Hoeffel releases Plan for Pennsylvania: New Jobs and a New Economy

By HOEFFEL 2010

“The number one issue facing the commonwealth today is jobs,” said Democrat Joe Hoeffel, candidate for PA governor. “We need a comprehensive strategy to create jobs, build a strong workforce, help small businesses, and bring together our farms, suburbs, and cities as we move Pennsylvania’s economy forward.”

Hoeffel released his Plan for Pennsylvania: New Jobs and a New Economy today in which he noted that unemployment in Pennsylvania has doubled from 4.2% in November 2007 to 8.4% in November 2009, higher than it’s been in over twenty years. The numbers aren’t negative across the board: some economic sectors are showing improvement in our commonwealth, such as mining & logging; education & health; information & technology; and trade, transportation, & utilities. But the improvements aren’t huge, and many Pennsylvanians are having a hard time filling these jobs.

The plan mentions how Pennsylvania’s workforce ranks poorly compared with other states in the number of workers with a college degree, and how the economic sectors with the most growth — and the most potential for continued growth — increasingly require advanced education and skills. The vast majority of businesses in our commonwealth are small businesses, facing greater difficulties with fewer resources. And neighboring regions coping with different issues are sometimes unaware of how they can work together and help each other out.

The Economy has Changed, and So Must We

“The economy has changed, and so must we,” continued Hoeffel. “Many see our situation as a problem to solve, but we also have an opportunity.”

“Through bolstered education and job training programs, we can build a strong workforce,” said Hoeffel. “And through sound investment in the business sectors which have demonstrated they are going to be the backbone of our 21st century economy, we can create high-paying, skilled jobs for Pennsylvania’s workers. These are the two things we need most in order to not only recover from our current recession, but maintain a robust economy in the future.”

“It is critical that we increase access to community college programs designed to educate and re-train workers in the skills the 21st century demands for Pennsylvanians of all ages. Those who stand to benefit the most from this are those most likely to be out of work. Increased funding and tuition assistance programs are a must to bring this opportunity within their reach.”

The Hoeffel plan stresses the importance of giving every student the opportunity to continue their education through college, so they can join the workforce already educated and prepared to meet its challenges. This includes the establishment of a scholarship program for our state system of higher education, for which every high school graduate with a B- or better average is eligible.

“Our efforts have to start earlier than college,” said Hoeffel. “We need to do more to help every child reach high school graduation and be prepared for higher education. The focus must begin with early childhood education programs, which have extremely strong positive effects on college graduation. Education is the key to building the workforces of today and tomorrow.”

Hoeffel wants K-12 students to learn 21st century skills such as computer programming and environmental studies. He also wants to develop strong drop-out outreach and re-engagement programs that will improve lives and pay for themselves many times over. Residency training programs for teachers is also part of the Hoeffel plan.

“Investing in the industries of Pennsylvania’s future is critical to their growth and success here,” said Hoeffel. “We must adopt an “Invest Green In Green” strategy: invest our green dollars in the green economy.”

The Hoeffel Plan for Pennsylvania: New Jobs and a New Economy states that support for green energy will create jobs in manufacturing, construction, and engineering. Much of that investment will come from the commonwealth. But Hoeffel wants to attract investments from out-of-state and overseas partners in alternative energy industries like wind and solar, a task where he already has a track record of success as Pennsylvania’s Deputy Secretary for the Office of International Business Development.

“We shouldn’t limit our focus to green energy jobs: a diverse economy is a strong economy,” added Hoeffel. “We will bring labor unions and business leaders together as create jobs across our economy. Support for our hospitals and nursing homes will create jobs in healthcare; investment in infrastructure projects will create jobs in transportation and construction; increased funding for libraries and schools will create jobs in information and education. And while the booming natural gas industry in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale requires much stronger environmental policies and oversight than we currently have, the job creation potential of responsibly managed, safely mined natural resources is tremendous.” (See Hoeffel’s Responsible Natural Resource Management: The Marcellus Shale for further information.)

Hoeffel’s plan also calls for enacting policies which make Pennsylvania businesses more competitive, including a $100 million tax cut for manufacturers who “insource” jobs to Pennsylvanians instead of outsourcing them from our commonwealth. And we need to enact a “Jobs Now” initiative to fast-track infrastructure repair projects, nursing home improvements, and pollution clean-up projects, putting Pennsylvanians to work right away.

