A New Blueprint for Economic Development

A New Blueprint for Economic Development

Strategic Priorities for Job Growth in NCTony Almeida

Senior Advisor to the Governor forJobs & the Economy

9.4% Unemployment Rate

17% Underemployment rate (15% for the U.S.)

Ranked 37th in per capita income

Ranked in the bottom 20 states for personal income growth

The Challenge at Hand

The Challenge at HandReal Per Capita Income Growth by Decade

Strong State Leadership

Governor Pat McCrory Secretary Sharon Decker

12 Transition Advisory Teams◦ 8 Department-level Advisory Teams◦ 4 Issue-based Advisory Teams

Comprised of private sector leaders, community stakeholders, and former legislators

Deliverable: Series of recommendations and priority areas to address on Day 1

Input From Across the State

Tax reform Regulatory reform Strengthen K-16 education Strengthen workforce development Support small business Promote agribusiness and exports Increase access to venture capital Develop a strategic energy policy Grow the military and defense sector Create a comprehensive, state-wide strategic plan

for economic development

Key Priorities Identified

Top priority for the Governor and the General Assembly

Multiple proposals on the table

We need to improve our competitiveness against other states in our region (SC, VA, TN, GA, TX) while also improving the business climate for our existing industries and our citizens

Tax Reform

Tax Reform

NC SC GA VA TX

Sales tax 4.75% 6.0% 4.0% 4.0% 6.25%

Personal Income tax

6%, 7%, 7.5% 3.0%-7.0%

1-6%(6

brackets)

2-5.7%(3

brackets)None

Corporate Income Tax 6.9% 5.0% 6.0% 6.0%

0.5-1% Gross

Receipts Tax

A Comparison of Taxes Among our Top Competitor States

Source: NC Department of Commerce

Another top priority for the Governor and the General Assembly

NC tied for 12th worst regulatory burden on small business

We need to ensure that current and new regulations do not stifle growth of our small businesses

Regulatory Reform

Continuous message on the campaign trail: “We can’t find qualified workers to fill the positions we need to fill.”

We must ensure our high school, community college and university graduates are equipped with the training and skills they need to secure employment.

We must provide multiple pathways to high school graduation, including career technical education and training.

Strengthen K-16 Education

NC was a pioneer in workforce development

Our community college system is one of our greatest assets

Job-skills gap remains

We need to better align our workforce development resources

Strengthen Workforce Development

65-70% of job creation in the state comes from small businesses

The process for starting and growing a small business in the state is too complex

We need a one-stop web portal to serve as a central access point for all forms, permits, licenses, and other interactions with state agencies

Support Small Business

NC agriculture industry contributes almost $75 billion to the state’s economy

NC is 16th in the U.S. in terms of exports; our agricultural exports exceeded $3.7 billion last year

Our ports play a key role in supporting agribusiness and exports

We recognize the need to upgrade some of our ports’ infrastructure

Promote Agribusiness & Exports

NC has the potential to become the “Silicon Valley of the East”◦ How do we attract more venture capital dollars to the

state?◦ How do we best leverage the strong, existing venture

capital community?

We need to improve access to capital for early-stage companies

We need to promote more collaboration and commercialization across our research universities

Increase Access to Venture Capital

NC has immense and diverse energy resources

Energy programs are currently spread across multiple agencies

Primary energy focus at the state level has been on weatherization and energy efficiency of state buildings

We need a comprehensive, strategic plan for energy resources in NC

Develop a Strategic Energy Policy

Concentration of military forces in NC affords the state significant opportunities to attract defense-related firms

Significant research, strategic planning, and initiatives have already been undertaken by various groups across the state

We need to align the current initiatives, ramp up recruitment, and provide leadership at the state level to support the good work already underway

Grow Military & Defense Sector

NC is rich with economic development resources, including our local and regional organizations

The Economic Development Board is required to develop or update a multi-year strategic plan for economic development each year

We need a more comprehensive, state-wide economic development strategic plan to align resources and integrate strategic priorities across state agencies and institutions

Create a State-wide Strategic Plan

Workforce development consultant Venture capital working group Manufacturing working group One-stop business web portal working group Energy strategy working group Military/Defense industry growth working

group State-wide strategic planning group

Our Scope of Work

Questions?