A10

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

1 Comment(s)

A persistent complaint about economic development is that too much infrastructure has produced too little impact. Funding agencies at the regional, provincial and federal levels seem to work at cross purposes, and it's not unusual for entrepreneurs to feel lost.

That could change, if a reform initiative pays off. Led by the Enterprise Network, New Brunswick's local, provincial and national development organizations are talking about ways to eliminate overlap.

It is imperative that these groups create a single entry-point system that is timely, professional and easy for businesses to access. The federal and provincial governments don't have money to waste, and aspiring entrepreneurs don't have the time or resources to apply to multiple agencies. They'd rather be building their businesses.

Streamlining the funding application process is a necessary part of moving from government-centred development to business-centred development. The alphabet soup of competing organizations is a natural product of the notion that government can create economic activity. Is joblessness a problem? Create a department of training. Are small businesses having difficulty accessing credit? Create an agency to help them out. The intentions of these initiatives have been good, but the results haven't measured up.

Fortunately, a changing economy is changing perspectives. Governments running deficits need to pay more attention to the outcome of investments; and new business leaders are pointing out ways in which development agencies have failed to take real-world conditions into account.

The Enterprise Network and its partners must shift focus, putting business back at the centre of economic development decisions. If funding doesn't create jobs, taxes or another definable return, it isn't a defensible investment.

Replace the baffling acronyms with a single entry-point system, in which a business applying to any agency gets information about all available funding programs. Place economic considerations, such as equity and return on investment, above partisan or parochial politics. Strip away layers of paperwork, until the application process moves at the speed of commerce, rather than the slow pace of bureaucracy.

If the infrastructure now in place was redesigned to put business development first, there would be more money to invest and much more growth in the economy.