By R. Chadwick Paul Jr.
Creating well-paid, sustainable jobs in growing technology sectors will continue to be key to a flourishing economy in Pennsylvania.
The best response to our current economic challenge is to continue to
invest in early-stage technology firms and in innovation at established
manufacturers.
A bill in the state Senate would cut funding 60 percent for the Ben
Franklin Technology Development Authority, the body that funds the Ben
Franklin Technology Partners program statewide. This is an extremely
challenging year for the state budget, and difficult decisions must be
made. But decreasing funding for Ben Franklin would reduce Pennsylvania
job creation and job retention, and result in a net revenue loss for
the commonwealth.
Since 1983, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern
Pennsylvania alone has helped companies create 13,931 jobs and helped
them retain 20,772 existing jobs. These are highly paid, sustainable
jobs. Ben Franklin's statewide impact has been measured and validated
in an independent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League. For
2002-06, it shows:
For every $1 invested, $3.50 of additional tax revenue was returned to
the state. Therefore, cutting the Ben Franklin budget would actually
hurt the state budget by a factor of 3.5. Ben Franklin boosted the Pennsylvania gross state product by $9.3 billion. Jobs created by Ben Franklin clients pay 33 percent higher than the average non-farm salary here.On average, Ben Franklin clients employed five more people in each year
following funding than they would have in the absence of the Ben
Franklin investment.
Spreading the budget-cut pain across all the programs supported through
public tax dollars may be superficially appealing. But it will not lead
to the thoughtful actions necessary to focus state appropriations
toward activities that directly address our most pressing problems.
Citizens must ask legislators to focus on programs that create and
retain highly paid sustainable jobs. As the General Assembly discusses
the budget, legislators must not cut back on the very strategic
investments that will lead us out of the recession. The Ben Franklin
Technology Partners is one such investment.
Ben Franklin was created in 1983 to lead the transformation of
Pennsylvania into a 21st century technology epicenter. Supported by
every administration and the General Assembly since then, it has
evolved into a dynamic resource that is developing and growing the
commonwealth's technology industries and converting Pennsylvania ideas
into highly paid Pennsylvania jobs.
Operating through offices in the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh and State College, Ben Franklin services are available
throughout the commonwealth. Its investments, services and access to
resources help emerging companies succeed, established companies to
innovate and grow, and supports the development of a vibrant
entrepreneurial culture.
The Ben Franklin program has been widely praised and modeled for more
than 25 years. Just this year, the International Economic Development
Council named the statewide Ben Franklin program as the winner of its
Excellence in Technology-Based Economic Development award. Ben Franklin
has distinguished itself as the nation's premier provider of
early-stage seed capital and related technical and business assistance
services.
Entrepreneurship and technological innovation will drive the economic
recovery and sustain long-term economic growth. History has
demonstrated that innovation and business growth often hit new strides
during times of economic transition. In fact, 18 of the 30 current Dow
Jones industrial index companies were launched during economic
downturns, according to research by Reference Capital Management, a
venture capital fund.
Ben Franklin is a successful catalyst in northeastern Pennsylvania. Its
work will help to cushion the downturn, hasten recovery, and position
northeastern Pennsylvania for future economic success. Now is not the
time to cut back on its funding.
R. Chadwick Paul Jr. is president and chief executive officer of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, with offices in Bethlehem.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-a22_paul.6918325jun12,0,2682494.story
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