Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At the heart of Allen's plan: Using tax credits to target specific types of industries to add more jobs in Virginia, and targeting specific overseas markets to sell Virginia products.
That specificity puts Allen's plan at odds with that of Democratic rival Mary Sue Terry, who released her economic plan in August - and has been bashing Allen since for not having one.
Terry's plan - which she touted again Friday to the Virginia Economic Developers Association meeting in Roanoke - focuses on creating a statewide strategy for creating jobs, but doesn't fill in the blanks of what that strategy would include.
By contrast, Allen offered a 36-page blueprint that spells out which types of industries he'd go after, and how.
In introducing his plan at the economic developers' conference, Allen even offered a few words of praise for a former Democratic governor, Gerald Baliles, best known for his intense focus on transportation issues.
"Jerry Baliles was very focused on what he wanted to do," Allen said. "I didn't always agree with him, but he was focused and that's what important. That's one thing I did learn from Jerry Baliles."
But Allen blasted other Democratic governors for taking a "lax attitude" toward economic development. "The idea I'll convey is that Virginia is open for business - again," Allen said.
Among Allen's proposals:
The state should offer a "corporate headquarters job credit" of $1,000 for every new job created by a corporate headquarters that employs 75 people or more. If the corporate headquarters were in an "economically distressed" area, the tax credit would apply to companies with 50 employees or more.
Open a trade office in Eastern Europe and possibly Latin America to tap new markets, especially for Virginia coal, tobacco and farm products. Allen said he'd pay for these new offices by "reallocating" existing funds. He wouldn't say whether he'd keep the trade office that Gov. Douglas Wilder has proposed for Africa - but did point out the African branch hasn't been opened yet.
Open a "Virginia Business Resource Center" near Washington Dulles International Airport - perhaps at the Center for Innovative Technology - where business leaders passing through Washington could stop and learn about Virginia locations.
The state should target specific growth industries, such as information, biological and electronics technologies.
The state also should provide tax breaks for horse owners and the filmmaking industry to encourage job growth in those sectors.
Allen's plan differs with Terry in two other ways.
Terry says she'd set up a statewide "Board of Trade and Commerce" - headed by the governor, but dominated by business leaders - to draw up a comprehensive strategy for creating jobs.
She said this panel, whose members would be appointed for six-year terms, would "depoliticize economic development" and get business leaders involved.
"This is a restructuring of unprecedented proportions," Terry said. "This is not creating a bureaucracy as my opponent claims."
Indeed, when Allen followed Terry's speech a few minutes later Friday morning at the Roanoke Airport Marriott, that's exactly how he characterized her ideas. "My opponent has proposed nothing more than a cosmetic reshuffling of the bureaucracy," Allen said.
Instead of setting up a statewide panel, Allen would set up regional panels that he said would better understand localities' needs.
Allen and Terry also appear to have a philosophical dispute about how Virginia measures up to its regional competitors. Neighboring states, Allen complained, have been more aggressive in trying to attract jobs. He cited statistics compiled by the Texas-based Southern Industrial Development Council that show 32,000 manufacturing jobs were created in the Mid-Atlantic in 1992.
Of those, 32 percent were created in North Carolina and 34 percent in Tennessee - but only 8 percent in Virginia. Virginia's current political leadership suffers from "an attitude of complacency," Allen said. "My opponent's plans and policies represent a continuation of the past 12 years."
But Terry said Virginia shouldn't try to emulate its neighbors, which often offer expensive incentives to industries. "We're a special state," she said, that can sell itself on its own merits.
Terry spokesman Tom King added that Allen's criticism was off-base. "He's been a career politician for 10 years. If he's saying we've been outhustled, then he's been outhustled himself. George Allen hasn't taken a leadership position. It's the height of hypocrisy."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB