Should “staying the same” be a goal for a community? In some small, rural towns, perhaps yes. Anything that holds off inevitable population and business decline – and thus “stay the same” – is indeed progress.

But in Grand Forks? Or East Grand Forks? Not necessarily.

So, work being done in East Grand Forks this year should be seen as an early step toward progress and an effort to keep that community moving forward.

This week, the Herald published a report that retold the work that’s underway through the East Grand Forks Economic Development Authority, which last month hosted an economic forum and gauged participants’ feelings about future community development. Attendees were surveyed, and two-thirds of them said they sense a feeling of some sort of community stagnation.

A post-meeting recap, noted in the follow-up story by the Herald, said “while all agree that East Grand Forks is a high-quality community and a good place to live, there is a growing sense of stagnancy in the community. (East Grand Forks) is facing a critical challenge for its economic development efforts: the cost of basic services is rising, leaving less financial capacity for economic development.”

The meeting, and the survey, provided important feedback, said new City Administrator Reid Huttunen.

“It’s a reality check for where we are,” he said. “(Lately) we haven’t taken the time to look in the mirror and see where our weaknesses are.”

Good for East Grand Forks for pulling out that mirror and having a good, close look by allowing its residents to offer their thoughts and concerns in a non-confrontational, informative way. Although it’s just the early stages of the planning, their comments should help the city form what eventually will become a new five-year development plan.

Among the suggestions: The city must be more aggressive in supporting local business. Importantly, it also needs more space to bring in larger industrial and commercial businesses.

This is a potential blind spot that could cause issues decades down the road. East Grand Forks is dwarfed by its across-the-river neighbor, Grand Forks – a city that’s seven times larger and is blessed with what could be considered a more business-friendly option for large entities, thanks in part to relaxed state regulations and available space.

Remember what happened with the proposed Epitome soybean crush plant? The $400 million project originally was planned to be constructed near Crookston — 20 miles east of East Grand Forks — but jumped the border earlier this year and instead decided to come to Grand Forks due to what its CEO said was a cumbersome permitting process perpetuated by the state of Minnesota.

North Dakota’s process is easier, apparently. And Grand Forks has available space. So why wouldn’t a company come to Grand Forks?

Those kinds of issues will plague communities like East Grand Forks – those cities near Minnesota’s borders – unless pro-business efforts are adopted both at the state and community level, and unless there is land available for development. It’s all about industry, because retail these days is too tricky to count on; the days of a new shopping mall coming to town are probably long gone.

The Epitome decision is good news for Grand Forks. If it is built, it will be a boost for the local economy and, we assume, for the region’s ag producers.

But for East Grand Forks to thrive, it needs its own successes, building on the good things that already are happening there.

According to the report compiled after East Grand Forks’ October community meeting, the lack of industrial and commercial space is a critical limitation to growing the tax base in the city.

Of course, we suspect the city and the EDA already knew this. But it’s good that residents have figured it out too, giving those public entities a solid goal to chase as they piece together their next strategic plan – one that we hope will indeed move the community forward and avoid that dreaded stagnation.