By every indication, March could have more job layoffs than net new jobs created due to activities taking place in businesses and state and local governments to balance budgets and head off concerns about the general economic situation in Rhode Island and the nation. The 2008-2009 state budget deficit is over 10 percent of the total budget which on a percentage basis makes the deficit among the largest of the 50 states.

Rhode Island is stalled in neutral in almost every aspect of economic development including job creation. We are losing jobs while waiting for higher paying jobs to come to the state. The 2008 objective of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation is to provide Rhode Islanders with more high-wage job opportunities by increasing the percentage of Rhode Island jobs paying above the national average wage from 40 to 60 percent. Unfortunately, higher paying jobs in Rhode Island are the target of public scrutiny, criticism and higher taxes.

Over 3,000 Rhode Islanders are employed at Foxwoods casino and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and about another 60,000 RI residents work out of state. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate continues to be higher than the U.S. rate and its average wage is lower than the average private-sector wage across the nation by almost $4,000.

It is time to look at a new model for creating jobs in Rhode Island. From 2008 through 2011, it has been estimated that 16,000 net new jobs will be created in Rhode Island. This averages to about one percent a year which is a dismal track record for the investment the state and local municipalities are making in creating new jobs. We should count the number of people and salaries devoted to economic development activities at the state and local levels, measure performance and consider new ways to deal with job creation.

According to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, the occupational titles with the highest growth rate from 2008 through 2011 will be retail salespeople, waiters and waitresses, home aid workers, food preparation workers, customer service representatives and accountants and auditors. Most of these jobs require on-the-job training rather than a college degree. What happened to the high wage jobs the state has been trying to create? They have been few and far between. Many of them are replacements for individuals retiring or resigning. Some resulted from special tax and work incentive programs.

Rhode Island needs to invest in activities that will increase state revenue, create jobs, reduce future state budget deficits and prevent tax increases such as airport expansion, highway and bridge infrastructure repairs, Quonset and education and workforce development. State and local municipalities must cut their expenditures and look for savings through consolidation and regionalization of municipal services. Raising taxes is not the solution to Rhode Island’s problems since the state is among the top two or three tax burden states.

We need to consider a private-public model for creating jobs. The thirteen chambers of commerce in Rhode Island must step up their activities along with the state’s major business leaders in identifying and seeking businesses to locate in the state and work with businesses planning to leave the state. Any success in bringing new businesses to Rhode Island will come from businesses already located in the state.

The private partners in economic development are organizations like banks, utilities, transportation facilities, the media and colleges and universities. The supporting partners are local government officials, planning boards and community based economic development committees. The facilitating partners are state and local governmental agencies and the executive and legislative branches of the state who can provide the leads and incentives to attract businesses.

In a state of a little over one million people, we need to consolidate in one agency all the “salaried” economic development people at the state and local levels to work with the private sector. There is no need to have local municipalities compete with the state for attracting and keeping businesses. By consolidating our economic development activities we will be able to eliminate a number of positions.

It will also be an opportunity to make job creation more transparent with a public scorecard issued each quarter reporting the number of new jobs created by industry sector, job title and hourly wage. It will also allow us to evaluate “give aways” to create jobs through special tax credits and programs. We need an economic development office that concentrates on job creation. We need the private sector to take the lead in creating new jobs.

State agencies and offices like the Department of Business Regulation, the Department of Labor and Training, the Secretary of State and the General Treasurer’s Office have the expertise to deal with existing businesses and register new businesses.

The quicker we move to a state partnership with the private sector and consolidate economic development activities, the faster we will have new jobs and more tax revenue.