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Web posted
Thursday, February 12, 2004
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Guest column: Support governor's economic vision
By Robert A. Faith
Special to the Carolina Morning News
Voices of Carolina
Change is difficult, but the status quo has proven to be terribly expensive here in South Carolina. Our workers make only 80 percent of the average U.S. salary, and that gap is getting larger, as wages nationally grow more rapidly than ours.
The governor's new budget is the exact opposite of the status quo. It fulfills Gov. Mark Sanford's campaign promise to bring fresh ideas and strong actions to the state. We should all applaud Governor Sanford's willingness to do the research, set priorities, propose bold changes and push accountability for ensuring that the taxpayers' money is spent sensibly and strategically.
The governor understands that for South Carolina to thrive, we have to take risks and accept change. One of the best ways we can raise income levels in our state is by using new approaches and tools for economic development. We need to transform our governmental mechanism from a slow-moving, change-resistant relic to an innovative, high-performance jet engine.
We must make smart decisions about where taxpayers' money can be used for the greatest effect. We must stop throwing money and incentives at any business that looks in our direction, but instead target our resources and incentives on those businesses that would provide the greatest boost to our state's standard of living.
We must create a regulatory environment that supports startups and encourages expansions and upgrades.
Finally, we can't spend one dime on excess administration or duplication of services. Our government can't afford to be unwieldy or unfocused; that's what brought us the stagnant economy and major job losses we face today.
My first move as secretary of commerce was to examine how our department was using its budget. We then made radical changes, allocating our funds in a much more efficient, strategic manner. We reorganized to concentrate more effectively on our core missions of business development, business expansion and community improvement.
We consolidated 15 departments down to four, eliminating a layer of management and much of the excess administrative "fat" that tends to build up in organizations that fail to re-examine how they operate.
The governor's budget calls for this same type of reasoned, comprehensive restructuring throughout the whole of our state government. His budget is a foundational step on the path toward a new way of thinking in South Carolina.
But it is only one step in a series of leaps we will need to take if we are to close the gap in income levels between our state and the rest of the country.
We at the Department of Commerce need more economic tools if we are going to jumpstart this economy and become the economic and academic powerhouse that we envision for ourselves. We need the courage to pass existing legislation such as the Life Science Act and the Venture Capital Bill - as it was originally intended - to help transform the economy.
We also need to move quickly on Capital Access for Small Business legislation, worker's compensation reform and tort reform.
Finally, we need to lower our income tax to stimulate the growth of capital investment and generate more opportunities for our workers. A lower income tax will not only create an environment in which small businesses can more readily develop and prosper, but also make us more competitive in what has become not a regional or even a national race, but a global contest for jobs.
More money in the hands of wage earners invariably increases opportunities to invest, spend and explore the possibilities. It's time we trust people to employ their own money effectively.
It's no longer about being as good as Georgia, or North Carolina, or Virginia; it's about being better. It's about going beyond what we ever thought we as a state were capable of accomplishing.
In the South Carolina Competitiveness Initiative, developed by the Monitor Group and strongly supported by the governor, we have a guide for this state's economic development efforts for the next two decades. The report, released Dec. 8, spells out what we all knew to be true: Our past economic development strategies were not getting us where we want to be, at or above national averages in income levels.
The Monitor report calls on all of us in South Carolina to do things differently, to take new ideas and execute them. The report lists eight action campaigns that speak to new ways for government, business and academia to work together to bring prosperity to this state.
Recently, Governor Sanford announced the formation of the South Carolina Competitiveness Council. This announcement began Phase II of the Competitiveness Initiative. The council will organize eight working groups, made up of community leaders from the public and private sectors, one for each of the eight action campaigns recommended by the Monitor Report.
Each working group will be tasked with identifying ways to improve South Carolina's performance in its assigned campaign area. Governor Sanford is co-chairing the council, signifying his commitment to building the practical structure that will support his vision for a transformed South Carolina.
To make the Palmetto State a place that our children and grandchildren can proudly call home, a place where a successful life is most easily found just around the corner, instead of across the state line, we must be aggressive and we must be innovative. We must all resolve to support and promote a new state of mind for a new state of South Carolina.
The author, Robert A. Faith, is the South Carolina secretary of commerce.
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