Too many times economic development dollars are spent chasing huge projects that end up costing as much or more in taxpayer-backed giveaways than it does jobs.
An example is the upcoming Continental Tire factory near Jackson. The state is giving the South Carolina-based corporation $240,000 per job it creates despite the average wage only being $40,000.
And nationally, Amazon is playing nearly every major city against each other in a sweepstakes to see who will cough up the most taxpayer-funded incentives for it to locate its second headquarters. Last week it announced the 20 finalists out of 238 applicants. We’re thankful Mississippi didn’t apply for this one, and we suspect the 237 “losers” will ultimately benefit more than the one city who mortgages its future to prop up a booming company that doesn’t need public support for its capital projects.
Often out-of-state or foreign entities that move into an area aren’t good corporate citizens, don’t live up to the job projections and hit the road soon after the subsidies run dry.
A better approach is to try to foster new businesses from within your existing population. These are people who care about the area, are likely to stay for the long haul and invest in their businesses themselves without jeopardizing taxpayer dollars.
Marion County is fortunate to have such homegrown companies as Southern Tire Mart and the Jones Companies to drive the local economy. Although such entities take years to build up, if you can get one like that in your community it makes a difference for generations.
In that sense, it’s an interesting approach by the Mississippi Development Authority to fund entrepreneurship training. It’s giving a grant to the Marion County Development Partnership to host a series of classes, taught by a successful small business owner from the Coast, designed to help people learn how to start their own business.
That’s a relatively low-cost approach that could give someone with a good idea a leg up toward making it in business.
A meeting at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the MCDP will introduce the program. Future entrepreneurs should consider attending.
— Charlie Smith
