"The Coming Jobs War" by Jim Clifton - Book Review by Chamber President & CEO

As I was reading ‘The Coming Jobs War’ by Jim Clifton, the CEO and Chairman of Gallup, I kept thinking to myself, how this ties in with the work we are doing here at the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, and how powerful it will be when we get leaders to filter decisions through the question of ‘is this going to help support entrepreneurship and creating good paying jobs’?

The premise of Clifton’s book is that there is now an all-out world war for good jobs, and if the United States doesn’t get its act together and have an economic miracle, we are going to be losing our economic position in the world. Start-up and sprout-up business will be key. These small and
medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees fund the American way of life, our schools, social programs, and government. Without an environment that nurtures their success, the resulting downward ripple effect will have devastating impacts, and we will lose the jobs war.

According to Clifton, we are in deep trouble unless there is an unpredicted transformational event that will cause sudden extraordinary surge in entrepreneurship and innovation.

I hope this book inspires you and helps you start to prioritize resources, programs, and projects to transform our region to a place that supports entrepreneurship.

Best wishes,

Tom Pierson, President & CEO

Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber

Call for a National Freight Policy

Congress has been considering a new comprehensive transportation bill this week (HR 7).  The Chamber joined with other local and national organizations calling that a national freight policy for a strategic approach be included among its provisions. 

Here's the appeal (click on images for larger views):

Tacoma: $3.8M Tax Increase Will Not Impact Your Business

When posed the question, "What will the impact to services be [of a $3.8M B&O tax increase on non-profit healthcare providers]?" the City Council answered, "Absolutely nothing." 

The City is asking these five organizations to pay an additional $3.8M in taxes without cutting services.  This disconnect between the reality of running an organization with thousands of employees, and taking additional taxes to balance the City's own books was never more apparent than in the the above quotes from Tuesday night's City Council meeting.  (Yes, the Council actually said this.  Video of the meeting is here.)  (We also previewed the meeting here.)

As the Chamber highlighted in its testimony on Tuesday, the non-profit healthcare organizations are required to reinvest any surplus revenues back into the community in the form of clinics, community events, and development.  While Tacoma's hospitals may not be moving anytime soon, they have plenty of choices on where to locate their non-provider services. 

In fact, time and again, Multicare and Franciscan have chosen to locate those facilities in Tacoma while others were leaving.  As a July, 2011 article in The News Tribune noted, when a call center on State Street was abandoned by another business laying off 200 people, Franciscan stepped in and opened up a training center with 220 employees.  When Expedia moved out of its location at 21st and Pacific, Multicare stepped in and leased the space.  When another company vacated its corporate headquarters at 13th and Market, Franciscan moved 315 employees in.  What was once the USWest building at the corner of 13th and Commerce is now Franciscan's administrative offices.

There are numerous other spaces throughout the City that these organizations lease, partner, or own - all of which provide direct and spillover jobs, revenue, and taxes to Tacoma. In fact, the same News Tribune article noted that these community organziations occupy 3.27 million square feet in Tacoma - the equivalent of nearly 15 Russell Buildings.  Yet rather than discussing the potential benefits growth in the healthcare industry can bring to Tacoma, the Council is focused on things like executive pay.

On Tuesday, February 21st, the Council will have a final reading on the ordinance to increase the taxes on Multicare, Franciscan, Community Health Care, SeaMar, and any other non-profit providers thinking about Tacoma.  When the issue first came up last November, the City proposed a $600,000 tax.  A couple of weeks ago Council increased that to $940,000.  Now an amendment to the ordinance is proposed for Tuesday to increase the tax to $3.8M.  In contrast the communities surrounding Tacoma have no B&O taxes on healthcare.  How much is enough for Tacoma's Council?

If you are concerned about the escalating business taxation and the impact this may have on the growth of the healthcare industry in Tacoma, including the spillover effects in restaurants, housing prices, and the like, you're encouraged to contact your City Council.

UPDATE (2/21/12): Chamber President & CEO Tom Pierson's letter to the City Council can be viewed here.

Will Tacoma Open its Doors to Business?

Tonight, the City Council will have three chances to consider the impacts of their decisions on businesses: development regulations, jobs, and the use of our downtown.  We hope the Council will embrace this opportunity to recognize the value businesses provide to the community.

The City will take up the issue of new regulations on large retail developments.  The Chamber has weighed in on this issue each time it has come up.  A recent post on the issue is here.  The proposed regulations create less certainty by requiring developments to go through a subjective process; stretch the development regulations within the City to new ends with extensive requirements not required for other permits; expand the applicability to include businesses from 45,000 to 65,000 square feet without considering what businesses are impacted, like grocery stores; and create a cloud of uncertainty around the reuse of existing buildings, leading to more vacant storefronts.  The Chamber encourages the City to tone down the rhetoric and focus on desired outcomes and impacts to investors.

