Powers To Boost Job Emphasis

Mayor-elect John Powers said this week that creating new jobs will be one of the city of Spokane’s economic development priorities.

Powers, who takes office on Dec. 28, insisted the city will take an active role encouraging the growth of existing companies, plus find ways to build infrastructure to lure new businesses here.

Job growth, in his view, goes beyond adding more tech jobs or positions for higher-paid engineers.

“We have to have more jobs for those with basic education who are willing to work and can’t find good jobs beyond minimum wage,” Powers said.

Powers said he wants the mayor’s office to play an active role in helping promote new jobs for areas of the city where incomes are below average.

“Take Company X in Liberty Lake who’s looking to expand. I’d make sure we ask them to bring some of those good jobs back to the city, to boost development there,” said Powers.

That plan helps the entire community, he said. “It benefits the Valley as well as the city, as the entire region grows together.”

Powers said he’d also take advantage of a study authored by a Mississippi professor who reviewed the area’s economic development efforts.

The $10,000 study, finished earlier this year by David Kolzow of the University of Southern Mississippi, listed more than 100 steps to transform Spokane’s economy and add new jobs.

Among its recommendations is a stronger central role for the Spokane Area Economic Development Council and governmental support for the area’s biotech and biomedical professions.

“That study is a good report and is a benchmark for where we are,” Powers said.

In particular Powers agreed with suggestions on how the city and county can streamline the permitting process for companies doing business here.

“The city needs to support the initiatives already under way here, lending its resources, its credit and its political authority to build a better economy,” he said.