A job for every Alaskan: it's important to develop closer linkages between economic and work force development.

• Author: Sampson, David A.

During my four trips to Alaska as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, I have repeatedly said that President Bush's plan for economic growth focuses on these priorities: jobs, jobs, jobs. The president's economic-growth package gives Americans certainty that they will not just have a paycheck today, but a job for tomorrow. The president's message is simple and clear-one American, one Alaskan, without a job is one too many.

To help meet its economic goals, the Bush Administration is committed to developing closer linkages between economic and work force development. Let me explain why this is important and how we seek to accomplish it.

Meaningful, sustainable economic development in our nation's states, cities and rural areas is produced by expanding free enterprise and increasing private-sector involvement and investment. The goal of the Bush Administration is to coordinate the use of existing federal resources to improve the business and economic climate of these communities.

Communities can attain real economic improvement, even if they are currently experiencing economic distress.

First, they must mobilize a broad-based and well-conceived effort to increase competitiveness. Second, this effort must be consistent with market forces and take advantage of the opportunities markets create. Finally, this effort must be sustained over many years.

We know beyond any doubt the important role of talent in successful economic development strategies. The essential quality of a modern, growing, prospering economy is a well-educated, versatile work force able to convert the results of research and development into innovative products, processes and services. To an unprecedented degree, intellectual capital drives economic prosperity.

In the Industrial Age, machines were the chief capital asset. Machines took center stage on the factory floor and the workers, mostly low-skilled, were fungible. In the Information Age, precisely the opposite is true. The key competitive asset is human capital and it cannot be separated from the workers who possess it.

The nation has made enormous strides in work force skills over the past 40 years. Unfortunately, the gains in education and skills over the last 40 years will not be sufficient to sustain U.S. prosperity over the long term. The requirements for increased skills are continuing to rise, outstripping the supply of skilled workers. The empirical evidence of growing demand for skills shows...