment to future economic progress. And given that the chamber is very concerned about the economic progress of our community, we decided to make that one of our long-range priorities (in 2010).

How is the chamber working to further diversity and improve inclusion?
The main thing we’ve been doing is trying to communicate the relationship between a culturally diverse community and long-term sustainability. … It’s starting the conversation and continuing the conversation. That’s led to other individuals and organizations starting to look at doing things. For example, the Council of Churches has been looking at (diversity) from a faith perspective. With the help of several corporate citizens, the chamber sponsored three seminars for about 60 people, called “Facing Racism” (about) racism and our biases, and about how each of us has racist or biased thinking that we’re not even aware of and what we can do about it. Now, we are on the verge of having a locally run Facing Racism Institute that the chamber will be a stakeholder in.

What are some examples of underlying racist or biased thinking?
I’ll give you an example about me, where, when I think of the brightest and the best, immediately, I think of a white person – or at least, that’s what I used to think. I used to think of a white person of European descent, and I never thought about black, yellow or brown people, necessarily. … In advertising ... if I’m a white male responsible for advertising and improving the ads, and people show me just white families, I think it’s going to be fine (and) don’t think about the fact that someone who’s brown or black or yellow would look at it and say, “Well, I don’t identify with that at all.” Another example could be the way a consumer goods store stocks its shelves. I put on a Band-aid (recently), and it happened to be the color of my skin. But if I was an African-American, it wouldn’t have worked for me.

How can a lack of diversity hamper economic development?
Most companies, when they’re choosing a site for expansion, want to find a place where their employees are going to be excited about. ... A company that embraces diversity and inclusion in a big way is going to be, probably, more proactive in recruiting, training and promoting nontraditional folk. If they look at Springfield … they may say, “Wait a second. I’m not sure I can convince a manager who is not white to move (with) their family to this town.” The competition for expansion and company relocation sites is so intense that it becomes a … process of elimination. … What we want to make sure of is that our community passes all those preliminary screening tests. … Another huge economic opportunity for Springfield is for Springfield companies to work around the globe and do business internationally. And if I’m going to do business internationally, it’s very likely that … I’m going to be doing business with people who are different from me, so I need to become culturally competent.

Has the community made any strides in diversity in the last year?
I think we’ve made progress, but it’s not measurable progress necessarily. I think people are talking about it, and that’s something that didn’t happen as much. People want to talk about (diversity) and people are learning how to talk about it. I think some people are learning what (diversity) is and what it isn’t. It really isn’t political correctness, and it’s not social engineering. It’s just a way to improve our community and attract the best and the brightest (which is) in everybody’s interest.

Compared to other, smaller cities, Springfield seems more culturally diverse, so is it fair to say local diversity could be worse?
Yes, and I think that’s a point worth making here – (the chamber effort) is not to say that Springfield’s in big trouble or that we’ve not been doing anything prior to 2010. The truth is that this is a relatively easy problem to fix, if we focus on it and put some shared energy on the problem, which is that we’re not as welcoming, perhaps, to people who are different from us as maybe we should be. It’s not all this cold, horrible and hostile environment … there are a lot of good things going on, but just because you’re not sick doesn’t mean you can’t get better.
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