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| Issues |
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Business Development
Too often our local leaders seek blockbuster, big-budget answers to business development when they should be creating a steady stream of small successes to improve our quality of life. The people who live in Second District neighborhoods patronize small, neighborhood businesses when they can, rather than the corporate, big-box stores that often demand too much in special tax breaks and undervalue their employees with low wages and poor benefits.
Small, locally owned businesses strengthen our economy and make our communities unique. We should be encouraging our local entrepreneurs and providing incentives for those who want to develop their own businesses, particularly those based on emerging technologies.
SCORE is a valuable resource for business owners; first-time entrepreneurs who are making use of government incentives should be encouraged to work with a volunteer mentor to increase their chances of success.
We should be rewarding businesses that "go green," using sustainable practices and products in their development, growth, and maintenance. We should also be rewarding businesses that take an active role in the communities around them, giving back to the neighborhoods that support them and supporting our local schools.
Dumping money into new industrial parks is not a good plan for Knox County. We already have industrial parks that are sitting empty. The new industrial park being planned in the Midway area is simply a way to subsidize developers who want to put new subdivisions into this area. This sort of "development welfare" must stop.
We should be recruiting businesses that offer a living wage and good benefits. Excellent schools, an educated work force, pleasant neighborhoods, short commutes, and good public transit attract small and innovative businesses, ones poised to grow in a controlled and non-polluting way along with the community.
As commissioner, I will look for ways to encourage the kind of business development that returns more to our community than it takes away, and that makes Knox County a leader in sustainable, innovative businesses.
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PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF AMY BROYLES
Becky Harmon, Treasurer, 316 East Scott Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917 |
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