A 10-Point Program for Job Creation and Economic Transformation

Job growth is a top priority right now for most government officials, regardless of party. But recent job-growth proposals have mainly offered measures to avoid layoffs, assist those already unemployed, and induce only incremental hiring, mostly in well-established industries. Although the recent proposal by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was encouraging for its bipartisan process, its job-related provisions suffered from these limitations.

We have reached the point when the USA must rapidly stimulate major, broad-based job growth over a sustained period of time. The focus should be on transformative economic development in key industries that hold the promise of becoming the drivers of economic prosperity and exports for years -- and even decades -- to come. Rather than merely keeping workers and the economy afloat, we must invest in industries that will create the need for workers, both today and over the long-term, on a massive scale. When spending tax dollars on job growth, the emphasis should be on emerging industries, to invigorate the demand for workers in companies with global high-growth potential.

As President Obama stated on February 16th, "Whether it's nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in the technologies of tomorrow, then we're going to be importing those technologies instead of exporting them. We will fall behind. Jobs will be produced overseas, instead of here in the United States of America. And that's not a future that I accept."

Starting Points for the "Jobs Bill"

The "Jobs Bill" that will emerge from Congress should include support for job retention and incremental hiring, as well as for the unemployed, both to stop our economic bleeding and to capture the "low hanging fruit." These steps include aid to state and local governments, a payroll tax credit for small businesses that hire unemployed workers, assistance to homeowners who are in jeopardy of foreclosure, and extension of unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits. The bill should also accelerate the Obama Administration's initiatives for highway and bridge construction, energy-efficiency retrofits of homes and buildings, and a seamless national broadband infrastructure.

Long-Term Job Growth and Transformation via the "Jobs Bill"

Yet, to maximize its impact in the near-term and lay the groundwork for future prosperity, the "Jobs Bill" must fully embrace President Obama's vision for economic transformation fueled by investment in innovation-intensive industries which will propel exports and economic primacy of the US economy for decades to come. The US must aggressively grab the advantage and secure the leadership role in these fast-evolving global industries. The key technologies and industries that should be designated as top national priorities include: renewable energy / clean energy, mobile telephony, broadband computing, biotech and health care, water desalinization and clean water production, transportation safety, homeland security, recycling and waste management, and environmental protection and remediation.

Although there is already considerable activity in the US in these industries, the progress is far short of positioning the US as the dominant world leader in them. The "Jobs Bill" provides a prime opportunity to galvanize our aim, commit our resources, and accelerate our activity in these transformative industries. The level of commitment and support should be akin to that given to the "Manhattan Project" in the 1940s and space exploration in the 1960s.

President Obama reiterated the case for such a commitment, and the high stakes involved, during his State of the Union address last month, in the context of clean energy and energy efficiency: "I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy... But here's the thing -- even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future -- because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation."

The importance of the "Jobs Bill" in advancing US long-term leadership and economic prosperity can be illustrated by envisioning the WTO trade negotiations of 2025 and 2035. The US will seek to secure fair trade and competitive advantages in industries with maximal worldwide growth opportunities in those eras and beyond. The question will be whether the US is trying to wrest a foothold from others, or be in the driver's seat. We must work TODAY to build the competencies, technologies, infrastructure, and supportive services that enable the US to lead in the high-growth industries of the future.

10-Point Program for Job Growth Now and in the Future

A program could be included in the "Jobs Bill" to propel near-term and long-term US job growth, exports, innovation, and economic leadership in the global economy. To be eligible for government assistance and benefits under this program, a company would have to be involved in one or more of the national priority industries identified above, and need to be engaged (or seek to be engaged) in at least one of the following activities:

(a) research and development of a new technology or service for which there is a high growth potential;

(b) manufacturing of a product utilizing a high-growth potential technology in connection with a patent or patent pending;

(c) implementation of a marketing and sales plan that would reach, or significantly expand penetration into, export markets with a demonstrable high-growth potential;

(d) execution of a business model that would bundle products and/or services relating to one of the targeted industries, by partnering with at least one other US-based company, for enhanced reach, scope, and impact in high-growth export markets; and/or

(e) fulfillment, order processing, inventory management, transportation, and/or delivery services for companies engaged in one or more of the targeted industries.

For qualifying companies - including start-ups, micro-enterprises, and existing companies - government assistance and benefits under this program would include:

(1) an enhanced Research and Development Tax Credit, for companies described in paragraph "a", above;

(2) an Expedited Review and Processing of Patent Applications, in the case of companies described in paragraphs "a" and "b", above.

(3) a Payroll Tax Credit for two years for each unemployed person hired by a company of any size, if the hire is directly and predominantly for the above activities;

(4) a Loan, for companies described in "c" and "d", above (re: exports) to pay the salary of new hires for one year, with such loans being repaid over the ensuing four years (which could include a requirement to retain the employee for at least one more year);

(5) Job Skills Training assistance for employees who are directly and predominantly engaged in the above activities;

(6) Technical Assistance to start-up companies and micro-enterprises for help in formation, incorporation, and otherwise establishing their company;

(7) expedited Processing Assistance with documents and procedures to enable exports;

(8) Technical Assistance with fulfillment, transportation, and delivery of exports; and

(9) an Online Partnership Development Match-Making Directory for companies that seek to access / provide value-added services from / to other companies in their industry, and for other companies to identify market opportunities that could justify additional hires;

(10) development of a Network of Business Parks throughout the US that are dedicated to accelerating the key national priority industries by co-locating many companies engaged in the same emerging industry so that participants can leverage each other's research, resources, and manufacturing and deployment capabilities, resulting in synergistic benefits for all participants (extended discussion of this proposal is found below, in blog post entitled "Job Creation as Job One: 3 Ideas for The Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth", December 2, 2009).

