CAMDEN — DAN MARSH
Banner-News
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin returned to his hometown of Magnolia Thursday night for his second speaking engagement in almost as many weeks, addressing the 15th Annual Golden Triangle Economic Development Council dinner meeting.
Griffin was introduced by Dr. David Rankin, outgoing president of Southern Arkansas University. The dinner was held at Grand Hall in the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center at SAU. Before turning the platform over to Griffin, Rankin talked about the vital work done by the council and the importance of the Golden Triangle to south Arkansas.
“We are a great labor shed,” Rankin said, referring to the numbers of people who commute daily to jobs in Magnolia, Camden and El Dorado - forming the Golden Triangle.
He said the council has 175 members and represents 117,000 workers “in this region. You can get run over by all the people driving in to work. It is a very powerful region.”
Griffin stated that it is the council's "obligation" to grow, expand, be friendly toward, and "leave no stone unturned" in retaining job providers in the region.
Rankin said the Golden Triangle showed it was a player by forming a proposal to take to the state Dept. of Corrections for a talked-about new prison, though now it look like the Legislature will not be funding such a facility.
"We were at the table, and that's what really mattered," Rankin said.
Griffin opened by reminiscing about growing up in Magnolia, then turned to the topic of statewide economic development — which he said is "all wrong."
"Our current approach is wrong," Griffin said. "Last summer, Arkansas was 47th in the nation in job creation. That is unacceptable. We rank 50th in return on investment in terms of what you pay in taxes and the services you get. By any definition, that is a failure."
He recommended "going bold or going home" in terms of restructuring the way businesses are recruited to Arkansas and retained. "When you are so far down the scale, you realize that, hey, these other states down here aren't waiting for us to catch up. That's our challenge. We've got to skyrocket."
Griffin revealed that his solution is to change the laws — or, to use a metaphor, make a better cake.
He said the Arkansas Economic Development Commission has long used incentives as a means of attracting jobs, but that those incentives hide bad policies, or are icing on a bad-tasting cake.
"I am all for incentives in their context," he said, "but we've got bad permanent policies. If your incentives are your cake, then you've got problems, and that is what we've got."
Griffin said incentive money from the federal government is "going away" and that the amount of the budget controlled by Congress is rapidly being consumed by interest on the national debt. "If you're counting on someone cutting you a check, don't, because that's getting harder to do," he said.
The tax structure in Arkansas must also be changed — by voters and legislators — if the state is to be more competitive.
"We need a clean sheet of paper when it comes to tax reform," Griffin said. "You take a clean sheet and you figure out what earns its way onto it."
Regulatory reform is also necessary. "Communities feel that state agencies are at war with them," Griffin said, drawing applause from Magnolia Mayor Parnell Vann. "They should work with (cities), not play gotcha. It's a culture. We can fix it."
Griffin said Arkansas' government is "made for the 1960s. We've got to reorganize it."
He wrote his cell phone number on a dry-erase board and urged anyone in the office to call him at his office in Little Rock. "If I can do anything for you, I will."