We’ve made the news, the New York Times.

Instead of talking about why Dayton is a great place to locate your business, with a highly trained workforce, low cost of living, high quality of life- we get a mid-level manager talking about our long-term unemployed:

Lucious Plant, work force development administrator in Montgomery County, Ohio, where Dayton is the county seat, said companies were shortsighted for viewing people who had been out of work for several months as somehow inferior. Given today’s economy, he said, it was common for those who lost their jobs to stay unemployed for six months or more, and that many of those workers were highly skilled.

“I think it would be very easy to have six months of unemployment and still be a top candidate,” Mr. Plant said.

via Employers Say Jobs Plan Won’t Lead to Hiring Spur – NYTimes.com.

This is a global publication- who gave Mr. Plant the opportunity to speak for the region? This is why you have spokespeople and hire PR firms to fine tune a message. It’s why we have the “Dayton Development Coalition” to put our best foot forward.

Instead, we’ve got a guy with an odd name, making statements that run counter to what’s becoming a national trend: unemployed people aren’t even considered as candidates.

Until the United States changes the tax structure, and starts rewarding employers for job creation, more than rewarding the Wizards of Wall Street for their casino operation, we won’t see more jobs, more consumer confidence or a stable economy.

From the same article:

Companies are focused on jittery consumer confidence, an unstable stock market, perceived obstacles to business expansion like government regulation and, above all, swings in demand for their products.

Stabilize the stock market by eliminating all flash trades, tax any transaction made on equity holdings that have been held for less than a year at a ridiculously high rate, as well as bar all companies from the market that pay their executives more than a ratio of 20/1 of their median U.S. employee salaries.

Also, since small businesses are the major engine in employment, consider rewarding owners of companies who employ Americans and who pay decent wages. Offering those job creators lower personal tax rates based on a ratio under 10/1 of median employee salaries to their income with tax breaks.

Also, states like Ohio need to cut the practice of charging companies unemployment rates based on a three-year floating account- and make it into a real insurance pool. My small business was hammered after firing one employee after 17 years of never having done so, with a 10% unemployment tax going up from a sub 2% rate. With a 10% unemployment tax it incentivizes hiring contractors instead of employees.

And by the way, like it or not, nobody knows where Montgomery County is- or Centerville or Oakwood- it’s Dayton,people. If we were smart, we’d have one government- with one name that’s on the map.