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April 9, 2006
CAMDEN LAND and DREAM: In
today's fast changing world, job skills often become obsolete almost as soon as
they are acquired. The only way for today's skilled employees and
entrepreneurs to remain relevant in the market is to be creative and in a
constant learning mode, while improving and acquiring skills that contribute to
the business's competitive advantage on a continual basis. Innovation is the
driving force in today's regional and global economies. Statewide, New Jersey's taxpayers are going to tolerate covering Camden's annual $40 million dollar budget deficit for only so long. In fact, it was the Recovery Act promise to eradicate the state subsidy for Camden that convinced representatives from one end of the state to the other to sign on, awarding $175 million in aid to help the city to get its act together in the process. Not only has the budget deficit not been eradicated, but this year it is at its highest level ever. Virtually every sizeable private sector business that pledged or considered moving to Camden since the establishment of the Recovery Act has bailed out. State officials charged with getting Camden on its feet must think and act quickly. The Recovery Act has passed it's 4th birthday and it is set to expire next year. The act must be extended another two years at the least, but at the current rate of progress, even another two years does not promise much. Developing Camden's current residents through skills training programs is not realistic in a short time frame. The regions premier employers, entrepreneurial, middle and upper classes, Urban Pioneers and Arts community, after 4 years of the Recovery Act, have been slow to catch on to the logic and promise of Camden's future. However, around the globe, hundreds of thousands of highly skilled, educated and entrepreneurial men and women would love the chance to partake in the American Dream, even in places like Camden, if only a special visa were created that invited them and offered them a chance. Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser has provided ample empirical evidence that firms gather in particular regions to gain advantages from common labor pools. Nobel prize-winning economist Robert Lucas maintains that the driving force in the growth and development of cities and regions can be found in the productivity gains associated with the clustering of talented people. H1b1 Visa Holders Needed to Revive Camden 4/13/06 Microsoft Corp. Position On H1b Visa Program Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington Bush urges US Congress to lift H-1B visa limit President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative Camden needs it; the country needs it.
Technology and Tolerance: Diversity
and High Tech Growth Creative
Cities
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