Nobody wins if we don?t recruit jobs

In light of recent developments in county government I?m going to deviate from my usual format a bit today. I?m going to address two words that are, or at least should be, of vital concern to everyone who reads this column.

But before I give you those words, I?m going to give you a chance to figure them out from the dictionary definitions of the words from which they are derived.

Here is the first one: 1. Commercial production and sale of goods. 2. A specific branch of manufacture and trade. 3. The sector of an economy made up of manufacturing enterprises. 4. Hard work; diligence

And here is the second: 1. To bring, grow or evolve from latency to or toward fulfillment. 2. To expand or enlarge; elaborate 3. To make available or usable.

Got the parent words yet? If you don?t, here they are: industry and develop, and the two words derived from these that I think are so important to the county are:

Industrial development.

By now, most people who have been following the stories about the county?s budget know about the cuts made to the Industrial Development Board and several other budget line items in an effort to avoid a major property tax increase. The IDB suffered a cut of almost $336,000, the most substantial in the package presented to the commission last Monday night.

And though those responsible for the controversial budget plan say they will work to make sure the commission provides the necessary funds for industrial development projects by issuing capitol outlay notes, the ease with which the commission accepted and approved these cuts still sends a message to those involved with industrial recruitment in this community.

And it?s an ominous message. It?s a message that states, in no uncertain terms, that industrial development is not the No. 1 concern of county government, despite constant statements to the contrary by county legislators.

?Bringing in jobs is the most important thing we can do for our economy and our community,? they say, while voting to cut funding designated for industrial recruitment in almost the same breath.

While I realize times are hard, and it is perhaps not the best time for a tax increase, I am also very aware of why times are hard, the fact that we are losing our industrial base at an alarming rate. And this begs the question, two questions actually, what can we do about this and what are we going to do about this?

Obviously, we need to recruit new industry and we need to work to help our existing industry to grow and expand. Economic expert Bill Fruth says that industrial jobs are the most important to a community?s economy because they bring in money from outside the community, while retail and service jobs tend to circulate the money that is already here, which is not to say these jobs are not important. They are vital as well, and as is happening all over America, they are rapidly becoming the base for our economy as industrial jobs move overseas and south of the border.

This may not be the time to raise taxes. I can understand the reasoning there, but it is also not the time to cut funding to industrial recruitment. We must make it clear to our commissioners that if they really want to please us, they should figure out a way to keep taxes low without cutting the programs designed to bring in industry and improve our economy.

It?s a self-defeating process. It?s kind of like O. Henry?s ?Gift of the Magi? where the husband sells his watch to buy his wife a silver comb, and she sells her beautiful long hair to buy him a silver watch chain.

Everyone means well, but nobody wins.

Charlie Johnson is news editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].