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By HENRY N. BUTLER . and JEROME ELLIG
Rappahannock Newi Contributinp Writer* A % Despite the Commonwealth’s relatively robust economy, Virginia politicians — Republicans and Democrats — are vigorously promoting a grab bag of “economic development” proposals that could actually leave Virginians worse off once they ante up the tax dollars to pay for them.
The mania for economic development is itself something of a mystery. The state’s unemployment rate recently fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest level since October 1979.
In addition, a study released last June by Grant Thornton, a Chicagobased acccounting and management consulting firm, rated Virginia’s manufacturing climate the fourth bept in the nation. The study, which is'updated annually, takes into account 21 factors that manufacturers &4y are important to their business s^fccess, including wages, unionization,
taxes, education, and state polices toward business. *; Even the Washington, D.C.based Corporation for Enterprise Development, which is highly critical of Grant Thornton’s approach afid published its own rankings this sjjring, gave Virginia a “B” for economic performance. That’s the highest grade for any southern state in tint category. Though the state sfcored low on some of the more esoteric things the organization behfeves contribute to economic development, such as aircraft takeops per capita and state appropriations to support the arts, Virginia’s actual results speak for themselves. »; In fact, Northern Virginia faces a labor “shortage,” with unemployment near two percent. The main issue in this fall’s election race for chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is not how to spur development but whether to restrict it.
Nevertheless, plans to encourage “economic development” at taxpayer expense abound at the state level. They include:
• Shell Buildings: Under this plan, the Commonwealth would build or subsidize construction of empty buildings. Once they are built, businesses presumably would materialize out of nowhere to inhabit them and spread prosperity to the surrounding countryside. It is hard to believe that state bureaucrats would be better than savvy real estate developers at spotting prime locations for new commercial and industrial buildings. ! • Inland Ports: Next summer, the town of Front Royal in the Shenan*>doah Valley will become a seaport! Thanks to a $10 million state investment, containers of merchandise will be loaded onto railroad cars and shipped, to the Port of Hampton Roads for export. If this idea is such a brilliant business insight, it’s difficult to see why responsibility for raising the required capital should not be left in the hands of the private companies which will benefit from the inland port.
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