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Friday, February 10, 2012
Chamber View: Innovation & sustainability can build long-lasting jobs
by Matthew Mahood, published on January 26, 2010 at 5:44 PM
Storyline: Chamber View
For the next wave of economic recovery, it’s imperative that the Sacramento Metro Chamber collaboratively identify indicators and driving forces that capitalize on local innovation, intellect and influence. Additionally, we must use up-to-date technology and advances to develop a healthy, more sustainable economy that we believe will ultimately improve our region’s competitiveness.
Our old consumer-based economy was obviously unsustainable. Built on easy access to money and lax lending standards, the housing and financial markets over-bloated other parts of the economy. Downstream job growth swelled, and when the housing market shriveled, other sectors followed.
We await signs that our economy is coming back to life—for our unemployment rate to drop. The sector that can add jobs the quickest—retail—is not one we should rely on for recovery. New jobs must be built on what our region needs long-term for the good of all: jobs in health care, jobs in manufacturing, jobs in infrastructure construction, jobs in building green, LEED-certified buildings.
In other words, we need jobs that feed back to what our economy needs and can support, long-term. We need sustainable jobs. Once these kind of jobs move into the economy, other supporting jobs that come back will be more resilient, based more upon needs of citizens who have real dollars to spend, not borrowed from home equity.
And how do we get to a sustainable economy? By taking action in the here and now—with a concern for future and remote consequences to our region’s economy and quality of life. Our actions, solutions and planning, both internal and external, should be comprehensive and integrative—requiring a regional, collaborative approach to a wide range of business-related issues.
This will be the way the Metro Chamber filters its work in 2010: How can we use innovation, intellect and influence to build a sustainable economy and create long-lasting jobs. This powerful approach is energizing our volunteer leadership, and I hope you will join us.
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http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/21082/Feds_award_5m_for_alternative_energy
Restoring historic buildings also means more jobs than new construction because 70-80% of the cost for restoration is labor. Materials in restoration projects are more likely to be local projects. Conversely, new construction, even of the "green" variety, tends to use imported materials, and only 50% of the budget is labor cost--thus, fewer jobs per project dollar. New buildings also tend to use more energy-intensive materials, like metal and concrete, vs. the wood and brick used in older buildings.
The greenest building is one that's already built--and the best one for a long-term healthy economy!
www.thegreenestbuilding.org