[House Hearing, 108 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOB CREATION
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE, EMPOWERMENT & GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
of the
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
NEWNAN, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2003
__________
Serial No. 108-34
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Small Business
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/
house
_____
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2004
92-797 PDF
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512-1800
Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois, Chairman
ROSCOE BARTLETT, Maryland, Vice NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York
Chairman JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD,
SUE KELLY, New York California
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio TOM UDALL, New Mexico
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania FRANK BALLANCE, North Carolina
JIM DeMINT, South Carolina DONNA CHRISTENSEN, Virgin Islands
SAM GRAVES, Missouri DANNY DAVIS, Illinois
EDWARD SCHROCK, Virginia CHARLES GONZALEZ, Texas
TODD AKIN, Missouri GRACE NAPOLITANO, California
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia ANIBAL ACEVEDO-VILA, Puerto Rico
BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania ED CASE, Hawaii
MARILYN MUSGRAVE, Colorado MADELEINE BORDALLO, Guam
TRENT FRANKS, Arizona DENISE MAJETTE, Georgia
JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania JIM MARSHALL, Georgia
JEB BRADLEY, New Hampshire MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine
BOB BEAUPREZ, Colorado LINDA SANCHEZ, California
CHRIS CHOCOLA, Indiana ENI FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
STEVE KING, Iowa BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
THADDEUS McCOTTER, Michigan
J. Matthew Szymanski, Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel
Phil Eskeland, Policy Director
Michael Day, Minority Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Witnesses
Page
Brady, The Hon. Keith, Mayor, City of Newnan, GA................. 3
Jones, The Hon. Nancy, Chairman, Meriwether County Commission.... 5
Byrd, The Hon. Rubye, Mayor, City of Greenville, GA.............. 6
Bell, Ed, Councilman, Thomaston, GA.............................. 8
Heuber, Betsy, President, Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Commerce.... 8
Gaymon, Mike, President, Columbus, GA, Chamber of Commerce....... 11
Purvis, Kip, Meriwether County Economic Development Authority.... 14
Appendix
Opening statements:
Akin, Hon. Todd.............................................. 26
Prepared statements:
Brady, Hon. Keith............................................ 29
Jones, The Hon. Nancy........................................ 31
Byrd, The Hon. Rubye......................................... 33
Heuber, Betsy................................................ 34
Gaymon, Mike................................................. 36
Purvis, Kip.................................................. 39
(iii)
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOB CREATION
----------
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2003
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment,and
Government Programs,
Committee on Small Business,
Newnan, GA
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:20 p.m., in
the Council Chamber, Newnan City Hall, 25 LaGrange Street,
Newnan, Georgia, Hon. Todd Akin [Chairman of the Subcommittee]
presiding.
This is actually an official meeting of the U.S. House of
Representatives. It might seem a little bit odd, because you
would think that would happen inside the Beltway, you know,
inside Washington, D.C., but committees can call official
meetings of the House and have those hearings anywhere in the
country that they want to. And this is an official U.S. hearing
of the Small Business Committee and it is the Subcommittee on
Workforce Development.
Our Committee has a broad amount of authority to be able to
conduct hearings and particularly to try and gather information
which we record and it becomes part of the official record of
the House. And that is what we are gathered to under take this
afternoon.
Now it is obvious that we do not hold committee hearings in
every town all over the country, but there is some logic in us
picking a place to go. In this particular situation, our
Subcommittee was approached by your Congressman Gingrey and he
made the case that it was important to come here and to take a
look at what was going on and to have a good handle on what is
happening in terms of jobs, economic growth and workforce
development. So that is the topic of our discussion today. That
is the reason for the meeting and quite honestly, I would not
have come down here--I am from St. Louis originally--and
although my brother graduated from Georgia Tech, I am not
liable to fly out of my way to go to Georgia if it had not been
for your Congressman, who has been very earnest in taking a
look at the development and growth of all of his I gather
somewhat unique district that has been drawn for him. And he
does care about the people and the jobs and the conditions of
the economy here. So he asked us to come down and that is the
reason why we are here today.
And I also would not have come if it had not been for the
fact that your Congressman votes the same way he talks. You
know, politicians sometimes sound very good back home, but you
get them too far from home and they start--like a Victrola
record, they start skipping and they do not seem to act the
same way that they did when they were talking back home. That
is not the case with your Congressman. He, very early on, has
earned the respect of my colleagues, that people that have been
around the House longer than he has, as not only a hard worker,
but a man of his word and somebody who really has a genuine
interest in his constituents and in our economy and in the jobs
and the wellbeing of the people of your district as well as our
entire nation. So it is a real treat for me to welcome
Congressman Gingrey. You are not actually technically a member
of the Subcommittee, but in these kinds of situations are
invited by the Chairman to effectively operate as a member of
the Subcommittee.
Because we have gotten off to a little bit of a later start
because of some traffic situation, we are not going to go into
the details of some of your voting record. I would tell some
stories about your good votes, but this is a guy that
understands something about taxes and the importance of getting
the economy going. He has had some great votes that way. And
also some things in the area of health care, to try to
provide--make sure that people of our communities have access
to good health care and reining in a bit some of these extreme
lawsuits which have made it almost impossible for many doctors
to keep their practices open. That is something that a former
doctor I think understands probably better than the Chairman
does this afternoon.
But with that, it is typical and appropriate that I would
recognize other members of Congress and that you is you, Phil,
for an opening statement.
Mr. Gingrey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I
appreciate you coming into the 11th Congressional District when
you could still be enjoying these last one or two days in your
home in Missouri. We all, of course, have to be back in
Washington tomorrow. But it means a great deal to me, Todd, for
you as Subcommittee Chair of the Small Business Committee, to
come to Newnan, Georgia, to Coweta County.
When we have an opportunity to have elected officials,
members of the Chamber, economic development folks in this 11th
Congressional District to come and testify and to make sure
that the Committee understands, that the full House understands
what we are going through here in west Georgia, if you will.
West Georgia, of course, has become northwest Georgia and
southwest Georgia and the bits and pieces of 17 counties in
between, but I proudly represent part of Coweta County and the
City of Newnan, my wife's home, and just a block away from
where we sit, Billie--formerly Billie Ayers--and I were married
33 years ago. We have raised four wonderful children and now we
are proud grandparents of three grandchildren. So to have these
hearings here in Billie's home in Newnan, where her mom still
lives as well as her sister and brother-in-law, really means a
lot to me.
This district, the 11th, is not an affluent district, Mr.
Chairman. We have some pockets of affluence, certainly the City
of Newnan is one of them, a wonderful place to live and raise a
family. Rome, Georgia, in Floyd County, up in the northwest, is
doing well. I represent a third of Cobb County and Cobb County
is certainly no Tier 1 county, but the part of the county that
I represent, just as the part in Muscogee that I represent, is
struggling. We have lost a lot of jobs, we have lost a lot
manufacturing jobs in particular, and I know the witnesses will
testify to that effect, each describing the unique stress that
they have experienced in their own county, whether they are
elected officials or members of the business community. They
know and I am looking forward to hearing from them and moving
forward and trying to do everything we can, Mr. Chairman,
through your Subcommittee, through the whole Committee,
Chairman Manzullo's committee, the Small Business Committee. I
know that we are all concerned about the loss of these
manufacturing jobs.
So with that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing from
the witnesses.
Chairman Akin. Well, thank you, Congressman; and thank you
very much for inviting me to come down and visit and to have
this meeting.
One thing that might be helpful for our witnesses, if you
would turn your name tags around, it would be a little bit
easier for this guy from out of town.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Akin. What I am going to do is I am going to be
asking each of you that are witnesses to make a five-minute
statement. You have, if there is no objection, the option if
you would like, to submit a written testimony for the record.
