Blunt pitches economic plan to area small business

The boardroom of the JCS/Tel-link building in Cape Girardeau was host to a different kind of meeting on Wednesday. Instead of being at the head of the table, JCS president Kathy Swan was among the dozen area business people who had come to hear and discuss a business proposal from Missouri Secretary of State and presumptive 2004 Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Blunt.

Cape Girardeau was just one of the stops on Blunt's statewide tour to discuss his plans for economic development in Missouri. A large part of that was rebutting Gov. Bob Holden's Jobs Now program, which seeks to use funds freed up from eliminated tax credits for infrastructure development, specifically in the realm of life sciences.

"Jobs Now is simply too little too late," Blunt told the gathering. He said he doesn't agree with ending credits, which in his view are working, to fund something that may not work.

Blunt's proposal would actually apply more tax incentives for job training in order to stimulate small business growth. He also said the answer was not more tax revenue, but a more efficient management of the dollars already coming into Jefferson City, including maximizing state personnel productivity, combining some regional offices and eliminating unsuccessful programs.

"The government can't create jobs," Blunt said. "You all create jobs." He said it was the government's job to help small business do that.

The local business contingency expressed their concerns for the state of government support for small business. Several in attendance also voiced their support for the development of life sciences in this region.

"Now, I'm just a brain surgeon," quipped neurologist Joel Ray, spurring a round of laughter from around the table, "but, it seems to me that life sciences could be a huge consolidating concept in Cape Girardeau."

Blunt agreed that the burgeoning industry could be used as a unifying force and responded with confidence that under his leadership, the state could still emerge as a national leader in life sciences industries.

trehagen@semissourian.com

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