We can career-counsel people all we want about how to find jobs, but the true national challenge now is how to create jobs. The private sector, and particularly smaller businesses, is the ultimate engine of job creation, but even the best engine can use a tune-up and a jump-start. Here are a few ideas.
Partnerships for job creation. While big companies have tended to be net job-shedders, they create jobs through the small and mid-sized enterprises in their supply and distributions chains. Imagine a national partnership in which big companies pledge to enhance the capabilities of domestic suppliers by providing mentors, investment capital, opportunities in export markets and use of offices abroad, and even insurance benefits as part of a larger pool. This kind of strategy worked to put welfare recipients to work after the U.S. passed welfare reform; the Welfare-to-Work Partnership was a not-for-profit association of large companies committed to make a contribution, with White House encouragement.
National service. Civilian national and community service is a win-win for education, youth development, and the economy, because service corps members, like their military counterparts, serve full time in exchange for stipends. The demand for slots in AmeriCorps programs is greater than the number of positions — and not just because other jobs are scarce. There is an upsurge of idealism on the part of young people who want to feel that they are making a difference for the health, education, and well-being of American communities.
Encouraging early entrepreneurship. From Junior Achievement in high school, which gets kids thinking about a business they could start, to loan forgiveness programs for college graduates who start a business, getting more people in the entrepreneurial habit earlier in life can help jump-start jobs. Micro-finance is not the answer for everyone, and it can seem small and inefficient. But helping neighborhood businesses expand even modestly can contribute to job creation.
Finding growth companies. Tim Ferguson, co-founder of Next Street Financial in the Boston inner city, argues that the big gap in access to capital, especially for minorities, presents an opportunity for proven businesses to expand to the next stage — to so-called mezzanine finance. A public-private partnership fund can fill the gap. The public component can offer credibility, the stamp of approval, while the fund could attract private investors whose worries are eased by public support.
Local consideration: Can the ideas above relative to national policies - public private partnerships, service to the community, developing and encoraging entrepreneurs, and providing access to capital - be used at the local level to develop policies to create jobs in Northeast Florida?
Read the full article, “A Call for Innovation in Job Creation”, online at the Harvard Business Review by Rosabeth Moss Kanter at http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2010/07/a-call-for-innovation-in-job-c.html
Of the potential job-generation options mentioned in this excerpt, two have more potential for effective use in Northeast Florida. If most new jobs are created from within a region and result from small business development or expansion, then it makes sense to provide a framework and environment that facilitates the process. There have been local efforts to promote entrepreneurship, but those efforts have been scattered and uncoordinated. The region would probably reap considerable benefit from a coordinated, systemic effort to promote entrepreneurship and small business development. Such an effort should not be restricted in focus and should promote entrepreneurship among citizens in all age groups.
ReplyDeleteThe other process that seems to have application is the increasing access to funding for starting and/or expanding businesses. Historically, much of the seed money that has been spent (or misspent) in this region has focused on larger businesses. Had a large portion of that money been channeled to small business development, then the effects of the recession might have been mitigated. It seems sensible to create a framework for, and invest in, small business development. Given that money is tight at this time, creativity and innovation will be needed to provide access to money for such an effort.
Of the potential job-generation options mentioned in this excerpt, two have more potential for effective use in Northeast Florida. If most new jobs are created from within a region and result from small business development or expansion, then it makes sense to provide a framework and environment that facilitates the process. There have been local efforts to promote entrepreneurship, but those efforts have been scattered and uncoordinated. The region would probably reap considerable benefit from a coordinated, systemic effort to promote entrepreneurship and small business development. Such an effort should not be restricted in focus and should promote entrepreneurship among citizens in all age groups.
ReplyDeleteThe other process that seems to have application is the increasing access to funding for starting and/or expanding businesses. Historically, much of the seed money that has been spent (or misspent) in this region has focused on larger businesses. Had a large portion of that money been channeled to small business development, then the effects of the recession might have been mitigated. It seems sensible to create a framework for, and invest in, small business development. Given that money is tight at this time, creativity and innovation will be needed to provide access to money for such an effort.