Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 11, 1993                   TAG: 9309110064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ALLEN CITES ECONOMIC `NEGLECT'

"The proof is in the jobs and investment that are being lost to other states - Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky," he said during a brief campaign stop at Roanoke Regional Airport.

"The failure of the Wilder-Terry economic development policies have severely impacted economic development in Southside and Southwest Virginia," Allen continued. "It's time for this neglect to end; for too long, the Democrats have treated economic development as a hobby or a perk."

Joined by former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, Allen said Tennessee and other neighboring states have outpaced Virginia in job creation and investment the past four years.

"The first claim for my time as governor of Virginia will be job creation," he said, outlining his own plan to jumpstart economic development efforts across the state. Allen said he would:

Appoint business, political and civic leaders to "regional economic development coordinating councils." The panels would be expected to work with state and local development officials to lure new business and industry to Virginia.

Organize "host committees" to "pull together all pieces of the economic development puzzle" - everyone from community college administrators and utility company executives to local government bureaucrats.

Establish a job-training tax credit of up to $300 per employee per year for companies electing to bring jobs to Virginia. "For economically distressed areas," he said, "the tax credit may be increased up to $500 per employee."

Revenue produced by the tax plan would "vastly exceed" the cost of the program, he said, pointing to the increased income tax revenue from corporations and newly employed workers.

Allen criticized Democratic candidate Mary Sue Terry's plan to create a 21-member Board of Trade and Commerce, saying, "The last thing we need is more bureaucracy in Richmond dictating policy."

Terry, for her part, has announced plans to create a regional economic development council. The panel would have direct access to the Board of Trade and Commerce and would be made "full partners in policy deliberations."

Terry, a former state attorney general, also has proclaimed that "the first job of the next governor is jobs," and has said that to create jobs and foster economic growth, handgun violence must be reduced.