Commerce: don't create these jobs.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - North Carolina Department of Commerce

Here's what it boils down to: Could North Carolina's industry hunters better bag jobs if they worked for a private organization? Or would the state shoot itself in the foot by relinquishing control over the chase it still will have to pay for?

The General Assembly likely will try to find out next year. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight is among those arguing that the N.C. Department of Commerce misses too many shots that could offset job losses such as the 4,800 clipped when Kannapolis-based Pillowtex went down this summer. The Manteo Democrat says legislators probably will push for a study by the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill on privatizing the department.

Not surprisingly, Commerce Secretary Jim Fain opposes the idea. "It's contrary to the one thing we've been trying most to do, which is to better integrate recruiting and retention with other parts of Commerce and state government." For example, his recruiters can offer package deals covering roads, rail links, worker training and hiring--commitments that private recruiters couldn't make.

But Commerce's detractors got a boost from a study conducted for the department by Michael Luger, director of the Kenan Institute Office of Economic Development. It concluded that more than 90% of jobs created under the William S. Lee Act, which awards tax credits for jobs and investment, would have occurred anyway. Luger says critics...