With the current budget crisis, the City is again turning to business for more tax revenues.  As outlined here, the City is considering a new tax on some of our most sucessful local businesses, our hospitals.  Despite providing hundreds of millions of dollars in charity care and direct funding of community programs, the City is looking to them to provide another $1M in taxes each year a recent jump from the initially proposed $600k.  This will come at great cost to the community as this eats into community programs funded through the hospitals' revenues.  The Chamber will continue to advocate for the preservation of these important services.

Finally, the City's Environment and Public Works Committee has proposed an amendment to the downtown parking regulations that would make the regulations truly market based, requiring developers to only build the parking they need for their development.  For more on this issue, please visit the BIA blog here.

On each of these issues it is a chance for the City Council to stand up and encourage investment and growth in our community.  The Chamber encourages them to do just that.

Chamber Legislative Day Registrations Accepted

Join us as we conference with the Pierce County Legislative delegation.

Also on our agenda are Legislative leaders of the economic development committees plus a representative of the State Department of Commerce.

 

10:30 am - 11:30 am 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM

 - Senator Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup) - Chair, Senate Economic Development, Trade and Innovation Committee  - Senator Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) – Ranking Member, Senate Economic Development, Trade and Innovation Committee
 - Representative Phyllis Kenney (D-Seattle) - Chair, House Economic Development and Housing Committee
 - Representative Norma Smith (R-Clinton) – Ranking Member, House Economic Development and Housing Committee
 - Daniel Malarkey - Deputy Director, Washington State Department of Commerce

11:45 am - 1:15 pm  LUNCH WITH PIERCE COUNTY LEGISLATORS

Cherberg Building, Olympia
ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
Register with Cathy Thompson, with this link.

Chamber members are encouraged to arrange appointments with Pierce County legislators.  If you need help with this, email Michael Transue with this link.

Public Invited for Port's Strategic Plan

The Port of Tacoma is developing a strategic planning process with input from community members, customers, business leaders and employees.  The strategic plan will guide the Port’s actions over the next five years.

Read the draft strategic plan (PDF, updated version).

They want your thoughts on the draft plan. Submit comments online by Feb. 22, or at open houses. 

Open houses:
Attend the open house to provide your feedback on the draft plan (introductory comments at 5 p.m.):

Monday, Feb. 13
4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
The Fabulich Center
Room 104
3600 Port of Tacoma Rd., Tacoma

Wednesday, Feb. 15
4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
McGavick Student & Conference Center
Clover Park Technical College
4500 Steilacoom Blvd. SW, Lakewood

Overview
The Port of Tacoma is a key contributor to the South Puget Sound economy and has experienced significant growth over the past 20 years.

The Port is currently developing a 2012 Strategic Plan to guide the organization in achieving its next chapter of economic growth and business success. The plan will set the course for the next 10 to 15 years, with a focus on near-term actions.

Hand in hand with strategic planning, the Port will also examine its brand and identity. BrandStrata was hired to support efforts to create a Port of Tacoma brand that reflects our strategic advantages and unique identity now and into the future.

Process Timeline: June 2011 to March 2012

Under the direction of the Commission, CEO John Wolfe is leading an internal task force charged with developing the Port's strategic plan. Berk & Associates was hired to facilitate and support the process, as well as Mercator International LLC to support business strategy development. Port management, staff, stakeholders and the public will be involved in the planning process.

The strategic planning process includes several phases:  

• Research and assessment: Gather feedback from stakeholders, and conduct business and financial assessments to create the Situation Assessment, which will help develop the strategic business options.
• Plan development: The task force and commission will craft the Draft Strategic Plan, to include the Port's mission/vision statement, goals, implementation plan and timeline, roles and responsibilities, key metrics and expected outcomes. This phase includes two public open houses Feb. 13 and 15.
• Adoption: The commission is expected to adopt the final plan in March 2012.

Renewing the Federal Sales Tax Deduction

Today, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell called for legislation to Congress to extend the state and local sales tax deduction, which provides tax fairness to Washingtonians and residents of seven other states without an income tax.

The itemized deduction allows taxpayers in states without a state income tax to deduct the state sales taxes they pay in 2011 on their upcoming federal income tax returns.

For nearly two decades, Washington taxpayers were penalized because the federal tax code did not allow deduction of state and local sales taxes. That disparity ended in 2004 when Sen. Cantwell successfully restored the deduction. But the extension was never made permanent.

Click here to watch a video of Sen. Cantwell speaking at today’s hearing.

The federal income tax deduction for state and local sales taxes is available for 2011 tax returns but its extension remains unclear for future tax years. This means that as of January 1, 2012, residents in states without a state income tax don’t know if they’ll be able to claim the state sales tax deduction for 2012 qualifying spending.

Sen. Cantwell called for an extension of the deduction in order to provide certainty for Washington state residents who are planning their 2012 annual budgets. Taxpayers in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming also benefit from this deduction.

During the hearing, Caroline L. Harris, Chief Tax Counsel and Director of Tax Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, testified in support of extending the state and local sales tax deduction. “It is absolutely essential that we extend this provision because it does bring parity between states . . . that rely on a sales tax for their revenue base as opposed to those who rely on an income tax.”.