First, we must help out-of-work Tennesseans rejoin the workforce immediately.
- Creating jobs is more than producing slick marketing brochures and taking recruiting trips. Every community and region should undergo the equivalent of an economic development "MRI or X-Ray" to show specific workforce strengths and challenges. This will help individuals looking for job opportunities as well as economic developers make better data-driven decisions about the future.
- We need to create a clearinghouse of education, labor, economic development and industry data that merge together in a user-friendly way to give Tennesseans timely information about the training and education required for high demand jobs and a clear route to get the training and education necessary for those jobs.
- I believe it's our people that can really distinguish us from the rest of the Southeast in creating high quality jobs. Tennesseans aren't afraid to work. We need to help individuals quickly obtain the type of education and specific training they need to be competitive for available jobs.
- One way to put folks back to work immediately is to identify in specific communities the adult Tennesseans who dropped out of the University of Tennessee system or the Board of Regents schools at one time because of problems with money, family, work or health problems, and get them back in the pipeline to finish their degree or program.
- Another way to quickly produce a better skilled and educated workforce is to encourage every community to develop a Knox Achieves-like program – a public-private partnership that provides mentors to high school students to help them navigate the college admissions and financial aid process to get them to the next level in high growth fields. Every community can look at different models to pursue, such as the nationally recognized college access programs like the Ayers Foundation Scholars Program and Kingsport's Educate & Grow Program.
Second, we must ensure Tennessee maintains its business-friendly environment.
- I will be the leading salesman for Tennessee, working relentlessly to provide a job opportunity for every citizen who is seeking work.
- As Governor, I will make sure that every policy and program in my administration supports the number one goal of creating and keeping high quality jobs in Tennessee.
- We need a strong leader to reject any talk of an income tax to solve fiscal downturns. I will ensure that Tennessee is a "no income tax state" and that we are protecting the business-friendly environment that helps Tennessee businesses keep and grow jobs and attracts international success stories like Nissan, Volkswagen, FedEx and Hemlock Semi-conductor.
- We need to make sure that our current state incentive programs are targeted, focused and not just a one-size-fits-all model. Incentives should be focused on specific growth industries that we are targeting, jobs of the future, specific needs of the community and with a focus on increasing income levels of the jobs we create.
Third, we must work with every region in the state to create regional economic development strategies.
- As I travel and campaign across Tennessee over the next year, I will seek counsel from industry leaders, small business owners, farmers and entrepreneurs who are rolling up their sleeves to create jobs and grow the economy during tough times. These folks will serve as my jobs kitchen cabinet and on-the-ground advisors.
- Every region should have a strategy that identifies a regional competitive advantage and induces the communities to work together, whether it be an inner-city entrepreneurial incubator, brownfield industrial site, tourist development project or regional business parks and speculative buildings.
- We need to ensure that economic development, workforce, and higher education funds are used in a coordinated way to further each region's economic development strategy.
- I am committed to making sure our small towns and rural communities find concrete and focused ways to create economic vitality and jobs while using smart planning to protect small town traditions, history and natural beauty.
Fourth, we need to capitalize on each region's existing assets and connect those competitive advantages with high quality, growing industries.
- With the successful recruitment of major companies like Hemlock Semiconductor, Wacker Chemical Plant, and Volkswagen, Tennessee recently hit several home runs that brought thousands of jobs to our state. I want to make sure that every community and region gets some singles, doubles and triples too.
- As an experienced business executive, I will call on the CEOs of Tennessee's fastest growing companies to rediscover our state as a place for possible expansion, outsourcing, and satellite opportunities right here in Tennessee. This kind of effort opens up opportunities for growing companies and gets rural communities prepared.
- From TVA Megasites in West Tennessee and Chattanooga to the healthcare and music industries in Nashville to the Tennessee Valley Technology Corridor in East Tennessee, each region has its own unique assets on which to build. The days of a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development are over. Tennessee will not be successful until every region capitalizes on its unique asset to be the economic development engine for its local communities.
- Tennessee is blessed with a diverse balance of global industry leaders, high growth companies and a wealth of successful entrepreneurs and small businesses. As Governor, I will focus on making sure the businesses and companies that are in high growth industries are in the best position to continue creating high quality, high paying jobs.
- It will also be my top priority to make sure that our people have the opportunity to attain the education levels required for these higher skilled and higher paying jobs.
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