Google, the leading Internet search engine company, recently announced it would build a new facility in Ann Arbor, Mich., that is expected to produce an estimated 1,000 jobs.

The announcement helps combat the image of Michigan and the Midwest as an area in economic decline, and the attention brought by new high-tech jobs will help erase the state's RustBelt image.

Like Pennsylvania and most other states would have done, Michigan offered Google an estimated $38 million in tax breaks to land the company's new facility. But the intangible that no doubt played a role in the company's decision is the fact that Google co-founder Larry Page attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Page's connection to the university certainly factored into the 1,000-job investment. California--based Google started with a list of 50 potential locations before finally deciding on Ann Arbor.

A similar situation occurred in Pittsburgh several years ago when Seagate, a leading computer disk drive manufacturer, tried to lure a Carnegie-Mellon University professor to join the company. Instead of leaving for California's Silicon Valley, the CMU professor decided he wanted to remain in Pittsburgh — and convinced Seagate to build a facility in the city. Jobs and technology bragging rights came with that decision, tied partly to one person's local roots.

These kinds of economic development stories are admittedly not the norm, but they do happen. And for that reason, development officials in Butler County and across Pennsylvania should look to natives returning to the region as a legitimate avenue for job creation.

As transient as this nation has become, most people still retain a sense of their roots and often a deep connection to where they were born and raised. And often a desire to be near aging parents is another reason some people return to their hometowns. Hometown memories can sometimes motivate entrepreneurs to return home, using their talents and experience to help boost the local economy.

Just a few months ago, the death of Arthur O. Black was a local reminder of how people can leave, then return to create jobs.

Black, who died at 85, graduated from Butler High School in 1938, attended Washington and Jefferson College and graduated from MIT in 1943. Soon after, he worked at the Naval Ordnance Lab in Washington, D.C., but following the war he returned to Butler and applied his engineering degree and work experience to found Magnetics in East Butler.

Most high schools and colleges in this region have produced many outstanding graduates who have left the area to pursue their careers. Most of those people never return, but some do return, bringing valuable experiences and job-creation talents with them.

Economic development is tough work. States, counties and cities across the U.S. are engaged in a highly competitive contest to attract and retain jobs. Every state is aggressively working at economic development with tax breaks and other financial incentives. In addition, it is understood that the business climate, workforce capabilities, labor relations as well as business taxes and government regulations all play a major role in decisions on new investment or relocation.

But, all other things being equal, hometown roots can factor into a business investment decision — as with the Google announcement.

A recent announcement of 500 jobs at the Victory Road business park near Saxonburg was welcome economic news for Butler County. But the core Butler area in and around the city needs to see similar developments. It is hoped that the clearing of the former Pullman Standard site by the Community Development Corporation of Butler County (CDC) will bring jobs of a similar quality and quantity.

Beyond the traditional efforts of the CDC, it is not unreasonable for economic development agencies — and even average people living in the Butler area — to encourage friends and family who have moved away to consider returning. Growing the region's population, particularly with some of the best and brightest who left the area decades ago, would help provide Butler with a future as bright as its past.