North Carolina has been dealt multiple economic blows that have transformed the state. Trade deals like NAFTA sent much of our textile and furniture to other countries. The end of tobacco subsidies and reduction in demand for tobacco products left a gaping hole in agriculture. The economic crash hurt the state disproportionally causing higher unemployment especially in the rural areas.
The Washington Post highlighted North Carolina as the place where the people are working longer and harder while making less and less. The article lays much of the blame on disappearing jobs that once supported the middle class. According to the article, North Carolina lost 40% of its manufacturing jobs and median income fell by 10%.
The Charlotte Observer shows that North Carolina is losing the industrial recruitment game because state doesn’t offer as lucrative incentive packages as its neighbors. The article shows that tax cuts alone won’t bring big manufacturing plants and that the legislature’s resistance to approving incentives funds hurt the state’s recruiting efforts.
Finally, Republican leaders say that part of the state’s employment problem stems from a workforce that’s not prepared for the modern economy. They say employers have openings but can’t find qualified workers to fill the slots.
With these thoughts in mind, it seems the incoming legislature could take several actions to increase jobs in the state. First, as Pat McCrory said yesterday, the legislature needs to give the state the tools it needs to compete with other states. That means incentives. Nobody likes them, but they are an unfortunate reality. Not offering them is akin unilateral disarmament.
Second, offer free community college tuition to quickly train a workforce to meet the needs of prospective employers. We have one of the best community college systems in the nation. We should use it. Too many workers are shouldering too much debt and not enough income. At least for the next few years, the state should spend the money necessary to prepare our workforce while not further burdening our workers. Tennessee is doing it and if they can, so can we.
Finally, we need to beef up our infrastructure. Rural areas are hurting the most. RTP and Charlotte are recovering fine, but rural counties are aging and growing poorer. They need better roads, better water and sewer, and better internet access if they want to attract jobs and compete in the 21st century.
We’re cutting taxes and regulations and they haven’t spurred the type of growth Republicans promised. Now, it’s time to invest in our people and our infrastructure. The GOP has has left its ideological mark. Now it’s time for pragmatic governance.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
North Carolina was once again the “bridesmaid” when Mercedes this week selected Atlanta for their new North American HQ instead of the Research Triangle . Knowing that we missed out on the Mercedes assembly plant in 1993 to Alabama , due to a huge incentives difference , we need to find out exactly what caused us to miss out on this terrific opportunity . We need to be prepared for the next auto assembly plant possibility .
How’s that rollback of incentives for the film industry working out for us?
Governments cannot “cut their way” to prosperity for their citizens. Wise and strategic investment in communities across the state over a long planning and implementation horizon is what works and what will work for NC. In addition, the state should revisit the notion of a statewide bond for infrastructure such as water treatment plants its distribution as well as waste water (sewer) treatment facilities. And finally it’s a bit ironic to discuss jobs and incentives at a point in time when the state has allowed the tax credits for the film industry to expire and refused to accept the federally supported medicaid expansion program that will create jobs in every county of our state.
This is how our government is redistributing money from the poor and middle classes to the rich. We not only need new waste water treatment facilities, we need technology that will filter out the new chemicals that are being poured into rivers because our EPA is being hogtied. Again, it’s up to the people. Call or write at least once a week to your state legislators and tell them how to do their job. They aren’t called “representatives” for nothing.
Is there any way you could actually tell the leaders of the General Assembly? I think they never read any of these positive comments like yours.
The way I communicate with the leaders of the General Assembly is through dialogue with my Senator and Representatives. As their constituent, I can address the local effect of legislation on these issues.
YES! You should call the Raleigh legislature and ask the operator who your representatives are. Then you should never stop bugging them about what you want done, how it should be done, and keep abreast of the bills going for a vote. They may not be able to read them, but we, the people, in groups that take a small amount for each person can, and should.
I do that kind of communication all the time. I tell them what I think. I was hoping that some of them read the blogs from Thomas because they are so good and to the point of what the legislature should do.
Your final paragraph gets to the heart of the issue.
Cutting taxes has not led to the Carolina Comeback” the GOP promised, but it has definitely created another state revenue shortfall. And NC is not doing any better economically than other states that have NOT cut taxes in recent years, and there has been no great increasing tide of private sector funds going into new jobs, job promotions, job training, or worker wage increases.
Reducing regulatory oversight and approaches has already come up face-to-face with environmental quality issues and risks (see the Dan River spill, or the Jordan Lake SolarBee fiasco, or hurried fracking rules). It is indeed time for the renewed state investment in its human resources, in its basic capital infrastructure, and in its government agencies/programs.
“Cutting and reducing” is all about what a state WON’T be doing. “Investing and building” is about what a state WILL be doing. It’s time for the GOP-led NCGA to show that it can invest in and build programs that help the NC economy.
Good post, except for the observation about incentives. They may be unilateral disarmament, but that seems like a good idea when the “armament” is shooting the holder in the foot. Incentive may lure jobs, but there’s not much evidence that those jobs create a net positive game for the economy. What’s more, incentives completely distort the market balance, allowing special interests to drive the economic agenda.