But just to kind of keep the meetings on track and to stay on
the main points, what we usually do is to ask each of you to
run for five minutes, or less if you need to, but not too much
more. My staff assistant, Thomas, here, he kind of makes funny
faces and waves his hands when you get too close to the end of
five minutes.
So we will go ahead and let each of you make a five-minute
statement and then what we will do is come back and have a
chance to ask some questions and some give and take during that
time.
[Mr. Akin's statement may be found in the appendix.]
The first witness I would like to recognize here is the
Mayor of the City of Newnan and that is the Honorable Keith
Brady. Keith, five minutes, please, sir.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE KEITH BRADY, MAYOR, CITY OF NEWNAN,
GEORGIA
Mayor Brady. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Chairman Akin,
members of the Committee, I am Keith Brady, Mayor of the City
of Newnan. Newnan, proud to celebrate its 175th year this year,
has a population of approximately 20,000 people in the city and
100,000 in Coweta County. The city offers residents small town
charm, but also, with the close proximity to Atlanta, the
conveniences of a big city. I am pleased to have the
opportunity to speak to all of you today regarding
opportunities for economic growth in the southern part of
Georgia's 11th Congressional District.
As we are all aware, small business and industry is
essential to a city's prosperity and welfare of its citizens.
Economic growth for Newnan faces three major issues: clean air,
transportation and health care.
The City of Newnan is always working to attract and
maintain industry. We understand that 80 percent of new jobs
are created due to the expansion of the current industrial
base. When industries consider expansion, they must also
consider the cost involved and the impact on the environment.
This is most costly to these businesses in the non-attainment
areas. We know that sometimes consideration is given to
relocate to another county to avoid being in the non-attainment
region. I am strongly in favor of clean air, but sincerely hope
to move forward faster to a solution in regard to the
environmental impact of industrial retention and expansion.
I realize that 60 percent of the people living in our area
commute to work each day. We need to identify their
destinations and attract those businesses to this area. Given
the chance to perform the same trade instead of working 40
miles away, working in a building close to home cuts down on
commute time, rush hour stress and automotive pollution.
Transportation is also another concern regarding economic
development. Our focus is moving our people, both movements
within our city and outside of our city. For internal movement,
the City of Newnan has been seeking federal and state funds in
a desire for a public transportation system involving trolley,
vans, et cetera. For people who do not have access to a
vehicle, we must find a way to get them to work.
I am also hoping to help relieve traffic congestion by
adding interchanges on I-85. Ideally, the City and Coweta
County would like to add two interchanges on I-85 at Poplar
Road and I-85 at the industrial park. However, we have been
told that the completion of interchanges takes approximately
ten years. The population increase for Newnan and Coweta County
could be drastic in five to ten years. There should be a method
in place to speed this process.
The issue of health care impacts every citizen, business
and governmental entity. Currently, the most cost-effective and
least taxing method of delivering health care is through group
employer-provided plans. Health insurance premiums continue to
increase with the rising cost of prescription drugs, the
expense of new technology, medical malpractice insurance suits
and the cost of uncompensated care. I would like to see efforts
to enhance the affordability and availability of health care
insurance for small businesses and their employees.
For the business owner with a handful of employees, the
rising cost of health insurance could be phenomenal and
discouraging and therefore prohibitive to both growth and
success. I would personally like to see new fundamental policy
decisions aimed at better control of underlying costs.
Again, we appreciate the opportunity to state our causes
here today. We look forward to many discussions as we all
develop new processes for the improved economic development for
the State of Georgia.
Thank you.
[Mr. Brady's statement may be found in the appendix.]
Chairman Akin. Mayor, thank you very much. I appreciate
your keeping it right on time and you already raised a lot of
interesting points, so I look forward to getting back to you
with a question or two.
Our second witness is going to be Ms. Nancy Jones, who is
the Chairwoman of the Meriwether County Commissioners. Nancy,
thank you very much for joining us today. We look forward to
hearing your testimony.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NANCY JONES, CHAIRMAN, MERIWETHER
COUNTY COMMISSION
Ms. Jones. Thank you, Chairman Akin, Committee members; it
is a delight to be here and I thank you for that. Again, I am
Nancy Jones and I am Chairperson of the Meriwether County Board
of Commissioners.
Meriwether County is a predominantly rural community,
recently included in the metropolitan statistical area of
Atlanta. This designation is a result of the high number of
people commuting daily from Meriwether County into the Atlanta
metro area. Of the 8,893 citizens in the county's workforce,
4,727 commute outside the county, with 65 percent or 3,083
commuting into the metro area. The commuting patterns and the
nine percent unemployment rate within the county has
contributed to the continuous closing of small businesses and
industry in our area during the current economic recession.
Meriwether County is considered a Tier 1 community by the
Georgia Department of Community Affairs. This designation is
reflected by the county's low levels of per capita income, high
unemployment rate and high rate of illiteracy and high school
drop outs. In fact, almost half of the population does not have
a high school diploma and only seven percent of residents hold
a bachelor's degree. These factors have contributed to
Meriwether County's stagnant and declining economy.
With the recent closing of a MeadWestvaco sawmill in which
150 employees lost their jobs, the small retail economy
continues to suffer. Restaurants, tradesmen, gas stations and
corner grocery stores feel a negative impact when a significant
employer such as MeadWestvaco closes its doors. In addition,
Norfolk Southern is preparing to abandon its line running to
Columbus, creating a domino effect which will negatively affect
another large employer in our county, and that is Georgia
Pacific.
The amount of state and federal assistance received in our
community is greatly appreciated, but does not scratch the
surface in terms of actual need. Meriwether County does not
have a countywide water or sewage system, which further hinders
our ability to compete with other counties for business and
economic development. The municipalities within the county have
outdated water and sewer systems with limited capacity. Our
ability to develop these systems is hindered by very slow-
growing tax digest while tight budgets stretch every dollar to
the limit for the continuation of our existing services.
In May and June of 2003, the county received serious flood
damage by two flash floods. These floods have left seven of our
roads and bridges closed to date, with an anticipated cost of
replacement and repairs of over a quarter of a million dollars.
Due to eligibility requirements, the county did not receive any
federal funds to assist in these repairs and has yet to receive
any state funds. Incidents such as these hamstring our ability
to develop the necessary infrastructure needed to allow
communities such as ours the capability to grown.
Meriwether County has embarked on a journey to improve the
educational level of our workforce. The county recently
received a $500,000 community development block grant earmarked
for construction of a workforce development center to hold
classes taught by West Georgia Technical College. On the day it
opens, at least 150 citizens will take part in the programs
offered, with the anticipation of over 300 students in the next
five years. The local community has seen the absolute necessity
of this initiative and has donated $275,000 of cash and in-kind
services towards improving the educational attainment level of
our citizens, so existing and future businesses can access a
qualified and trained workforce.
As witnessed by this project, our rural community can
recognize and can react to our shortcomings, but needs the
assistance of federal grant programs to make them become a
reality.
Meriwether can be a thriving community for businesses
instead of a struggling bedroom and an agrarian society, but
real problems in such areas as rural health care, educational
attainment and infrastructure development makes for a very
challenging business environment in rural Georgia.
I want to thank this Committee for their time and serious
consideration and commitment to assisting small businesses and
counties such as Meriwether.
Chairman Akin. Nancy, thank you very much for your
testimony. I appreciate that.
Dr. Byrd, we wanted to go ahead and get started, so let me
just give you a quick update on what we were saying. We were
having the witnesses give a five minute testimony and then we
will come back and ask some questions. Are you ready to give us
a five minute testimony? The subject is basically about small
business but what is going on in terms of the economic
development of this area.
Dr. Rubye Byrd is the Mayor of the City of Greenville. We
will let you roll right along there then, Doctor.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE RUBYE BYRD, MAYOR, CITY OF
GREENVILLE, GEORGIA
Mayor Byrd. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, to the Committee on
Small Business of the U.S. House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Workforce Empowerment and Governmental
Programs. First of all, we would like to thank you for allowing
us to come forward and do this testimony.
