More than 90 jobs are being cut at Adamstown's Bollman Hat Co. One hundred or so office jobs at Armstrong World Industries may soon be history.

Construction of a Home Depot at Schaum's Corner was abruptly halted. Meanwhile, commercial construction is off 40 percent; home building is down 75 percent.

Almost daily there's something to make you wonder whether Lancaster County's $17.5-billion economy is as resilient as it once was.

No place is immune from the business cycle, of course. But the job cuts at Bollman are attributed to competition in China, and Armstrong's ongoing retrenchment reflects broad market forces.

With Lancaster County losing 4,400 manufacturing jobs in the last four years, according to the Brookings Institution, it's reasonable to think something more profound than a temporary downturn is at work here.

What if the economic malaise that's long gripped western Pennsylvania is sinking its hooks into us? If so, is there anything we can do about it?

Share the wealth

The Lancaster County Planning Commission is taking steps to address that question.

It has hired a research firm to study the local economy. The research, to be completed by January, will lay the groundwork for a first-ever Lancaster County-specific economic plan.

The document will propose strategies for keeping the county humming. Some interesting ideas are on the table, as I found out last week at a so-called "think tank" session, one of 15 being held through April.

At the session I observed, consultants directed a two-hour discussion with 18 invited community leaders to elicit their thoughts on how governance and leadership affects the economy.

One notable consensus that emerged was openness to municipal revenue sharing. The idea is to help all municipalities in a region benefit from rises in tax revenue that occur in those municipalities experiencing a boom.

Revenue sharing might help the city and boroughs, which have little land to develop, reverse the trend of high taxes and service cuts — dynamics that make it difficult to retain residents and businesses.

Sharing the wealth has been a good thing for the economy of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, consultant David Rusk told the group.

Forty percent of the growth in tax revenue coming from commercial expansion goes into a regional pot and is shared among 108 municipalities and 60 school districts, Rusk said. Poorer communities draw more from the regional pot than well-to-do communities.

One side benefit: Municipalities are free to act regionally in finding the best sites for new businesses.

Would the people of conservative Lancaster County go for it?

Building support

Sean Flaherty, an economics professor at Franklin & Marshall College, expressed doubts, calling revenue sharing "a hard sell."

But Frank Howe, who chairs the Leacock Township supervisors, said he thinks residents would keep an open mind. Sharron Nelson, past county commissioner and former Manheim Township school superintendent, agreed. "I think people understand … that our city is shouldering an unfair burden of services," she said.

Because revenue sharing would be a big change, James Shultz of Charter Homes wondered if what needs to come first is a mechanism to build the consensus for change.

On that topic, Jack Howell, president of The Lancaster Alliance, spoke up for a new model of resident participation that engages residents at the start of a project.

Revenue sharing. Effective resident participation.

At this point it's just talk. But it's the kind of talk that could lead to a dynamic plan. And a sound plan could lead to jobs, growth and sustainable prosperity.

E-mail: jhawkes@lnpnews.com