Private Business is the only True Job Creator

Let me start by saying that any jobs creation is not going to be a sprint it is going to be a marathon.
The greatest job-creation machine always has been and will continue to be private enterprise. It does not come from the government. The problem is that companies have been beat-up by the economic situation. Most economists think the worst is now behind us, but firms are still plagued by uncertainty about how fast the economy will recover. They cannot plan responsibly without knowing the bottom-line costs of the massive new initiatives out of Washington on health care reform and carbon-emission regulation. Even companies relatively financially fit often do not feel like taking the risk of ramping up operations and hiring more workers. Job creation is also a function of the labor supply. It is not just about firms wanting to hire, but also about having people they can usefully employ. We have to have a talented job pool.

• We are going to need to work with the local universities, Chamber for Commerce, GAGE, business leaders, Vectren, (local electric rates are too high), and local banks to bring jobs to Evansville.

• Real jobs; we have to be producing products. We cannot just be a service industry economy.

• We need to simplify local codes and regulations so that companies find Evansville as a place that is easy to do business. This will also help existing businesses wishing to expand.

• Allow entrepreneurs the ability to create without such a stringent local code. Set-up an internet site, (one stop shop), where they can obtain all the information, forms, and permits they need. Make as many of these forms as possible interactive so that they can be completed online.

• Put together a group comprised of people from local universities, Chamber for Commerce, GAGE, business leaders, representatives of local government, and local banks. This Group should be empowered to offer incentives, training, and financing to bring jobs to Evansville. They need to be people that are able to think outside of the box, be willing to travel around the United States and the world being cheerleaders for Evansville, Indiana. We cannot narrow our vision to within the shores of the United States of America anymore. However, we should not continue to ignore what we have. We need to visit the existing industries/businesses in Evansville to see if we can assist them with expansion.

• Set up a business incubator to house fledgling firms, plying them with business-plan advice, contact with financiers and lots of coffee over which to share ideas and solve problems. This incubator should be set up for companies that will be producing a product, close or attached to an industrial park where they can manufacture their product.

• Establish an Evansville Growth Capital Corporation (EGCC), which would function as a one-stop resource for debt and equity financing for small businesses.

Companies do not start unless they are resourced. These new companies are key to job growth. People talk about small businesses being such great generators of jobs, but a more precise assessment is that young businesses are. John Haltiwanger, an economist at the University of Maryland, has been studying government data for 25 years and has determined that about a third of all new jobs created come from start-ups. Furthermore, young companies add jobs faster.