Job Creation: the true measurement of economic healthfulness! -
16 May 06
If you have one, a good paying job with benefits is probably of
little concern to you. But, before you decide to read no further,
consider this. Do you have school-aged children? Do you have a
child, or grandchild, who is close to completing their education? If
you do, you will find this message to be of great
interest.
Do you assume there will be a good paying job with
benefits awaiting them? You shouldn’t. There are no guarantees.
Actually, at the present time and into the foreseeable future, it
isn’t even hopeful in Georgia. There simply aren’t enough good
paying jobs to meet the need.
Without overwhelming you with
statistics that blur the message, let’s look at the side of the job
creation equation that is never discussed: how many jobs must
Georgia’s economy create annually to meet the need?
The answer is 160-170,000.
Perhaps you doubt this number. Don’t. It’s really easy to
support. There are 115,000 children per grade level flowing through
our public school system. There are another 25,000 flowing through
Georgia’s private schools and home schools. All students enter the
job market upon completion of their educations. It doesn’t matter
how far along the educational path they progress. This sequence
didn’t just begin. The pipeline is full, it’s been full and will
remain full.
Additionally, there are 15-25,000 transplants
from other states searching for jobs in Georgia and there are 5,000
known lay-offs per year projected for the next several years.
Do the math. There is a need for 160-170,000 jobs each and
every year minus those that retire.
In his announcement
regarding the KIA plant the governor had this to say, “I am
proud of the 111,000 jobs created during the first
three years of my administration”. Folks, that’s just under
40,000 jobs per year, which is tragically short of meeting the
need.
But will job creation improve? Yes. Dr. Rajeev Dhawan,
GSU’s economic forecaster, predicts Georgia’s economy will
produce 70-80,000 jobs this year and slightly fewer in the next
couple of years! However, only a small percentage of them
will be good paying jobs with benefits. Therefore, Georgia
will suffer a job deficit of 70-90,000 jobs each and every year for
the next several years!
In which category will your
child be- one of the fortunate, or one of those that join the ranks
of our present population of 243,000 Georgians searching for a
job?
Can this trend be reversed? Yes. But, we must transform
our economic development strategy from one that focuses on hitting a
“grandslam” (a KIA plant) once every 5 or 10 years, to one that
focuses on hitting hundreds of “singles” each and every
year!
Can it be done? Of course, it can be done. But, your
leader has to accept responsibility for making it happen. That’s the
only chance we have.
Here are some of my thoughts regarding
changes we should make. First, as a state, a nation and a people, we
have been indoctrinated to believe that manufacturing has been lost
forever to cheap labor. Perhaps it was lost for that reason. But,
that was then. This is now. We have an abundant supply of “cheap
labor”. And, we have an abundant supply of entrepreneurs in
Georgia!
Folks, I’m an entrepreneurial businessman. I
don’t see hopelessness. I see opportunity! And, I see it
everywhere I go.
So, how can we transform hopelessness into
opportunity? We can start by changing the way we think. Then, we
change the way we approach economic development. For a more thorough
explanation visit my website http://dashlerforgov.com/index.htm.
Click on the button John’s Vision for
Georgia. Then, click on Focus
on Georgia’s Economy. It’s all there.
Is that the end of
the discussion? Almost, but no. I began this message discussing the
job prospects of your children and grandchildren as they complete
their educations. Do you believe in the psychological phenomenon
called momentum? I do. Georgia enjoyed it for most of the
‘80’s and ‘90’s, but lost it shortly after 9/11. Some of it can be
attributed to mistakes made by our leaders and misfortune (or
mismanagement) of many of Georgia’s large employers. But, the major
factor was the competition. Our neighbors haven’t been sitting on
their hands the past 20 years. They’ve become aggressive. They
studied our successes, modeled and improved upon them. Now they have
momentum. They are kicking our behinds!
Can we take it back?
Sure we can, but we must do the same thing the Dawgs did. We need to
change leadership. We need a new offense. We need new direction. We
need a new attitude to forge the way for a new era.
Once the
momentum changes and Georgia is once again perceived as the place to
be, job growth will expand rapidly. Will it happen overnight? No.
But momentum turns quickly. Think not? Look at the achievement of
Mayor Shirley Franklin in Atlanta. Her leadership changed the
perception of Atlanta from going, going, gone to Hot-Lanta once
again and she did so quickly! The same thing can, should and will
happen in Georgia with my leadership style at the helm.
Yes,
we can create a sufficient number of jobs to meet the need- yours,
your childens, and those presently in need!
If you would like
to see my ideas and my new “can-do” attitude leading the effort, you
must do your part. We have only 7 weeks remaining to collect the
40,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot as an
independent.
If you want to help, visit my website now. Or,
in a few days you will receive another email that explains the
process thoroughly. Whatever you decide, you should know this. I
appreciate your help and will work hard to not let you
down.
Thanks,
John
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