Small Businesses are a Big Part of Our Economy

When looking at businesses in Pennsylvania, Hoeffel wants us to keep a sense of scale. Only 2% have 100 or more employees. The other 98% of Pennsylvania businesses are small businesses: 36% have 2-99 employees, and 62% are sole-proprietor operations. In a down economy, these are the businesses which are hardest hit. They have fewer resources and less money in the bank to help weather the storm, and less access to the financial capital required to right the ship when the seas calm. Meanwhile, the cost of providing healthcare has skyrocketed for small business owners. And in today’s economic climate where loans are difficult to come by, entrepreneurs young and old find it harder to start new businesses.

“Small businesses are the heart of our economy, and keeping them healthy is a top priority,” said Hoeffel. “We must push for healthcare reform that relieves small businesses of the spiraling costs. And we must promote long-term capital loans and micro-loans to small businesses. To better prepare the next generation of small business leaders, we must explore incentives for small businesses participating in university co-op and internship programs. And by encouraging partnerships between universities and small businesses, we can forge new technologies and create small business jobs we can’t even envision today. With our help, the entrepreneurs of today can become the innovators of tomorrow.”

Weave Together our Urban, Rural and Suburban Economies

“Pennsylvania’s economy has three major components: our cities, our suburbs, and our farms. To build a stronger commonwealth, we must not only strengthen each of these but also strengthen the connections between them.”

If small businesses are the heart of Pennsylvania’s economy, then farms are our economy’s soul: agriculture remains the number one industry in Pennsylvania. But small farms suffer from suburban sprawl, highway construction, and unregulated natural resource mining. To protect our farmland, we must have strong open space preservation programs, like the one Joe Hoeffel enacted in Montgomery County. The Growing Greener programs have succeeded across the state and must be renewed. To help our small farms in the marketplace, we must provide incentives for local, sustainable, and organic farms — which in turn will provide Pennsylvanians healthier diets.

“We need to bridge the widening technological divide between our farms and cities,” said Hoeffel. “As modern farming requires increasingly specialized knowledge, children of farming families need greater access to educational programs than ever before. We also must expand broadband internet throughout the commonwealth to allow all Pennsylvanians, urban and rural, access to the online world.”

“I am deeply committed to infrastructure projects,” said Hoeffel. “These projects can strengthen the connections between cities and suburbs and help both as they help each other.”

Hoeffel knows that investing in mass transit creates jobs in construction, maintenance, and transportation operations. An important by-product of this investment is that it facilitates and supports jobs throughout our cities and their surroundings. Through improved commuting, we improve quality of life for families. Moreover, we help the environment through reduced energy consumption and air pollution. By investing in our roads, we not only increase highway capacity, but also encourage responsible development which will preserve both urban neighborhoods and suburban communities. And we both create jobs and improve safety through projects to repair aging road and rail bridges throughout the state.

Investments to revitalize and rehabilitate older communities and downtowns will bring Pennsylvania’s cities economic growth they haven’t seen in many years, in turn bringing renewed safety, prosperity, and pride. As Montgomery County Commissioner, Joe Hoeffel launched a bold county economic development plan to spur major urban redevelopment projects, attract and retain businesses, and rejuvenate older commercial complexes. Revitalizing our urban centers can provide the economic “pull” to complement the “push” of the open space preservation programs. Coupled with transit-oriented design guiding our development, we can help our cities, suburbs, and rural areas work together as never before.

For all of these projects, Hoeffel knows that we need to find out what works locally. Each community is unique, and we can’t force a single state strategy to work everywhere. Many local organizations excel at providing education, job training, housing, child-care, and small business assistance. Wherever possible, we should provide state support to successful community-based organizations.

Leading Pennsylvania, Leading America

“As Governor,” said Hoeffel, “I will prioritize building an educated and flexible workforce that is able to take on the challenges of the 21st century. I will encourage entrepreneurship and innovation through strong support of Pennsylvania’s small businesses. And I will weave our rural, suburban, and urban communities together so that each strengthens the others. With this plan, we can together build a strong economy providing jobs for Pennsylvanians and providing an example other states will try to follow as we lead America’s recovery.”

To learn more about Joe Hoeffel’s campaign for governor, go to www.joehoeffel2010.com

To see Joe Hoeffel’s Plan for Pennsylvania: New Jobs and a New Economy, go here

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