Every citizen of our state feels the impact of North Carolina's economic progress, or lack thereof, each and every day. Thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past decade causing many of our people to face unemployment and uncertainty, particularly in North Carolina's rural communities. Instead of addressing the long term needs of our communities, our leaders have been content to engage in what they openly admit is "bad public policy". State leaders have allowed special interests to guide state policy to create a system of tax credits and incentive programs which are giving away over a billion dollars each year to chosen businesses at the expense of public education, roads, small businesses, and taxpayers.

Government does not create prosperity or build wealth - people and businesses do. Through efficient operations and fair economic development policy, government can set the stage for prosperity by creating the conditions for people and businesses to thrive. I believe we will have long term prosperity if we build an environment that makes North Carolina an unbeatable choice for outside companies looking to move or expand. If we make it easier for existing North Carolina companies to grow and make North Carolina an ideal environment for start ups, our economy will be successful. We have spent countless hours and dollars trying to lure the next Google here with tax credits and payoffs. I do not want the next Google to be lured here; I want it to be born here.

Despite what some politicians would like you to believe, the answer is not for state and county governments to take your tax dollars and give them to a few giant global corporations, hoping for the outsourcing of a small part of their operation to North Carolina, creating a few hundred jobs with profits flowing out of state. Indeed that policy helps a fortunate few but hits everyone else in the wallet. It is a price we can no longer afford to pay. We can, however, implement long term policies to make North Carolina competitive for new and expanding businesses in the industries of the future.

North Carolina is blessed. We have a vibrant and diverse economy and are home to talented, energetic and industrious people. Nonetheless, the challenges of growth, global competition, and economic transition are real. I understand you are looking to the Governor for engaged leadership in ensuring that our workforce development system, tax and regulatory climate, and economic development policies work in concert to create an environment and culture where all businesses and people may thrive.

LOWERING THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS:
North Carolina’s Taxes and Regulations

The Challenge: High Taxes and Overregulation.

The basic reality of business is that companies live or die by the balance sheet, and government directly impacts the balance sheet by the costs it imposes through taxes and regulations. I believe that most North Carolinians understand the need for tax revenue. We all know that good roads and schools cost money. I also believe that most of us understand the need to regulate business in a reasonable fashion. We must have safeguards in place to protect our environment and people against corporate excess. But over the past decade or so, our state government has gone too far. If we don’t scale back government, I’m concerned that before long people will start deciding that there are a lot better places to do business than North Carolina. According to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, North Carolina ranks 40^th in state business tax climate, and currently ranks as the 19^th highest state for total state and local tax burden (up from 36^th in 2000).

My Vision: A Business Friendly Environment

• Establish a nonpartisan Blue Ribbon Tax Commission for proposing specific reforms of the North Carolina Tax Code to simplify the process and reduce the tax burden for businesses and individuals.

• Complete a review of all administrative rules, regulations, and fees by all state departments to simplify and streamline the regulatory process.

• Using the results of the audit described above, establish a one-stop agency for business regulation assistance to ease in the establishment of new businesses and ongoing compliance.

BUILDING THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE:
Infrastructure for Opportunity

The Challenge: Preparing Our People for the 21^st Century Workplace

People are the most important asset in nearly every business. People drive value by creating the products, delivering the services, taking care of the customers, and making our businesses run. State government’s primary responsibility in economic development is to provide a workforce development infrastructure that meets the diverse needs of our businesses and government. This infrastructure provides the workforce of the future by ensuring our people have every opportunity to a sound basic education, advanced technical training, and undergraduate and graduate programs. As we think about how North Carolina’s economy will evolve over the next two decades, it’s clear that our people must go beyond the basic literacy that was the objective of last century’s education system and engage in a lifetime of learning and development, regardless of whether that is in a vocational or technical field or in post-graduate work.

My Vision:

• Integrate the education resources of the state—primary and secondary education, vocational, technical, and university—to provide the full spectrum of educational opportunities geared to the 21^st century global economy.

• Review the North Carolina Curriculum/resources

• Conduct an extensive review of our Community College system—curriculums, training programs, budgets, and facilities—to create a statewide Community College expansion plan. Community Colleges are the critical stepping stone to success for the majority of our people. Community Colleges are the most practical and responsive solution for local business workforce development needs, and most adaptable to unforeseen job market demands.

• Create an incentive process for companies to invest in worker training and education with specific programs to be provided by the Community Colleges and/or the University system.

A CULTURE OF INNOVATION:
Capital and Entrepreneurs,

The Challenge: Economic Development that is Accessible to All

The primary objective of the current administration’s economic development policies seems to be to attract outside businesses to North Carolina. The principal tool in this policy has been the use of targeted incentives—tax breaks and cash grants—to supposedly tip the scales in North Carolina’s favor. As I have said for over a decade, this policy is patently unfair to our taxpayers and business, unsustainable over the long term, and an improper use of government (picking winners and losers in the market). We now know, based on a recent study by the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division, that playing the incentives game cost us over $1 billion per year in tax resources.

 It is time for a new approach. It is time to focus the resources of this state on the people and businesses of this state. It is time to shift our focus away from luring global corporations and to nurturing the real engine of job growth, small business. Our objective in this new approach will be to provide the opportunity for long term job growth by creating an environment where all business can thrive. As outlined above, creating this environment means building a top notch work force and lowering the tax and regulatory burden. We must also address the problems of our state infrastructure, primarily our transportation system.

 There is also another equally vital role the state can play in economic development, and that is creating a culture of innovation that prepares North Carolina for the future. We hear a lot these days about the transformation our economy is undergoing. Some experts call this a “dramatic transformation” away from textiles, low tech manufacturing, and tobacco. This raises the key question: transitioning to what?

 We can’t accurately predict what the economy of 2025 will look like, but we can see general trends, and we know the competitive advantages that North Carolina enjoys. We know that we are leaders in intellectual capital (patents awarded, PhDs earned, R&D funding), but that we lag in creation of new companies. We are blessed with a great climate and beautiful environment, so we know that thousands of talented people come to our state every year and will continue to do so. We are home to millions of energetic, hard working people, who if given the right tools and opportunities, will rise to the challenges of global competition and create the companies of the future in hi-tech and environmental technology, alternative energy, healthcare, health research, and high tech manufacturing. It is time for the leadership that will deliver the economic development polices that will make North Carolina attractive to external companies, be fair for all businesses, and create opportunities for all North Carolinians. 

My Vision: Growth Driven by our People’s Talent and Energy

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
POLICY OVERVIEW
A Sound Environment | Lowering Costs | Building a Workforce | Capital & Entrepeneurs


GO TO:
Economic Development Reform Proposal | Reform Proposal Summary

Vision 20/20