Arizona needs sustained job-growth strategy

by Betty Beard - Jan. 31, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Arizona enters a new decade with not only a massive budget deficit but also a severe job deficit that threatens to crush its hopes for a quick economic recovery.

Almost 10 percent of the state's jobs were wiped out by the brutal recession, dealing a huge blow to government budgets, the housing market and retailers.

More jobs are needed to fill the more than 80,000 houses standing empty in metro Phoenix. More jobs are needed to put money in the pockets of people, whose spending is vital for businesses to get back on their feet. And more jobs are needed in new fields, a labor-force diversification of risk to better weather the next recession.

The challenge before Arizona is neither simple nor short-term.

To foster job growth, Arizona needs a vision, a strategy to carry out that vision, and leadership to sustain it through political and economic changes.

Other states have proven the worth of a sound, sustained economic plan articulated by governors of both political parties.

North Carolina, for instance, is famous for its Research Triangle Park. Once nothing more than an idea envisioned for empty acreage in one of the poorest areas of the Southeast, the "science park" is now an economic-development engine. It has churned out innovations such as Astroturf, bar-code technology and 3-D ultrasounds and employs tens of thousands of workers.

This month the park turns 51. More here.