In outsourced Benton Harbor, hospitality jobs are the last hope

With construction underway on Harbor Shores, a controversial publicly supported private golf-based resort in Benton Harbor, the president of the local economic development group points out that the service industry jobs created by the project cannot be outsourced.

“While our communities, like most of Michigan, have historically relied upon the manufacturing sector to provide jobs, we are looking for sustainable strategies that will not be subject to outsourcing and off-shoring.” Wendy Dant Chesser writes in an op-ed published in the Western Michigan Business Review. “Those jobs sustained by an economy based upon tourism and hospitality are not threatened by relocation overseas.”

The Harbor Shores project is controversial because it involves the long term lease of 22 acres of Benton Harbor’s public lake front Jean Klock Park. Multiple legal appeals by opponents of the project have so far failed to stop it. In September three were arrested as they tried to block bulldozers from removing trees from the park.

The project involves hundreds of high end second homes, a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, and acres of retail space.

Some critics doubt the economic viability of luxury second homes in the midst of a statewide real estate downturn. They claim that the jobs created by the project will not provide long term benefits to locals.

Benton Harbor is Michigan’s poorest town. The Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s largest appliance manufacturer, maintains its administrative offices in Benton Harbor though it has outsourced most appliance production to other countries. The company has stated that the golf course development will be good for business.