As Mayor of Greenville, Georgia, part of this 11th U.S.
Congressional District of the State of Georgia, I am honored to
have this opportunity to testify before the Committee about my
views on the prospect of economic growth and job creation. In
addition, I will make very brief remarks on the needs of my
community in light of the recent hardships.
Now Greenville, is the county seat of Meriwether County,
and it is strategically located in the heart of this county.
This provides easy access to Interstate 85, it is located
approximately 75 miles from downtown Atlanta and 65 miles from
the Atlanta Airport. So therefore, with a constant increase in
population, because of migration from Coweta, Troup and of
course Muscogee Counties, the manpower is coming to
Greenville--it is not there yet, but it is coming.
We are poised for growth. With the coming of a county
workforce center that I believe my good friend Commissioner
Nancy Jones perhaps has talked about, to provide technical
training to citizens, it will enhance the availability of
employees and will assist the companies with having individuals
with the skills to provide the services there. Therefore,
industries and companies would be prone to come to Greenville
because of its location, the new training program and the
abundance of land.
Right now, Greenville is very desolate. It has no industry.
We just lost Mead, one of our number one companies that
provided services to the city for a long period of time.
Greenville has experienced a downsize since about 1994 when the
waters were polluted by a Lanier plant that is part of a
subsidiary company called Oxford Industries, which is a Fortune
500 company. Therefore, with the pollution of the water, the
inflow of money has been very, very little and so the city sits
in dire need of industries.
Greenville also has the capacity to provide water and
sewerage to these large companies because of what happened with
its water system. We ran lines to the LaGrange system and so we
have an abundant supply of water to provide, because there are
so many persons who commute between Atlanta and Columbus, new
companies to provide jobs and economic development will be
highly welcome.
The Chamber of Commerce of course and the Meriwether County
Industrial Authority--I see we have Mr. Kip Purvis here--will
have a plethora of tax incentives and other attractive type of
business development initiatives for everyone who is located or
interested in relocating in Greenville, Meriwether County.
The most important need of our area in Greenville is, of
course, economic development, higher educational attainment
levels, better housing, maintaining and restructuring the water
and sewerage system that is old and antiquated. That was a
segregated system until about 1972. That area was designed
basically for white Americans in the area. And because African-
Americans ranked four times--than white Americans in the area,
it has been a strain on that system and therefore it
continuously has problems.
We have annexed into our city approximately 150 acres of
land for developers to build new houses ranging from $85,000 to
$150,000. We assisted, of course, in helping to secure this
grant that I am sure Ms. Jones talked about a few minutes ago.
We also assisted in securing another grant to build a gated
multi-family community which will include a swimming pool,
computer labs and clubhouses.
We are open in Meriwether County to all types of
suggestions to help our area grow and prosper. We are getting
together as one county, even though Greenville is the county
seat, we are getting together with the best emphasis on the one
county structure, and we all can benefit from it.
Thank you, sir.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much, Rubye, appreciate your
testimony here this afternoon.
The next witness is Mr. Ed Bell, you are a Thomaston City
Councilman--I think that is correct.
Mr. Bell. That is correct.
Chairman Akin. And then my understanding was that you and
Betsy both have a similar--the same statement but you are kind
of testifying together, so we will go with you first, Ed.
STATEMENT OF ED BELL, COUNCILMAN, THOMASTON, GEORGIA
Mr. Bell. Ms. Hueber will provide more facts and figures,
but I will have some comments. Ms. Hueber is President of our
Thomaston-Upson County Chamber of Commerce and the Director of
our Upson County-Thomaston Industrial Development Authority.
But I have a few comments. Having lived in Thomaston,
Georgia, Upson County, one hour south of Atlanta, one hour west
of Macon and an hour west of Columbus. Senator Russell said 40
something years ago, in the heart of the golden triangle. When
I moved there in 1945, as a stranger to start my business, it
was in the heart of the golden triangle. Textile mills, B.F.
Goodrich Company, largest tire cord manufacturing plant in the
United States was running 24 hours a day. Thomaston Mills, we
have slept under their sheets for years throughout this
country, was running 24 hours a day. William Carter Company,
making the baby clothes, was running well. Fortunately, I came
at the right time, the business was successful.
However, if you walk around Thomaston now and see the
people who are unemployed, do not have a job. At the regional
medical center, we have so many people without health insurance
due to what Ms. Hueber will explain, some bankruptcies with no
health insurance. It is sad.
Tonight, I will go to a Council meeting and regretfully we
will have to amend our budget for the year 2003. Why? One of
the main reasons is sales tax collections are down. Why? People
are not working, they are not buying and we are having to
adjust it. We had three new police cars in the budget this
year. Unfortunately we will not be able to purchase those cars.
We have not replaced people, we are in a freeze. It is sad.
And Ms. Hueber will tell you more about our situation in
Thomaston-Upson County, but before I close, Upson County is
27,000 people, the City of Thomaston, the county seat, is
around 9000. We are proud of this community but we need help,
and we will come back.
Thank you.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much, Ed, for your testimony.
And then Dr. Betsy Hueber please.
STATEMENT OF BETSY HUEBER, PRESIDENT, THOMASTON-UPSON CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
Ms. Hueber. Not doctor.
Chairman Akin. Did I give you an official doctor here?
[Laughter.]
Chairman Akin. I do not have that authority. Otherwise----.
Mr. Gingrey. It just means you do not make any money.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Hueber. Or have high insurance, right?
Chairman Akin and Congressman Gingrey, thank you for having
us here today. My name is Betsy Hueber and I serve as the
President of the Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Commerce and
Executive Director of the Thomaston-Upson County Industrial
Development Authority.
Our community of 27,600 residents has been extremely hard
hit by the economic slowdown and the loss of the textile market
to foreign competition. Thomaston lost its largest employer,
Thomaston Mills, in June 2001, thus losing 1500 jobs, for a
total of 3000 textile jobs since April 1999. With the closing
of 102 year old Thomaston Mills came a $65 million loss of
payroll plus health insurance and retirement benefits.
Thomaston Mills also had its corporate headquarters located in
Thomaston with 165 supervisory and management personnel and an
annual white-collar payroll exceeding $9 million or an average
or approximately $54,600 per job.
We were successful in recruiting four new companies who
located in 1.6 million square feet of former Thomaston Mills
manufacturing facilities. While we have brought in new
companies with Standard Textile, Atlantic Paper and Foil, ATD
American and 1888 Mills, these four companies have created
fewer than 350 new jobs to date and only 22 management and
supervisory level jobs, with a combined annual local management
payroll of less than one million dollars. This definitely has
an impact on our per capita income. Further, the jobs that were
created by these companies were offset in even greater numbers
by declines in existing industries following the devastating
events of September 11.
With the loss of Thomaston Mills also came a major
reduction in ad valorem tax revenues. Thomaston Mills was our
community's largest taxpayer. In successfully recruiting the
companies that have purchased the former Thomaston Mills
buildings, we have seen values decrease by three-fourths of
their former value, meaning a major reduction in ad valorem tax
revenues.
According to the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and
Tourism, Upson County's 2001 per capita income figure of
$19,981 was less than the 2000 figure of $20,477. This occurred
even while our regional, state and national figures increased.
And currently our per capita income is almost $9000 less than
that of the State of Georgia. Our unemployment rate continues
to exceed that of the state, hovering in the seven to eight
percent range, and we know that we continue to lose residents
to other communities that do have jobs to offer.
We were fortunate to recruit West Georgia Generating to
Thomaston in 1999 and that company began generating power
during peak times in June 2000. It was subsequently purchased
by Mirant, which has now filed for bankruptcy. What this will
do to our tax base is unknown at this point, but we are hopeful
that this company, now Upson County's largest taxpayer, will
continue to be a viable power generator and taxpayer.
