How to Create New Jobs

“One of the consequences of such notions as "entitlements" is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.” - Thomas Sowell (American Writer and Economist, b.1930)

When Capitalism (US) is compared to Socialism (Russia/China) we think of factory owners and managers versus the “workers”. But I just read a fascinating story from Knoxville, Tennessee, where unemployed workers and managers worked together to convince companies to open new factories to hire the workers!

Knoxville Sign Workers Respond Creatively to Company Closing

When the sign making company, Image Point, abruptly closed down in Knoxville, the 270 laid off workers didn’t say goodbye and drift apart. They created a Facebook account to share tips on navigating through the unemployment benefits system, how to fight depression, and how to find another job. Managers shared contact lists to find out the unmet needs of Image Point customers. They discovered that "literally, dozens of supply companies in the area would be affected if we did nothing."

Realizing that Knoxville "had become the sign industry capital of the country," the laid-off managers and regional economic developers were able to obtain promises of industry contracts for local work. The local Chamber of Commerce called up other sign companies and invited them to take tours of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley and hire the local talent to fulfill the promised contracts. Five companies opened shop in the “Innovation Valley” and five more have committed. Nearly half of the ex-Image Point employees have been rehired.

This is an amazing win-win-win story. The workers are happy to be working, the regional planners are happy to have more local industry, and the other signage companies “appreciate the proactive, economic development effort.”

Bottom Line
A few years back Hillary Clinton publish the book, “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”. The story told here could have been titled, “It Takes a Village to Support an Industry”. This sounds rather Socialistic: more power to the village of workers but note that there was no mention in this story of federal or state government intervention or bailouts. No mention of the workers unionizing or opening a factory of their own. Rather local business developers discovered a need for new signs by local businesses and then won the support of distant sign makers by appealing to their profit motive. Capitalism, not Socialism, created new jobs for these workers.