JOBZ helps level the outstate business field

Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

There are some who may question whether JOBZ — which provides tax breaks to qualifying business owners who expand or relocate in Fergus Falls and other Minnesota cities — is really serving its primary purpose of creating jobs. The question, however, is not whether JOBZ is working — it is working — but whether the state should provide additional economic development assistance.

Based on the experience of businesses that have used the program in Fergus Falls, JOBZ has indeed done what its creators intended for it. Some may question whether the businesses would have expanded or relocated in Fergus Falls without the presence of JOBZ — the answer to which would be, “We’ll never know.” But we also would not want to test the theory.

However, as business owners will attest, tax burden is only one of several factors underlying a decision expand or relocate in a community. Workforce quality, access to and quality of roads, utilities and other infrastructure, and quality-of-life amenities have as much — if not more — influence.

If only taxes were the issue, North Dakota would be growing by leaps and bounds, and the Twin Cities would be stagnant. The opposite, of course, is the case.

Fergus Falls and other outstate communities need state help in a number of areas: maintaining high-quality roads, schools, and city services, to name a few.

If Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature are serious about economic development in Greater Minnesota, then they need to provide the funding for such programs on a level that considers the disparities in income between outstate and Twin Cities suburban communities.

JOBZ is a good program, but it alone is not enough.