I say all of these things to give you some indication of
the enormous economic difficulties facing Thomaston and other
communities like us. The decline in textiles has been
devastating and traumatic. While many of our people have gone
back to school for additional training, they have not been able
to find jobs. We also still suffer from the days when a person
could drop out of school and get a job in the mill.
Obviously an offshoot of these manufacturing job losses is
the further loss of small businesses. Vacancies, resulting
reduction of property values, increases in personal
bankruptcies, all are the fallout of manufacturing job losses.
Workforce development is a critical component and we continue
to invest in our community. Our leadership has invested in new
property for an industrial park and a speculative building is
under development. But our workforce needs are many and the
funding is small.
The State of Georgia is also suffering from declines in
revenues and important expansion projects for our local
technical college, Flint River Technical College have not been
placed on the approved list. The school needs space,
instructors, marketing and recruitment funds in order to
address these workforce deficiencies head on. A recent
application to the One Georgia Authority to purchase former
Thomaston Mills corporate office space was denied this month.
The purpose was to create an adult education workforce training
business incubator that would be a division of Flint Tech.
Local government funds are simply not there for the purchase of
this facility and federal EDA funding is incredibly cumbersome
and unreliable, although we are pursuing that route.
Even if our community were at peak performance in terms of
skill levels, we would still have difficulty attracting new
companies into the rural parts of Georgia. Have we learned
nothing from NAFTA? We simply cannot compete with China,
Indonesia and other countries and what happened in textiles
will most certainly happen in other sectors. Indeed, it already
is. In addition, we are supporting a lifestyle in foreign
countries that we would not tolerate in our own.
Further, the majority of projects that may be coming into
the State of Georgia, which are admittedly good for Georgia,
are merely consolidations from other states. It means we get
the projects, but we also must provide incentives and that can
be extremely difficult for our local elected officials, who are
dealing with budget deficits of their own, to understand and
support.
Many of our economic expansions are coming from within our
own existing industries, but there again, there is a problem.
We have one company in Upson County seeking to expand and wants
to defer payment for a period of two years until his new
expansion of $2.5 million, 25 to 30 new jobs, begins to profit.
He has an excellent record with his current company, but
venture capital opportunities have seriously declined in recent
years and the entrepreneurs who have the product and desire to
expand are simply falling through the funding cracks.
How can we correct this certain change in our economic
wellbeing? Engage--and I mean really engage--our existing
industries in the front end of company recruitment. They need
to be proactive in dealing with local, state and federal
officials through focus groups and an aggressive effort to find
out what they think. Realistic input is critical in knowing how
to address the global competition head on. We have begun this
process locally by bringing our existing industry plant
managers into an economic advisory council to create short and
long-range economic plans for our community. But there is much
to do--develop trending solutions, create a better
understanding of the trends in the marketplace and develop
solutions around this trending. How can we do that? Utilize
teams of economic consultants and state development
organizations to identify these trends and then include
politicians in this process.
It is also important for us to understand exactly where we
are. What is happening with those people who lost their jobs in
textiles or other manufacturing arenas? Did they find other
work? Are they under-employed? Are they still without jobs?
Have they redirected and developed new skills? How are they
surviving?
If we are to pursue new ways of developing jobs, then we
have to have a guideline and a master plan in order to attack
this issue.
I thank you for this opportunity.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much, Betsy. I do not know
with making the stumble over calling you Doctor, whether I made
it clear that you are the Chamber President, IDA Executive
Director of Thomaston-Upson County Chamber of Commerce. I just
wanted to make sure you got your full title in here, even if it
was not a doctor. Thank you for your testimony, and we also
have another Chamber of Commerce President, Mr. Mike Gaymon
from Columbus. Mike.
STATEMENT OF MIKE GAYMON, PRESIDENT, COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
Mr. Gaymon. Congressmen, thank you for the opportunity to
speak to you about our perspectives on economic development and
job creation.
My name is Mike Gaymon and I am President of the Chamber in
Columbus. Part of our responsibilities include the economic
development and job creation of the six-county economic
development organization known as the Valley Partnership. This
is made up of Columbus as the urban center, with the other
counties being a lot more rural and under-developed. While
there is a great span of type of jobs that are feasible and
differences in the kinds of businesses that would be desirable,
the one element that is constant in all of these is that
without a skilled trained workforce, only a small portion of
the economic success that is desired will ever be reached.
As you know perhaps, there are excellent examples of
proactive workforce development efforts in Georgia that have
been created. The Service Industry Academy was the first white-
collar training that was done by Quick Start and ICAPP program
all began in Columbus. The key, however, to their successes
were that they were business driven by business needs, not by
academic needs.
I recall that when we were working with TSYS on their
possible expansion of 2500 new jobs, a statement that was made
that helped to set the tone for what became the ICAPP program
which has now been noted as one of the most successful models
in the nation, was and I quote, ``you can change the course of
history easier than you can change a history course.''
That is not a slam on higher education, but it is a
statement of truth in addressing workforce issues. We must find
ways to provide incentives processes that are truly business
driven. Most businesses know how to compete in their industry
because they are doing it every day. What they need is for the
resources to be available where they can use, tweak, twist and
re-engineer to meet the business needs.
The Service Industry Academy is another example of a
business driven effort. We were able to get 20 companies to
come together, focusing on their industry needs in the white-
collar area. They spent time qualifying the needs and then
Columbus Technical College was brought in to hear and to ask
questions. What followed was a process of many meetings focused
on what business needed in deliverables. Over 90 percent of the
graduating students in this program found jobs in the fields
that they were trained to work in. The key to this success--
making sure that it was business driven. Finding businesses who
want to be a part of bringing about real change in workforce is
not a problem. Finding an environment where real change is
welcomed and encouraged is a problem.
My first suggestion is for Congress to look for ways to
enhance programs I have just mentioned. Pouring money into
systems or bureaucratic networks is not going to get the return
on investment and focus that our business needs. We have been
doing that for decades. New money may not be needed, but a
redirect into programs that have a demonstrated success is
strongly encouraged.
The second issue concerns the area of free trade and the
unbalanced playing field. A sawmill just announced its shutdown
in this region, as you have already heard. I think you will
find that a significant part of that decision was due to the
loopholes that were allowed in the dumping of wood products
here without having to pay certain tariffs and taxes creating
an unlevel playing field.
I support free trade. Contrary to some economic developers
who seem to believe in building a wall around the United
States--I believe that is short-sighted, very narrow and ill-
fated. Some businesses and industries cannot and will not
compete. They have not automated their operations. Frankly,
some of the former textile companies that are no longer here
had not spent the necessary capital to upgrade, to modernize
their equipment and they assumed that the business they had
they would always have. Well, most of those companies are now
gone and the buildings are being used for something else other
than textiles.
However, when Canadian firms can put finished lumber on the
shelves cheaper than companies like MeadWestvaco, one of the
leaders in the pulp and paper industry, can even cut the wood,
something is wrong. Some of these loopholes, you know, have
been fixed, but at what expense to our existing companies, who
are no longer in business due to the thrust of free trade, but
unfair loopholes. Will these jobs come back? Probably not.
And how will we replace these jobs? With more $6 an hour
retail jobs.
When manufacturers can drive down their costs to literally
pennies per dollar of cost and still not be able to compete,
something is wrong.
When companies have to compete with countries that have
essentially zero environmental regulations, zero labor laws,
full government sponsorship and even subsidized support to help
them penetrate the U.S. markets, something is wrong.
Recently, I was reading about the experiences of the
president of a Georgia company who shared his story of trying
to compete with China. Once he finished sharing the reality of
what it costs to comply before any product is made, it was
certainly just another example of how the field is much tilted
in favor of imports from other countries. When he finished his
presentation, he was presented a gift of a coffee cup. And of
course, it was made in China.
