THE
DAY JIMMY MOVED AWAY ("A Crisis in Economic Development")
By U.S. Congressman John Peterson
June 27, 2003
There’s
a young man in my hometown -- we’ll call him "Jimmy" --
who I’ve known ever since he was a boy. Jimmy didn't do very well
in school. "Didn't much like it," he said, and dropped out after
ninth grade.
Jimmy may
have had some learning problems, but he wasn't dumb. He quickly got a
job with a local lumber company, and his good work ethic and aptitude
in math gradually led to more responsibilities. Knowing this, I asked
Jimmy one day if he would be interested in getting his GED. Jimmy knew
that if he was going to realize any of his ambitions, he needed that diploma.
So he agreed, and I helped him set it up.
A little
more than a year ago, I ran into Jimmy and asked how it was going. "Great,"
he said. "I should be finished up in a few weeks."
"Then
what are you going to do?," I inquired.
"One
thing for sure," he said, "I'm gonna get outta here!"
I was shocked.
"What do you mean you're gonna get out of here?," I asked.
"Ain't
nothin' here," Jimmy replied. "I’ve been talking it over
with my buddies, and there just ain’t nothin' here for nobody!"
Shortly after getting his GED, Jimmy got a job and moved away.
That was
the day I truly realized that we were in trouble. I had been watching
the statistics of economic decline for some time, but finding out that
young people like Jimmy and his friends had given up on our region...
that was like a punch in the stomach! That was when I knew we had to make
some changes.
Over the
past year, I have spoken in a variety of forums about the serious need
to improve our economic development system. Rural Pennsylvania is currently
experiencing a rate of decline far greater than I have ever witnessed
before. In the sixteen counties which I represent, we lost more than 13,000
jobs in 2001 and 2002 in the manufacturing sector alone, a decline of
more than 15 percent without factoring in many recent plant closings.
Across the Commonwealth, we lost close to 160,000 manufacturing jobs during
the same time period and the numbers continue to rise. It is no exaggeration
to speak of this as a "crisis."
Every year,
millions of state and federal tax dollars are invested in economic development,
and in my view we are not receiving an acceptable return on our investment.
The chain of economic development has more than one weak link. Factors
ranging from an aging infrastructure, a shortage of technology training
programs, and over-regulation all create a drag on our economic vitality.
But the weakest link in my opinion is our government-funded system of
economic development agencies that is supposed to be the catalyst for
growth. In my view, this system is failing young people like Jimmy.
Pennsylvania's
economic development system has evolved over many decades. Governors and
legislatures have come and gone, and most have wanted to leave an imprint
of their economic ideas. Most programs which were created were good for
Pennsylvania; some were excellent. But none ever went away or even consolidated.
Instead, they developed their own constituencies of governing boards and
employees, and some have become as much concerned with "protecting
turf" as with economic development.
The result
is an "alphabet soup" of economic development agencies, each
of which is responsible for creating and maintaining jobs. Unfortunately,
this complex system of LDDs, IRCs, SBDCs, WIBs, Ben Franklin Partnerships,
and regional Governor's Action Team and Department of Commerce offices
is not only inefficient but has no roadmap for working together. And this
regional system is further complicated by a multitude of county and community
organizations such as IDCs, IDAs, Enterprise Zones, tourism agencies,
heritage areas, chambers of commerce, community development agencies and
planning commissions which were all formed to supplement city, borough
and township-level agencies.
Not only
is there no defined role within this hodgepodge system for coordination
between agencies, but many find themselves competing against each other
for the same limited pots of money. As a result, some agencies have accumulated
cash reserves as high as 3 to 5 million dollars for vaguely-defined “future
contingencies" -- a lot of money to be stashed away when our region
is losing thousands of jobs.
Our economic
development agencies are made up of good, hard-working individuals, most
of whom are genuinely concerned with helping our economy. But they are
stuck in a system which is not "customer friendly." It is extremely
difficult if not impossible for the average entrepreneur or small business
owner to understand this convoluted system, let alone use it to build
a successful business and create jobs.
The future
of our region depends on our having both the desire to fix this broken
system and the willpower to follow through with the necessary changes.
It won't be easy, but it is a challenge that we must face together. I
have come up with a few recommendations, and I hope you will join me in
this discussion.
- First,
it is critical that we streamline and consolidate Pennsylvania’s
economic development system. This does not mean fewer economic development
staff. On the contrary, it means creating a system in which employees
spend less time on duplicative administrative work and overlapping duties
and more time working to protect and create jobs.
- We need
to fix the convoluted funding system which forces agencies to jockey
with each other for the best position under the "money spigot."
We should consider setting up umbrella organizations to help secure
state and federal funding instead of pitting agencies against each other.
- Business
owners and entrepreneurs should have a single point of entry into the
system. One telephone call should be all it takes to access the entire
regional economic development system and all available services.
- Publicly-funded
economic development agencies should present short-term and long-term
plans of action. Their boards should review and approve these plans
and regularly evaluate their progress.
- And last,
but certainly not least, we need to return public accountability to
the system. Pennsylvania's "Right to Know" laws were amended
in 2002 as they apply to publicly-funded agencies. Agencies that have
not done so already should comply with this law by opening their financial
records, contracts, and other financial information to the public. In
addition, Pennsylvania's Sunshine Law was recently expanded to apply
to all "authorities and commissions" whose boards are composed
of or appointed by elected officials, and who operate with public funding.
Economic development agencies should comply with this law by opening
up their meetings to the public and the press.
For many
years, we have stood by while our best and brightest young people got
an education and left in search of good jobs and a bright future. When
young men like Jimmy and his friends decide that there "ain't nothin'
here" for them, we can no longer ignore this crisis. Rural Pennsylvania
has a lot to offer -- friendly people, quaint historic towns, beautiful
scenery, and almost limitless opportunities for outdoor fun and recreation.
But until we turn our economy around, our young people will continue to
leave in search of good jobs and our communities will continue to decline.
While it will not be easy, we owe it to Jimmy and the rest of our young
people to make the tough choices necessary to fix this broken system.
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