4. What is your plan for attracting and retaining better paying jobs?
Daniel Evans (Candidate for Mayor of Smithfield): Economic development is paramount on everyone's mind. I believe if we do our due diligence with the roadway and imaging building as well as providing a business friendly environment we can sell our City to the rest of the Country. The most recent economic data I have seen indicates that our workforce has developed from general manufacturing to bio-tech type. Our Community College is doing a great job on redirecting that specific job class as well as others. I believe we still need jobs that are in the pay range of 10-15 dollar an hour that are generally found in light industry and or manufacturing assembly. By identifying this sector we can better promote our community to potential like kind industry and or business. We must be attractive and promote the commercial buildings that we already have in inventory in our community as well as identifying any potential sites for these new opportunities. The recruitment of industry and or businesses is very competitive and the Town needs to also be competitive and aggressive. We still have the best location in the country with I-95 and I-40 in our back yard and also the triangle just up the road that is still rated in the top ten in the Nation to grow a business and or live. This potential growth opportunity also exists in the retention of businesses. We must work on maintaining a business friendly environment and support our local businesses who are providing jobs for our citizens. The city has currently reviewed and has many advantages that a developer can take part in to assist them in locating and or developing here. I hope we can also identify ways to co-opt some money for advertisement etc. to boost the businesss of our existing businesss so they in turn can offer employment to our citizens. Working together to reduce our unemployment can only be an advantage to all involved.
Charles A. Williams (Candidate for Smithfield District 2 Councilman): My plan for attracting and retaining better paying jobs is to partner with Johnston Community College to provide customized training for new or expanding industries. I would recommend developing an internship and continuing education program between the industries and college for the retention of these high paying jobs.
Vic Ogburn (Candidate for Smithfield District 2 Councilman): We need to go after any industry that are hiring. But emphasis on the companies that pay above medium income levels for this area.
Perry Harris (Candidate for Smithfield District 3 Councilman): I feel that Smithfield has many great assets to offer anyone looking to relocate their business or for starting a new business venture. I will work to insure that Smithfield looks to secure any opportunity for jobs and especially those jobs that offer better pay and benefits. I firmly believe that Smithfield has many opportunities in this area and I plan to be directly involved in searching out these opportunities for our town.
Tony Gupton (Candidate for Smithfield District 3 Councilman): No single policy or approach will be successful without a coordinated effort to ensure that we retain our current workforce and business partners in Smithfield. Taking care of our existing business and workforce would be my priority in attracting and retaining better paying jobs. Yes, we all have a vested interest in attracting and retaining better paying jobs and corporate citizens. We need to and we will attract and retain the better paying jobs by creating tax incentives, working with zoning, and to create infrastructure that attracts high end business with higher paying jobs and employment opportunities. Growth in small and medium sized businesses will represent the best potential for job growth over the long term. This can be accomplished by focusing efforts on attracting new industry, assisting local companies to grow, and ensuring that adequate infrastructure is provided. Another element that must be emphasized is the quality of life and established sense of community. We already have these resources and basic tenants of business recruitment in place. We want to enourage the employees who fill these higher paying jobs prefer to live in our communities. These individuals typically are more active in the communities they live and more apt to spend more income locally if the options are there. We must strive to create and emphasize cultural offerings, entertainment, recreational opportunities and our educational options and opportunities. These goals and needs will also create a more visually pleasing community by establishing policies that will result in more attractive streets, residential areas and better harmony between different land users. In short, create a community and town where business owners value these attributes in which they want to live and work. Economic Development efforts will be Business Attraction, Business Retention and expansion, Use of Incentives for Job Creation, Quality of Life, Retail and Downtown Development, and Infrastructure Investments. It should be noted that there are circumstances where it will be in the town's best interest to provide incentives to stimulate the local economy and attract exceptional paying jobs and industries beyond that which would normally occur without public-sector involvement. Incentives are appropriate when the additional revenues or benefits received from a project are greater than the cost of the incentives provided by the town.
Zach Crocker (Candidate for Smithfield District 4 Councilman): I think the Creating a New Tomorrow Vision Report the Chamber relased last year is a good foundation. An industry retention plan is important to supporting our current industries, having an active business recruiter would be an asset to promting and marketing Smithfield/Selma to industry, and improving and supporting our schools is a must to having a workforce that is attactive to industry.