America seems to be caught up in service industry jobs and
has forgotten the value of manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing
jobs create additional jobs, unlike many of the other sectors
of employees.
Some companies deserve to be shut down, even though their
employees do not deserve the impact. However, I believe the
majority of companies have the entrepreneurial spirit and are
ready, willing and capable of competing in a global economy.
They will adjust their sails when the strong winds blow. They
will create, change and adapt where they need to do so, but
decisions like lifting the caps by the World Trade Organization
in 2005 on China, for example, is an example of what free trade
is not.
The last area I would like to comment on is greater
partnering with public and private sectors. Some of you
remember UDAG funds. While there were certainly examples of
abuse and misuse of UDAG, I believe that the major genesis of
them was to provide a framework for the public and private
sectors to join together to make an impact that was desired.
As you know, right here in Georgia, we have 159 counties,
second only to Texas. While I am not advocating that we
dissolve some of these counties--that is for another subject
during another lifetime perhaps, I am suggesting that there are
examples of public/private partnerships that are working.
Out of these 159 counties, I am sure that most of them want
some kinds of jobs and want an increase in tax base. I believe,
however, that is where it starts and ends, with just wanting. I
do not advocate government giving money to everyone based on
wants. I do support a targeted effort to reward those
governments who have bitten the bullet, consolidated their
governments and services. I do encourage incentives to enhance
efforts that are truly regional in their focus beyond just talk
and wants. I do think that making examples out of the
leadership defies ways to form partnerships creating
environments where jobs and capital can be returned, will many
fold bring the initial investment incurred.
If measurable standards are achieved, reward them. When
other want-to-be's complain, let them learn from the pioneers
who have found ways to move the egos, the turfs, the political
barriers out of the way enough so the job can get done without
worrying about who gets the credit.
Thank you for this opportunity. You have a tough job. Part
of our state and our nation rests upon your leadership. I know
you do not take that responsibility lightly.
God bless you and give you courage and strength. And I
still believe we should ask God to bless America by letting us
seek his will and do his will. Thank you.
[Mr. Gaymon's statement may be found in the appendix.]
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Our last witness is Mr. Kip Purvis, President, Meriwether
County Development Authority.
STATEMENT OF KIP PURVIS, MERIWETHER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY
Mr. Purvis. My name is Kip Purvis, I serve as President of
the Meriwether County Industrial Development Authority in
Meriwether County, Georgia. Meriwether County is a rural
community, located south of Atlanta and is currently included
in the metropolitan statistical area of Atlanta.
Currently, the unemployment rate for our community is at
nine percent, almost one in ten people in our community are
unemployed. This is attributed to the closing of several small
businesses and industry in our area during the current economic
recession. While parts of Georgia, primarily Atlanta, has
enjoyed economic success during the last decade, Meriwether
County has experienced general decline in the number of small
businesses that are located in the area. Recently, as has
already been mentioned, MeadWestvaco, operating a sawmill
employing approximately 150, closed its doors. Norfolk Southern
Railroad as a result is preparing to abandon the rail line
running from this facility down to the Columbus area.
The impact that business closings have had on our community
are significant. Not only does it affect the unemployed, but
also the small retailers who have provided services to these
affected workers. Also, Georgia Pacific who has used the
Norfolk Southern line will be affected in kind of a domino
effect of Mead's closure combined with Norfolk Southern's rail
abandonment.
State and federal assistance that has been received in our
community has been greatly appreciated. But the ability of a
rural community to develop infrastructure required to encourage
economic development is limited by declining or very slow
growing tax digest as well as the cost and needs for services
that local communities are required to provide its citizens.
Unfunded mandates by both the state and federal government
further hamstring resources and the ability for communities to
develop. Stronger programs that provide support for small rural
communities to develop infrastructure are needed to give these
communities the ability to grow. Rural communities such as
Meriwether County have not just been looking for handouts, as
mentioned before also. Recently Meriwether County raised over
$250,000 to assist in the construction of a workforce
development center. The workforce development center will be
located in Greenville and will help our citizens develop better
job skills and hopefully make our community more competitive
for quality economic growth. Also, the community has been
considered as a potential location for a large manufacturing
project.
I would like to thank Congressman Gingrey for his interest
and assistance in this particular project. This project would
have a $1.3 billion capital investment, would have a dramatic
impact on our entire region. The company, who would employ 2500
and bring up to $300 million in investment from supplier has
narrowed their choice to two communities. Unfortunately, this
has Meriwether County competing with a much more developed
community. This other county is much more urban and affluent
and is further along with their infrastructure development than
Meriwether. State incentives that focus on providing assistance
to more rural communities have not been enough to help level
the playing field for this project. This places Meriwether
behind this other county or community and leaves us trying to
find ways for a community with limited resources to compete.
The benefit this local project would have on our local
economy and in turn our small business community would be
unbelievable. If there was potential state or federal
assistance for a rural community that would help make them more
competitive with better developed areas for these types of
projects, then you might see a dramatic impact on rural
economies and the small businesses in those areas.
The challenges and problems facing rural health care,
education and the issues I mentioned above make for a
challenging business environment in rural Georgia.
I would like to thank the Committee for their time and
interest in helping small business and workforce development.
Thank you.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much, Kip, for closing off
here in the opening statements. Thank you all for your
comments.
I guess I would like to take the prerogative as the
chairman to open up with one question.
The rules of this question are I do not want to know the
second or the third or the fourth most important thing you
would do, I would like to know, if you were--and let us just
say this Committee, we elevate its authority beyond the House,
let us say we were actually the U.S. Senate and we could
actually wave a wand and do it and we could just do one thing.
What would be your recommendation for what we should do at the
federal level to improve the overall business climate and to
deal with a number of the different problems that you have
talked about. You only get to choose one thing though, and I am
going to let whoever would like to respond to that question--
and not everybody has to, obviously. But if you would like to
comment on that, that would be very helpful for me.
A number of things have been mentioned and I would like to
see kind of your sense of the priorities.
Ms. Jones. I do not mind going first.
Chairman Akin. You just seemed like kind of a shrinking and
retiring kind of person, Nancy.
Ms. Jones. If I could wave a magic wand and I had that
power, it would be that the money would come into Meriwether
County for the infrastructure that was needed in order to
attract business and industry. Meriwether County has I-85
running through it, we do not have an interchange off of that
interstate. It would be such an advantage to us.
So those are the things, if I had to put it in priority, I
would wave a magic want tomorrow and say send it to Meriwether
County and we would be delighted to work with it.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much. Somebody else?
Mr. Gaymon. Sir, I would respond back to my comments about
free trade. We have a lot of companies that can compete and
will compete, but the environment that they are placed under,
before they can ever get to the start line I think puts them at
a tremendous disadvantage. And I am not sure when you look at
what some other countries are doing in subsidizing--we lost a
$3 billion chip plant that would have located in Georgia, that
would forever have changed Georgia. We lost it to Singapore.
The government of Singapore subsidized that company to the
degree that they were not able to put it here. There is no way,
I do not think, that we can ever compete unless the playing
field is really a more level playing field rather than one that
right now I think for many industries is not.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much, Mike. That is one of
the questions that we have, because we do have a chance to try
and pass legislation and deal with things, and, you know, there
are a number of different tools and that is one of the things
that we debate and discuss, is how do you handle this, do you
do it with sticking a bunch of tariffs on things or do you do
it--one of the things being considered on this Small Business
Committee and with the Armed Services Committee is that
military purchases--we have been ramping up what we are
spending in defense. Our defense had run down very badly about
three, four years ago, so we're hitting that with a lot more
tax money.
Well, do we demand that more of the products that are
purchased by the defense industry come from America? Now the
defense people do not like that idea because they can get more
bang for their nickel if they can shop all over the world for
those products. The question is are we comfortable with having
some very high tech shaft of piece of machining work or
whatever it is come from a foreign country. We do not even have
the capacity any more. Even though we design the equipment and
everything, we cannot even build it here in this country
because only that people that do the work go to some foreign
country. So that is some of the tension.
