In April 2010, the talk that Harley Davidson might move its plant from its 100 year old home in Milwaukee to reduce costs and make it more competitive with foreign rivals. Though such talk might be the result of union negotiations, Jacksonville’s manufacturing and labor advocates say the city would be a viable place if Harley Davidson relocated its 1,700 jobs locally.
Worksource Vice President Candace Moody says that their database is the largest repository of jobs and job-seekers in the region, and that her agency could easily produce a number of qualified people with skills that either apply directly to what the manufacturer needs or can be transferred after training.
But Jacksonville faces competitive barriers just because it’s in Florida, says Lad Daniels, president of the First Coast Manufacturers Association. Florida is surrounded by states that are more aggressive when it comes to wooing large employers.
“I’d say among Florida cities, we are the pick of the litter. The Southeast is pretty competitive, and Jacksonville is about as far south as they would want to look. But our incentives at the state and local levels are not what they get in other states,”
John Haley, senior vice president for business development for Cornerstone. He noted that Florida’s incentives to bring industry here center on jobs directly created. Additionally, some of those incentives run out of time more quickly than corporations can make decisions, so they miss out on some of them. He said other states have sweetened the pot better with longer-term, more capital-oriented incentives that amount to investments in the economic vitality of their communities.
“Our incentive process needs to recognize the value of capital investment.”
For example, Alabama weathered criticism in 1993 when it successfully proffered $300,000 in incentives per job to persuade Mercedes-Benz to put its $300 million Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. SUV factory in Tuscaloosa County, Haley noted.
“That built an infrastructure that was conducive to heavy manufacturing like this,” he said. And since then, Hyundai and Honda also have built plants in the state.
Florida is also known for unwieldy and lengthy permit approval processes, something other states have stripped down, Haley said. For that reason, Jacksonville needs to better emphasize its industrial developments that are pre-permitted, he said.
Check out the full story "Jacksonville labor base ready for large manufacturers, officials say: City also has barriers, like smaller incentives."
http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-08-17/story/jacksonville-labor-base-ready-large-manufacturers-officials-say
Prior to altering the incentives systems, regional planners need to develop a vision for regional economic development and a plan to achieve that vision. The incentives system can then be modified to appeal to the businesses or industries to be developed or lured to the region. Changing the incentives system without forethought and planning, could be counterproductive to the long-term economic development of the region.
ReplyDeleteThe article indicates the region has an ample supply of workers that can adapt to jobs that require repetitive, manual skills. That is good and there is a need for an increase in those types of jobs in the region. What the article does not delve into is the adequacy of the supply of workers needed for jobs requiring higher level skills. The region has many residents with post-secondary degrees and certificates, but it does not have enough to be particularly appealing to businesses or industries that depend on workers with higher-level skills. If these are the types of jobs that are needed to fulfill the long-term vision for the regional economy, the implications are obvious.