Governor McDonnell’s Jobs and Economic Development Agenda for 2012 General Assembly Session

By Guest Post | Thursday, January 5th, 2012 | Columns, Policy

By Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng

As we head into the third General Assembly Session of the McDonnell Administration, I think it is appropriate the first legislation we announced this week as part of Governor Bob McDonnell’s legislative agenda for 2012 is “The Greatest Opportunity: Jobs and Economic Development Legislative Agenda.” Jobs and the economy remain the foremost priority of this administration. Over the last two years we have seen enormous achievements and successes in this area through bipartisan support of legislation and budgetary items by the General Assembly, as well as job creation prioritization in the Administration to increase our competitiveness.

Virginia’s unemployment rate is down one percent since Governor McDonnell took office. Unfortunately, more than 260,000 Virginians are still out of a job, and that is unacceptable. As the Governor said, “there is no greater opportunity than a good paying job.” A good job is more than a paycheck. It is a source of inspiration, motivation and confidence. That is why this year we are proposing more job creating tools and initiatives to help businesses start and grow in Virginia.

Governor McDonnell’s “Greatest Opportunity” jobs and economic development agenda builds on the aggressive job creation measures that passed the General Assembly with strong bipartisan support during the 2010 and 2011 Sessions. In line with the budget priorities outlined in his address to the Joint Money Committees in December, Governor McDonnell has asked for increased support of job creating funds and initiatives as part of his introduced 2013/2014 biennial budget. He also will advance legislation to increase access to capital for business and implement greater coordination among economic development entities, along with budget items increasing the support of job creating funds and initiatives.

Through legislation we will address some of the biggest issues job creators are facing today. One of the biggest issues businesses are running into today is the ability to access capital. This session we are advancing legislation to reverse this trend through tax credits for small business investments and the acceleration of the Major Business Facility Jobs Tax Credit. Our intention is these tax credits will provide capital for business to put into start up costs, operations and hiring. We will also advance legislation to increase coordination among our various economic development entities to better support job creators around the Commonwealth. This includes: adding the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry and Technology to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership; creating an economic development grant program targeted specifically at agricultural and forestry operations; and, adding two university seats to the Modeling and Simulation Advisory Council.

In 2010 and 2011 combined we invested approximately $100 million to economic development initiatives – this investment has yielded a great return on investment. This administration has closed 671 economic development projects, we’ve increased tourism, and we brought the filming of a major motion to Virginia (to name a few successes) because of the increased emphasis and funding to economic development.

This year we have asked for approximately $37 million in additional funding in the budget for job creation and economic development. This would result in the creation of the Governor’s Agriculture and Forest Industries Development Fund to support job creators in the largest industry in Virginia. This funding will also launch a life sciences initiative in partnership with Virginia’s growing biotechnology industry and our research universities to better foster, in the Commonwealth, an emerging industry sector. Additionally, we’ve asked for funding for important non-credit community college courses that better train our workforce for the highly-skilled jobs of the 21st century and investing in an advanced manufacturing workforce initiative through the Commonwealth Center for Advance Manufacturing. These are just a few of the important initiatives that Governor McDonnell has requested funding for in his proposed biennial budget.

The road to economic success in the future is to ensure we are best supporting Virginia’s job creators today as well as the individuals who are trained for those jobs. Our goal this session, through the passage of these important initiatives, is to create an even stronger environment in Virginia for sustained job creation and economic development growth for years to come. We must do more to bring more great opportunities to our talented and innovative citizens. We must invest in job creating measures and tools to attract and grow business here in Virginia. The more we can do at the state level to put in place measures that help private sector job creators, rather than hinder their ability to start or grow, the better off Virginia will be in the future.

As Secretary of Commerce & Trade, Jim Cheng manages the jobs and opportunity agenda for Virginia. In this role, Secretary Cheng oversees thirteen state agencies focused on promoting the growth of Virginia’s vibrant business community and attracting new investment into Virginia’s economy.

(Ed. note: article may be reprinted noting original location at bearingdrift.com)

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