So the things I am asking you are things that are very real
life, we are dealing with day in and day out. I appreciate your
comments, Mike.
Mr. Gaymon. Mr. Chair, if I might add, I know that you all
have fixed some of the loopholes in lumber, for example, but I
talked to the head of MeadWestvaco and he shared with me a year
ago when Canada could just drill a hole in the wood and then it
was able to be exempt from some of the tariffs and so forth.
Those are the kinds of loopholes we are talking about.
MeadWestvaco can compete, they have been competing, but when
the field is so lopsided, you fixed that, I think, but there
are many other industries that there are loopholes like that
that make it very difficult. And it is not because it is not
well intended, like I say, free trade should be free trade, but
not unfair trade. Thank you.
Chairman Akin. Let me just follow up then on that. How more
specifically can you make sure that the--can other governments
create those loopholes as fast as we can try and plug them? Or
how do you deal with that? What sort of loopholes are you
talking about?
Mr. Gaymon. One example in lumber, they had finished
product that they would drill a hole through and therefore it
qualified under different standards, so Canada was able to put
finished product here cheaper than Mead could even cut their
own wood out in the timber fields. Something is wrong with
that. And that loophole was fixed, so it was--I know that was
fixed. But I know there are some other industries, we still
have several foundries in our area----.
Chairman Akin. Is that because they came under a different
set of tariffs by drilling the hole?
Mr. Gaymon. Yes, sir, because it was a finished lumber
versus other lumber, because they did something to it.
Chairman Akin. Yes.
Mr. Gaymon. And once again, all well-intended. I think
probably the best thing we can do is send folks like you all
who understand that if businesses have a chance to compete,
they will, and send people to Congress like you folks who do
understand that we are going to help businesses compete, not
with unfair, but give them an opportunity to compete.
Chairman Akin. As I mentioned, that is part of the reason I
came down here for Congressman Gingrey, because he has that 100
percent record on all of these different issues. And we are
very supportive of that, but I appreciate your comments, Mike.
Other people want to take a shot at that question? If you
had one thing to do, what would you pick?
Mr. Purvis. Mr. Chairman, I guess, you know, there are a
lot of things we could do, but I think, at least speaking for
rural Georgia, we have--if you could see a more balanced
allocation of resources. Granted, most of those resources in
the past have bee focused on the urban areas, because they are
the most populated, but in my opinion, I think if there was a
more balanced allocation in the more rural areas, maybe it
would help draw some people out of some of the urban areas and
maybe help rural economies and at the same time help alleviate
congestion in places like Atlanta, to the north of us.
The one thing on free trade----.
Chairman Akin. Can I make sure I understand what you are
saying? Are you pretty much agreeing with what Nancy has been
saying, that if you had a little more infrastructure, that you
think that would really tip the balance?
Mr. Purvis. Well, I just think, you know, it comes down to
fundamentals for us. In a community with real limited
resources, the ability to be able to develop infrastructure has
just hamstrung us because we just do not have the resources to
do it on our own. And while there is some assistance out there,
there is not enough to really put us over the top for being
able to develop the type resources we need, whether it is
water, waste water treatment or whatever, to recruit quality
growth.
Chairman Akin. Thank you.
Mr. Bell. Congressman----.
Chairman Akin. You go right ahead, he's always interrupting
what I am trying to think about.
Mr. Bell I will comment on two items that not only would
help the State of Georgia, our counties, but the nation, is
tort reform. We have got to get that through Congress at a
rapid pace. Medical malpractice, we hear so much on that but
also the products liability, everything we use has a tremendous
loading and the consumer is paying for it.
The second thing----.
Chairman Akin. You might be encouraged to know that your
Congressman has voted in favor of that and we have got it
passed out of the House, we have just got the other half to
deal with and we will get it done.
Mr. Bell. I have two Congressmen I can claim and one
Senator--ex-Congressman, and that is Mac Collins and Saxby and
Phil.
My other comment, I told Ms. Hueber riding up here, taxes.
That Ford pickup truck made in Texas, the workers on the
assembly line paid income taxes, Ford Motor Company, all the
vendors paid income taxes--the tax structure. For the Mercedes
that comes over from Europe, there is no income tax on it
because they have value-added tax. If it is exported, there is
no tax. That makes us uncompetitive.
True, many of the foreign companies are building
automobiles but we must go, in my opinion, to a value-added
tax, national sales tax, because they are cleaning our plow
everywhere.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much for your comments on
that. I was just a lunch at the Kiwanis, I believe, in Atlanta
and just mentioned a number that really startled me, and that
was that when I was a little two year old, if you had a mom and
dad and two kids, the average family, and dad went out and
earned a dollar bill. Of that dollar bill, he would pay three
cents in direct federal, state and local taxes, three pennies
of the dollar. About eight years ago, had mom and dad and two
kids and dad goes out and earns a dollar bill. It is not three
cents any more, it is 38 cents on the dollar.
So just in my own lifetime, we have seen a jump in terms of
the cost of government, how much government we are purchasing,
from three cents to 38 cents. That says we are spending more
for government than we are for food, clothing and shelter
combined. We are spending more for government, the average
American family, than we are for medical care and housing
combined. That says we have a lot of government we are buying.
And I understand the tax--and that is part of the reason why we
have been working away at chopping some of those taxes back.
Thank you very much. I know this is kind of a long question
and I am cheating Phil out of some of his time here, he is
going to throw something at me in a minute. But we will do one
more comment and move along.
Mayor Byrd. I would just like to say if you could wave this
magic wand and make a different for us in Meriwether County,
your topic of opportunity for economic growth and job creation
is what we would like you to wave that wand to do, because that
want just by itself would take in so much for rural America
that Kip had spoken of. Over the years, I spent a lot of time
with the U.S. Department of Education across this country and
we find that rural America is the forgotten frontier, and
because it is a forgotten frontier, your urban areas are the
ones that continue to plague you with all kinds of problems of
crime, health issues, people coming in that should not come
in--just a number of things. But if this country would really
look at this country, they would recognize that the country is
really rural. America is rural. I have been over it through the
trains, through everything, and it is a rural country. And all
of the rural areas are suffering from the same things, the
money is going to the big cities instead of the small towns.
With this economic growth and this job creation, it creates
a higher educational attainment, it builds nicer homes, you
know, it makes the climate conducive for individuals to want to
live in rural America. It does not matter if you are in Montana
or in Florida or South Dakota, Alaska, wherever you are, it
creates a better area.
So if you could wave that magic wand, Mr. Akin, we would
love for you to just wave it so that this whole thing about
opportunity for economic development and job creation would
help us so much as politicians. We could certainly sleep better
at night, I know I could.
Chairman Akin. So let me just make sure I understand what
you are saying, Rubye, and I am going to go on and pass the
question over to Congressman Gingrey.
But what you are saying is you think that a combination of
education, some money for development of infrastructure,
particularly those two things, if those were funded in rural
areas, that that would make a huge difference.
Mayor Byrd. Make a huge difference.
Chairman Akin. Thank you very much.
Mayor Byrd. Thank you.
Chairman Akin. Congressman.
Mr. Gingrey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And you
know, as I listened to the witnesses, all friends of mine that
I know well in this district, I cannot help but think about the
fact that so many of our counties in this district are either
Tier 1 or Tier 2. And the elected officials and those witnesses
who are involved in economic development in the respective
Chambers understand that better probably than any of us. But
Tier 1 means you are a poor county. And the average household
income for this 11th District, Mr. Chairman, 17 counties, not
all whole counties, but seven are whole counties, is $37,000 a
year. By comparison, where I live, in that portion of Cobb
County, we have the poorer part of Cobb County in this
district, but the Sixth Congressional District, Mr. Chairman,
is the upper two-thirds of Cobb and north Fulton, and the
average household income there is $76,000 a year.
