Regional Economic Conference Highlights Changes And Challenges
James Bailey Brislin
The Carpet City Chronicle
The Enfield Press, June 5, 2008
“The realities are simple. You cannot redistribute wealth that you never created. You cannot be pro-jobs and anti-business at the same time. You cannot love employment and hate employers… No goose, no golden eggs.“
-Sen. Paul Tsongas
Last Friday, I had the privilege to attend The Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership’s 7th Annual “State of the Region” Conference, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here in Enfield. The theme of the conference was, “Beyond the Boomers: Can New England’s Knowledge Corridor Compete?”
The Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership (HSEP) is a regional economic development initiative sponsored by businesses, educational institutions, non-profits and governments in the Hartford-Springfield area. HSEP produces the materials branding the region as “New England’s Knowledge Corridor”.
The conference theme summarizes the challenges facing this area. Baby-boomers are the backbone of the regional labor pool. In the past decade, many educated workers in their 20’s and 30’s have left region. What will employers do when the “silver tsunami” of 75 million Boomer retirements hits America?
The chief message of presenters Ed Barlow and Jim Johnson was that technological advances, global competition, and demographic changes present challenges and opportunities that are causing significant structural changes in our economy.
This new business environment is turning long-held assumptions upside-down. For people my father’s age, it was not uncommon to work for one employer and retire with a gold watch and a defined benefit pension. The decline of traditional pensions and the rise of globalization have made workers and jobs far more mobile. Technological advances have made possible the automation and outsourcing of white-collar jobs and blue-collar jobs. Shortages of unskilled labor have caused unprecedented waves of immigration. Boomer retirements promise to transform the labor market into a seller’s market and contribute to real wage growth.
This paradigm shift has significant implications for how government conducts its business. The market for public services has traditionally been a seller’s market. Because people lived in the same place for decades, it was very easy for government to raise taxes. Globalization and mobility have created a buyer’s market for public services. Governments that increase taxes face job and population losses.
As a result, the public sector now must deal with the same cost control pressures facing private sector businesses. Government will be forced to reduce its operating costs by automating functions and focusing on core businesses.
This has hit home here in Enfield. Popular furor over tax increases has put pressure on town government to control costs and avoid additional tax increases. This pressure is reinforced by the fact that most land in town is developed, leaving few opportunities to grow the tax base.
The tipper barrel program is a good example of Enfield’s government using automation to reduce the cost of services. In the past, sanitation workers would manually tip trash barrels. Now, a robotic arm will empty the tipper barrels, making it possible for the town to reduce staffing levels.
Although the new economy poses many great challenges, there is a way out. It requires qualities that are noticeably absent today, especially in Washington: courage, leadership, innovation, creativity, and realism.
Political leaders need to have the courage to make the tough decisions necessary to retool and limit public services, especially entitlement programs. Only those who demonstrate leadership will be able to deliver lasting change. The qualities were evident in the Town Council’s ratification of a zero-tax-increase budget, over special-interest objections.
We need people with innovation and creativity to find ways to deliver better public services for less cost. Equally, the American private sector needs innovation and creativity to maintain its competitive edge.
These endeavors must be guided by a realism that evaluates feasibility and directly confronts challenges. Those who display these characteristics will thrive in the environment of global competition and find success in the 21st Century.
June 4, 2008
Regional Economic Conference Highlights Changes And Challenges
Posted by James Bailey Brislin under Commentary & Politics, Connecticut, Enfield, News, The Enfield Press | Tags: Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership, HSEP, Enfield Crowne Plaza, New England's Knowledge Corridor, Economic Development, Boomer Retirements, Outsourcing, Municipal Services, Furturism, Global Competition, Demographics, Immigration, Demographic Changes, Globalization, Technological Advances |Leave a Comment
Regional Economic Conference Highlights Changes And Challenges
James Bailey Brislin
The Carpet City Chronicle
The Enfield Press, June 5, 2008
“The realities are simple. You cannot redistribute wealth that you never created. You cannot be pro-jobs and anti-business at the same time. You cannot love employment and hate employers… No goose, no golden eggs.“
-Sen. Paul Tsongas
Last Friday, I had the privilege to attend The Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership’s 7th Annual “State of the Region” Conference, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here in Enfield. The theme of the conference was, “Beyond the Boomers: Can New England’s Knowledge Corridor Compete?”
The Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership (HSEP) is a regional economic development initiative sponsored by businesses, educational institutions, non-profits and governments in the Hartford-Springfield area. HSEP produces the materials branding the region as “New England’s Knowledge Corridor”.
The conference theme summarizes the challenges facing this area. Baby-boomers are the backbone of the regional labor pool. In the past decade, many educated workers in their 20’s and 30’s have left region. What will employers do when the “silver tsunami” of 75 million Boomer retirements hits America?
The chief message of presenters Ed Barlow and Jim Johnson was that technological advances, global competition, and demographic changes present challenges and opportunities that are causing significant structural changes in our economy.
This new business environment is turning long-held assumptions upside-down. For people my father’s age, it was not uncommon to work for one employer and retire with a gold watch and a defined benefit pension. The decline of traditional pensions and the rise of globalization have made workers and jobs far more mobile. Technological advances have made possible the automation and outsourcing of white-collar jobs and blue-collar jobs. Shortages of unskilled labor have caused unprecedented waves of immigration. Boomer retirements promise to transform the labor market into a seller’s market and contribute to real wage growth.
This paradigm shift has significant implications for how government conducts its business. The market for public services has traditionally been a seller’s market. Because people lived in the same place for decades, it was very easy for government to raise taxes. Globalization and mobility have created a buyer’s market for public services. Governments that increase taxes face job and population losses.
As a result, the public sector now must deal with the same cost control pressures facing private sector businesses. Government will be forced to reduce its operating costs by automating functions and focusing on core businesses.
This has hit home here in Enfield. Popular furor over tax increases has put pressure on town government to control costs and avoid additional tax increases. This pressure is reinforced by the fact that most land in town is developed, leaving few opportunities to grow the tax base.
The tipper barrel program is a good example of Enfield’s government using automation to reduce the cost of services. In the past, sanitation workers would manually tip trash barrels. Now, a robotic arm will empty the tipper barrels, making it possible for the town to reduce staffing levels.
Although the new economy poses many great challenges, there is a way out. It requires qualities that are noticeably absent today, especially in Washington: courage, leadership, innovation, creativity, and realism.
Political leaders need to have the courage to make the tough decisions necessary to retool and limit public services, especially entitlement programs. Only those who demonstrate leadership will be able to deliver lasting change. The qualities were evident in the Town Council’s ratification of a zero-tax-increase budget, over special-interest objections.
We need people with innovation and creativity to find ways to deliver better public services for less cost. Equally, the American private sector needs innovation and creativity to maintain its competitive edge.
These endeavors must be guided by a realism that evaluates feasibility and directly confronts challenges. Those who display these characteristics will thrive in the environment of global competition and find success in the 21st Century.