Wealth & Money Quote by Frank Murphy

Frank Murphy draws a straight line between a region’s ability to retain its young people and the breadth and depth of its economy. The phrase "come back" implies a familiar pattern: students leave the Valley to pursue higher education and, upon graduating with specialized degrees, face a hard choice. Without local firms, research institutions, and growth sectors that value their skills, loyalty to home yields to opportunity elsewhere. The result is brain drain, a cycle in which public investment in education enriches other regions while the Valley’s own economic base stagnates.

Specialization raises the stakes. Engineers, data scientists, advanced nurses, and environmental planners do not just need any job; they need an ecosystem that includes career ladders, peer networks, and the tools of their trade. Growth here is not simply more buildings or retail square footage. It is developing capacity: modern infrastructure and broadband, lab space and clinics, venture capital and supplier networks, and the civic amenities that make a place livable. It is aligning universities and community colleges with employers through internships, co-ops, and applied research so that graduates can step into roles that are both locally rooted and globally relevant.

Murphy’s call to "develop more" also hints at diversification. A Valley anchored in a few low-wage sectors will struggle to absorb specialized talent. Moving up the value chain in existing strengths—ag-tech instead of commodity agriculture, precision logistics instead of warehousing, clean energy manufacturing instead of raw extraction—creates multipliers that ripple across small businesses and public services. Yet growth must be inclusive. If new opportunities price out longtime residents or bypass those without degrees, the social contract frays and the talent pipeline narrows.

The choice is strategic, not passive. Build a virtuous cycle where talent attracts employers, employers attract investment, and investment improves quality of life, and students will not merely come back; they will build the future of the Valley from within.