Some of you represent Upson County, some of you represent
Meriwether County and some of you represent Columbus-Muscogee
and Mayor Brady here in Newnan in Coweta. I think what has been
pointed out by the witnesses is that it is a struggle, this is
a struggle. While there are parts of this district that are
doing well and maybe enjoying being a bedroom community of
Atlanta and a lot of jobs are in Atlanta and it is kind of an
easy commute, that is not true for so many of the counties and
in thinking about what we have done with no child left behind
in regard to education, which I am and I think most of the
witnesses would agree is a good thing to try to make sure that
no children get left behind. I think what I am hearing some of
the witnesses say is there are parts of our country, and indeed
this district, where communities are getting left behind, whole
communities. No wonder the children are getting left behind.
We are spending a lot of money on education and yet, you
know, we are doing things in our cities like funding
empowerment zones, I think Ms. Hueber talked about that a
little bit and yet, you cannot help but wonder why some of
these empowerment efforts are not directed more to our rural
communities rather than our inner-city, where quite frankly, we
sort of get mixed results on some of that money, some of those
federal dollars that are being spent.
Having said that, let me try to--I guess I could spend the
rest of the time, Mr. Chairman, with lots of questions for the
witnesses and I do not want to dominate either, so maybe we can
go back and forth.
But I did want to ask Mayor Brady, you had talked a little
bit about the non-attainment status of Coweta County, which I
wonder if that has resulted possibly in any loss of potential
industry here in Coweta County.
Mayor Brady. Well,l we do see on occasion that the
industries that want to expand here have to take those rules
into account, and of course, Mr. Purvis I think was talking
about the Coweta-Meriwether County Industrial Park and that
industrial park down there straddles the line, part of it is in
Coweta County and part of it is in Meriwether County and that,
quite frankly, was by design. When you cross that line, you are
out of the non-attainment zone, you are into Meriwether County.
We see that as a positive for our community to be able to
partner with Meriwether and be able to move forward to try to
attract industries to that area. So yes, I think it impacts
companies' decisions that we do not even have an opportunity to
talk to because they know we are in the non-attainment zone, so
we never get that knock on the door.
You know, companies that are out there now with Department
of Industry and Trade and other brokers are smart enough to
know what they are doing, what type of business they are in and
what type of product they are manufacturing. And they simply
just do not ever make that initial knock on the door.
So to answer your question, have I seen them come and seen
them go; not really. But what I am afraid of is that we never
see them at all. We do not have a chance to talk to them. They
just do not ever come to start with. But hopefully the
partnership with Meriwether will resolve some of those issues.
Mr. Gingrey. Thank you, Mayor.
Mr. Bell, you and Ms. Hueber talked a little bit about of
course what is happening in Upson County and Thomaston,
Georgia. And I think it was not too long ago that Upson Lee
High School probably was one of the top high schools in the
State of Georgia, probably still is doing a heck of a job. But
I am sure that it is a struggle, as you talk about losing your
tax base and property taxes and business valuations, valuation
of homes. You know, it is not growing, it is going in the wrong
direction. And that certainly ultimately will have an adverse
effect on the school system. And that unemployment rate, I
think you mentioned what, seven or eight percent now.
There are so many things that we want to try to do and of
course this President and his economic growth and stimulus
package is trying to do that and to incentivize some of these
smaller businesses to grow and expand and get an opportunity to
have more rapid depreciation for capital improvements.
Hopefully that will try to create more jobs, but I think you
said that just the closing of Thomaston Mills resulted in some
1500 lost jobs and what, some 3000 lost jobs over the last two
or three years, since 1999.
What do you think we could do, as members of Congress, as
members in the case of Chairman Akin, of this Committee, to try
to enhance growth of jobs in your community?
Ms. Hueber. Well, I want to say that we have sat here and
sort of painted the doom and gloom picture of Thomaston and
Upson County and it sounds like we have not attempted to bring
about some degree of change and invested in our community. We
have indeed done that. We passed special purpose local option
sales taxes both for government and for school system, so we
are making improvements in our community. We are continuing to
invest in our infrastructure. We have some long range plans for
things that we are doing, so we are not sitting back and going
oh, woe is us, you know.
But it is difficult. It is made much more difficult by the
fact that not only have we lost these 3000 jobs since April of
1999, we have also had to really reinvent our economy
altogether, because at one time we were a textile community. We
had 8000 people employed in the textile sector 20 years ago and
today, we have fewer than 500 people employed in that sector.
And at the same time, we have continued to see modest increases
in population.
That being said, you know, I think that it is easy for us
to say oh, we need money. You know, I agree with Mike, the
urban development action grant program was a wonderful program
for our community. We had about $2 million presented to us to
recruit two different companies in and those companies continue
to thrive. One of them went from an initial employment of 150
people, is now Quad Graphics and employs in excess of 600. So
that investment of a million dollars by the federal government
into Thomaston and Upson County made a huge difference in our
economic base. I have said so many times, what if we did not
have Quad Graphics in Thomaston. It would be devastating--
truly, truly devastating for us.
You know, money is important, but it needs to be well
placed. It also does not need to be so cumbersome to get to. It
needs to be easier to access for companies who are in a growth
market and who are able to identify areas that they can see
increases in jobs and investment.
So I do not think that we ever need to just willy-nilly
throw money at projects, but I do think that it needs to be
better directed and less cumbersome to secure.
Mr. Gingrey. Thank you. And Mike Gaymon, I wanted to ask
you a little bit, Mike, you commented about in the Columbus
area, of course, Columbus is one of those few communities in
the State of Georgia, but probably the only one in my district,
that has bitten that tough bullet of consolidating city/county
government and your school systems. And I would like if maybe
you would comment a little bit on that. How is that going, has
it been a success. If you would comment on that, I would
appreciate it.
Mr. Gaymon. Yes, sir. We consolidated in 1971, so we have
been doing it a long time. The first time we tried, it failed.
We had other communities come to Columbus and say wow, we want
to consolidate and I think they think that just because we have
consolidated, everybody is going to sit around and join hands
and sing Cumbaya. It does not work that way. You have got to
work at it, work at it, work at it.
As you know, Congressman, we also have a regional Valley
Partnership of six counties and two other cities, six and a
half years old. The trust of the urban center and the rural
center does not come easy, you have to work at it. Our regional
efforts, it has been said, is maybe a model for some other
people to look at, not that we certainly have invented it.
We have determined in our region we have got to keep our
hand on the wheel and not take our hand off the wheel, because
it will end up in the ditch. Regional efforts will end up in
the ditch. You do not have to do anything, it will get there by
itself, from egos, turfs, you name it. I agree with Betsy, you
know, it is not about money. I think it is about is there a
will and a commitment to make it work.
We have chosen to make consolidation work in Columbus. I am
not sure it will work in a lot of areas, but I do know
consolidating of services will work. I do know there are ways
in which we can determine if you do not care who gets credit,
it is amazing what happens. And I think there is a lot more
that could be done with that.
But I heard someone say the other day, whatever the
question, the answer is a skilled trained workforce. You know,
we have got one county working on education and we have still
got major issues. I do not know how other counties do it with
four and five school systems all trying to figure out how they
do it. I think a skilled trained workforce is our ticket for
economic success in rural Georgia or urban Georgia and we have
got to find ways to work more I think on workforce development
with a skilled trained workforce. Without it, I do not think
all the money you can put into this county and this state and
this region is ever going to reach the level of success that we
need.
Mr. Gingrey. Thank you, Mike. And of course, Columbus-
Muscogee is a big area and really very strong in many ways
economically. And I guess the saving grace in that area is
diversification and, of course, the fact of having Fort Benning
and the home of the infantry and many other things. You do not
rely just on some of these manufacturing jobs and nothing else.