Job Creation as Job One: 3 Ideas for The Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth

President Obama’s commitment to job creation and revitalization of the economy is highlighted by his designation of job growth as a top priority for the Administration, and his Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth. In addition to the myriad efforts by his Administration to establish, implement, and accelerate initiatives for job creation, his leadership is amplified by his call to all sectors of American society for ideas and strategies that will further advance these objectives.

The dialogue is certain to address a wide range of issues, from access to capital and insurance to promotion of key industries and market development, and from small business incentives and micro-lending encouragement to tax benefits and trade enhancement. As a contribution to this national brainstorming session, the following three perspectives could also add significant value to our national effort to create employment opportunities in the short-term, and institute sustainable economic and job growth over the long-term.

1. Job Skills Training via E-Learning

Job skills training and workforce development are critical components in job growth and economic development. There is often a co-dependent “chicken-and-egg” relationship between the need for well-trained workers and the availability of jobs for well-trained workers, such that progress toward the two objectives necessarily must advance concomitantly. Companies are usually reluctant to establish or increase operations without assurance of the availability of qualified personnel to hire for such operations. Similarly, once people have gained high-value job skills, there is a need to place them in jobs in which they will be able to put their skills to remunerative use. Thus, it is vitally important that job skills training and workforce development resources be widely available, and be correlated with and calibrated to the proliferation of jobs and work opportunities. Online e-learning provides a highly scalable and relatively low-cost solution for dissemination of a vast array of job skills. Americans would be well served by Federal support for e-learning of job skills training that enables convenient access at a place and time of the learner’s choosing.

2. Information Technology and Business Skills for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy

For maximal relevance to today’s 21st century information-based economy, it is increasingly necessary for new workers, re-trainees, and displaced workers to obtain information technology and business skills. With the acceleration of the global economy, digital-based skills have become a core competency in many industries and roles that are transitioning to advanced business methods, mechanization, and reliance on information technology tools. This trend is prominent in the manufacturing sector, which, in past decades, may not have embraced these developments as closely as in other sectors. Even more crucially, in the services sector --- including financial services, health care, IT and telecom services, fulfillment and delivery, etc. --- these skills have long been of paramount importance. Job growth in each of these sectors depends upon workers having contemporary IT and business skills, as well as the foundational capacity that will enable them to quickly achieve operational competency in the IT and business skills that are used by a specific employer.

This imperative was illuminated earlier this decade during the concern over “outsourcing”, by which many jobs were being relocated outside of the United States. As the global economy allows – and even promotes – the free flow of jobs to locations with lower operating costs, the key to success for US companies and job growth for US workers is the mass proliferation of advanced IT and business skills. With such skills, US workers and industries can remain pre-eminent in innovation, cost-efficiency, and value. These outcomes will continue to be the cornerstone for product development, service delivery, entrepreneurship, and new business models, each of which propel our economy, and, ultimately, are essential for job growth among people who can advance these objectives.

3. Development of Industry-Specific Technologies for the Future Economy via “Business Parks”

The Federal government can fulfill a critical role in developing and implementing strategies to accelerate job growth for skilled workers, due to its unique capacity and powers for policy development, resource coordination, stakeholder collaboration, and incentive creation. The Administration could convene a task force (comprised of government officials, industry leaders, university leaders, financiers, economic development thought-leaders, scientists, educators, and others) to chart the course of future innovations through accelerated and coordinated creation of “business parks” to catalyze technologies, products, and services that will become industrial leaders and revenue generators for decades to come. Deployment of these initiatives would have a strong impact on localized job growth in the near-term, and become focal points of our country’s global economic leadership in future decades. Some of the key steps include:

(a) identification of industries, products, and services with very high growth potential that are anticipated to address US and global economic and societal needs in the future, e.g., clean-tech energy production, resource conservation, clean water production including de-salinization, health care and biotech advancement, environmental remediation, recycling and waste management, high-volume food production, mobile telephony and computing, transportation safety, homeland security technologies, etc.;

(b) identification of stakeholders who have resources that could contribute significantly to development of those industries, products, and services, e.g., technologies, intellectual capital, financial capital, facilities, delivery or deployment infrastructure, end-product usage, etc.;

(c) development of conceptual frameworks for the coordination of resources in physical “business parks” that are dedicated to an individual industry, product, or service, so that participants can leverage each other's research, resources, and manufacturing and deployment capabilities, resulting in synergistic benefits for all participants;

(d) specification of components, inputs, and services with which each business park would be equipped, including high-tech communications and technology infrastructure (with fiber and wireless connectivity), energy-efficient facilities that are tailored to each business park’s needs, support services, and, possibly, environmentally-friendly affordable housing;

(e) identification of localities that would be appropriate for the siting of business parks, considering their access to facilities, infrastructure, research, intellectual capital, local and business funding, planning coordination, technology transfer, zoning variances, skilled workers, job skills training resources, manufacturing or production capacity, markets, leadership, etc.;

(f) identification of incentives, business relationships, and the legal framework associated with the business parks, e.g., ownership and partnership characteristics, sharing of patent and licensing revenues (including for the Federal government), tax incentives, establishment of enterprise zones, coordination with Federal science and research institutions, anti-trust waivers to allow for coordination of activities, procedures for accelerated initiation of operations to stimulate job growth and economic impact, etc.; and

(g) coordination of the activities and results emanating from the business parks with the industry stakeholders who are engaged in the products and services that are designated for development through this initiative.