PETER Richardson, the chairman of the D2N2 local enterprise partnership, does well to remind us that Notts and Derbyshire were at the heart of the first industrial revolution.
The reminder is there in Arkwright Street before Sir Richard Arkwright took off to Derbyshire to make use of water for his mills.
Today, we see the first strategy document from D2N2 which seeks to create the climate for 55,000 new jobs over the next ten years.
Yes, it is ambitious especially with the prospect of a weak world economy until 2020.
The D2N2 Growth Plan is right to concentrate on specific industry sectors such as manufacturing, medical and healthcare and transport manufacturing.
The East Midlands region is still at the heart of UK industry and shows that it can still be innovative with companies such as Alliance Boots, Experiand Rolls-Royce – plus many small companies in the supply chain.
Precisely where these new jobs will come from is an almost impossible question to answer.
Some will undoubtedly come from growing companies, some of which were identified in the Grant Thornton CBI research which we reported in Business Post last week.
But the chief executive of D2N2, David Ralph, says inward investment will come from overseas such as China and India.
That means we shall have to set our stall out in Notts and Derbyshire and be ready when potential investors come knocking on our door.
In other words, we must be ready to sell ourselves and build meaningful relationships.
The Growth Plan is a blueprint full of common sense. We have to raise the skills levels to be attractive.
Secondly, we must have accessible sites for investors that are "oven ready" – in other words, ready to go.
Finally, we must keep up the pressure for faster rail links to London. In September, the new Midland Mainline timetable will be published.
There must be significant reductions in journey times showing Network Rail, the Department for Transport and East Midlands Trains are buying into these ambitions, especially after the weeks of disruption at Midland Station shortly to descend on us.
And this should be accompanied by reassurance that electrification of the mainline to London will begin sooner rather than later.