But I know of course with Swift Mills and the closing of that
plant, certainly manufacturing has taken a pretty significant
hit.
I wanted to ask Keith and Ruby and Nancy all representing a
Tier 1 county, Meriwether, I know you are suffering, I know the
loss of 150 jobs with the closing of MeadWestvaco was quite a
blow to you. You still have the Georgia Pacific plant, but you
are worried about Norfolk Southern, keeping that rail line open
to get that product and some of the things that they bring into
the plant, to continue that processing of plywood is a great
concern to you.
What do the three of you think that we can do as members of
Congress, that I can do as your Congressman, that Chairman Akin
and the Small Business Committee of the whole Congress--what
can we do at the federal level to help you. I think the
Chairman mentioned at the outset name one thing, but you know,
I want you to maybe emphasize what we can do to help the
Meriwethers and the Talbots and the situation that Upson is
getting into, that we can do to help you.
Someone, I think maybe Mike had mentioned earlier in your
comments about trade and NAFTA and situations in regard
specifically to manufacturing jobs. And why we are losing some
of them and some of these free trade agreements that have some
loopholes and unintended consequences and look good and that
sort of thing.
I am thinking I guess in terms of I mentioned earlier about
money that is spent on urban empowerment zones and trying to
upgrade brownfields and part of our inner cities where there is
a lot of blight and poverty and is that money well spent, and
wondering about maybe redirecting some of these efforts to
rural America and rural counties like Meriwether and Talbot.
Mr. Purvis. Well, I think that--and I will go ahead--I
think any efforts the Committee makes to make business more
competitive--it is all about the bottom line, to ultimately
make them more profitable, to do business in rural areas, is
what is going to benefit us in the long run. You know, driving
somebody around your community and showing them around--you
know, I love where I live and everybody should love where they
live, but they do not necessarily see it through our eyes when
we take them around.
But what does get their attention is their ability to turn
a profit and to make a living. You know, they are all about
doing community good, but when it really comes down to it,
there is a profit motive there, and I think anything that can
be done to help businesses be more competitive with urban
businesses.
Chairman Akin. We are about four minutes over time here, so
I think I may cut it off at that point. If somebody else wants
to make some additional comments, that is fine, I think we will
be here for a little while.
But I very much appreciate all of you coming in, your
comments. I would hope that each one of you would recognize
that some of what you are saying, some of the things you are
dealing with are common all over our country. I think a lot of
you know that anyway. And I do not usually use the phrase
``feeling your pain,'' but Missouri has lost more jobs than any
other state in the union, just in terms of raw jobs. We have
lost more jobs than California did or New York did. So we have
got our own problems. Of course different states have their
policies and off that that affects and drives some of those
numbers.
I guess it is a little bit ironic that I am listening to
you, but I am listening pretty hard because we have got our own
situation back home and I certainly hope our state leaders
would pay attention to the kinds of things that I am sure
people in Missouri are telling them, the same as you are
telling us.
But certainly I have to say that from a personal point of
view, my impression is very much I like to leave it, Kip, on
your comments, you know, the bottom line of this thing is, it
is about bottom line. The business has to make money. They can
be benevolent, they can have good attitudes and all this kind
of stuff, but they have got to make money. And ultimately all
of us, it is our responsibility to make sure we create that
environment in our country where people can make a profit so
that our kids can get jobs and so we can pass on the kind of
free country that America has always been.
I will tell you, I have always loved this country so much,
that is why I ran for public office. And one of the things that
is special about America is this is a place where people can
wake up sometimes and they realize that they have got some
dream in their heart that they want to do. America is full of
people that have crazy dreams and people tell them you cannot
do it and it will not work, we specialize in proving those
people wrong because this is a country that has been built one
dream at a time by all kinds of great people going way back.
And the people in your own community, you know people like that
that just had some crazy idea and 10 years later, by gosh they
are a millionaire, they were not even planning to be, just
because they took something and had the courage to keep going
on it.
I think we have to realize the economy is down some.
Federally, you may think boy, this war on terrorism is
expensive or these tax cuts that Congressmen Gingrey and Akin
have voted for, boy they are sure really hurting the overall
financial balance, but you know, if you add the war on
terrorism, the war in Iraq and all that, you add the tax cuts,
everything all together, that is less than half of what it
costs us when the economy is poor in this country.
So that is what a lot of our attention is focused on, is
trying to get out of that slump. We do know there are cycles to
the economy and things, but some of that is brought on by the
fact that we just have too much overhead that the government is
costing. At least that is something we can work on.
I know that you are all working in your communities and I
have faith in America that we will meet this challenge as we
have before.
But thank you all so much for your attention and your time
this afternoon, and God bless you all. Thank you.
Mr. Gingrey. Mr. Chairman, if I might make just an
additional couple remarks if we have a minute or two.
Chairman Akin. Yes.
Mr. Gingrey. Just in closing from my perspective, you know,
the Georgia Expansion and Support Act that was created several
years ago where we label our counties, Mr. Chairman, as Tier 1,
2, 3 and 4, it just so happens that in the southern portion of
this 17 county district, out of a total of nine of the counties
that are either Tier 1 or Tier 2, seven of them are in the
southern portion of this district. So we are struggling and
that is why I mentioned about comparing no child left behind to
an effort toward leaving no community behind. And I think you
mentioned, Mr. Chairman, that tomorrow there will be a full
Committee hearing in regard to laws which state how many
government buildings have to be in a rural as opposed to an
urban area. And I know you are going to be looking at the
compliance with that law and the possibility of that helping to
bring maybe some location of state government into the more
rural areas. We know in Georgia for so many years everything
has been right there surrounding the gold dome, where people
suffer with traffic and congestion and non-attainment and smog
and all these things, and I think that is something we can look
at.
And finally and maybe this is a little bit pollyanna, but I
thought when MeadWestvaco had announced that they were going to
have a temporary layoff, which as we now know turned into a
permanent closure, because they were losing money on an
operation in Meriwether County, why not show a little
compassionate conservatism on the part of some of these
companies, if their bottom line is pretty good and they are
doing pretty well for their corporate executives and their
stockholders, and yet maybe one little piece of their operation
is struggling, to make a greater effort to work with that local
community, to work with those 150 employees who probably would
be willing to take a day off once a month or do many things to
help them become profitable, and so some compassion to these
rural communities and realize that that is where the need is
and we do not need to be leaving them behind.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this Congressional
hearing in my district, as you pointed out in your opening
remarks how important it is to come and let the people know,
the folks at this table, our witnesses, our Mayor, our
Commission Chairman, other Mayor, our Chairmen of our Chambers
and Economic Development Authorities how important it is and
that we are listening, we are listening. And we are going to
take this message back to Washington through you, Mr. Chairman,
and through our other House colleagues.
Thank you.
Mayor Brady. Mr. Chairman, two remarks. I would like to
make sure that we introduce State Senator Dan Lee, who has just
come into the room and is in attendance at our meeting at this
point. And on behalf of the witnesses here----.
Chairman Akin. We pick on senators some, but we still
appreciate you just the same.
Mr. Gingrey. Dan, it is great to see you. One of my
favorite colleagues in the General Assembly, and the Governor's
Floor Leader.
Mr. Lee. Thank you.
Mayor Brady. And just on behalf of the witnesses here and
the citizens of the City of Newnan, I want to say how much we
appreciate you taking your time and traveling here from St.
Louis, Missouri, and Congressman, we appreciate you being back
in the district and taking the opportunity to listen to us. I
think it is very important that you do these types of events
and we appreciate your time here today.
Thank you.
Chairman Akin. Mayor, thank you very much. All the
witnesses and one additional thank you, thank you for sending
even senators like Congressman Gingrey, to help us out down
there.
Lord bless you all and the meeting is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:42 p.m, the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]