It’s time for Gov. Locke (WA) to walk that talk-Our View: Economic development conference needs follow-through.

Hi. We are from the government. And we are here to help you.

When business people hear that old refrain, they tend to roll their eyes. Dealings with tax collectors and regulatory agencies, especially in Washington state, have a way of making entrepreneurs wary. If the government’s not reaching into your wallet, it’s burying you with regulations that tell you how to run your company. As if it knows your customers and your mission better than you do. As if.

John Webster
For the editorial board Spokesman Review

But every once in a while, it tries to help. Really it does.

Today in Spokane, Gov. Gary Locke and the Washington state Office of Trade and Economic Development convene a statewide conference on economic development. More than 400 have registered.

Two years into an economic downturn, the Locke administration’s attention to Washington’s economic future can only be called belated. Coming just months after the governor and his Democratic Party blocked business climate legislation requested by his own Competitiveness Council, the gathering raises a question: Is this just talk?

But let us be charitable and call this meeting a welcome change.

Let us be firm, as advocates for the ultimate poverty solution — good jobs — and challenge Locke and the rest of our state’s leaders to walk the talk that Spokane will hear today and tomorrow. Not this week. Next week. Next month. Next year.

What do Washington and Spokane need to attract good jobs?

A conference is a moment in time. Business grows (or leaves) in a long-term climate that government services and priorities affect. Washington state is in a budget crisis made worse by overspending, by the flight of major employers such as The Boeing Co. and by the decisions of other firms to invest in other states.

Washington’s Office of Trade and Economic Development has spent little, in recent years, to recruit employers. Other states boast aggressive programs, including one in Oregon that focuses on economically struggling areas like Spokane.

Recently, Locke warmly received a proposal to create an Economic Development Commission, composed of business leaders who would help OTED focus its scarce resources. That should give people who want to create jobs a clearer voice in Olympia and a sharper mission.

In months to come, OTED may develop a plan to market Washington as a place to invest — a plan that ought to feature Spokane as more than a wheat field. It ought to recognize Spokane’s high quality of life and its plan to develop a center for bioscience and education, serving a two-state metropolitan area.

In years to come, Locke and others will make budget choices that do a good job of funding community colleges, often a forgotten key to job training. And they can make good on last winter’s promises to improve our business climate.

John Webster/For the editorial board

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=091202&ID=s1214635&cat=section.business