Building a Life Sciences Sector

A recent white paper published by the Program on Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill explores how smart public policies are fostering North Carolina's life sciences sector. Authored by Nichola Lowe, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning, the paper documents how North Carolina is combining economic development activities and workforce development strategies to sustain and grow firms that manufacture drug therapies.

North Carolina's strategy stands apart from those in other states due to the special emphasis it places on developing the skilled employees that life science firms need to compete. The involvement of the state's model system of community colleges ensures that firms can find trained employees and that potential employees can find well-paying jobs. In that way, the approach creates a "win-win-win" outcome for employers, workers and the state as a whole.

N.C. Cities Oppose Broadband Bill

Cities across North Carolina have voiced opposition to a bill being considered in the North Carolina State Legislature to limit their ability to provide Broadband Internet access to residents. The Independent Weekly of Durham reports on how the bill, backed by the telecommunications industry, will limit municipal autonomy in providing internet service.

House Bill 1587, "The Local Government Fair Competition Act," is supported by the telecommunications and cable industries, which say cities have unfair advantages—they don't pay taxes and can subsidize a money-losing Internet business with revenue from the city budget. The bill sets out a long list of strict financial and political requirements should a government get into the broadband business.

One of the most pressing concerns regarding this bill is its effect on rural communities, where private industry and initiative are lacking.

"Private sector's not going to build out into rural communities or poor neighborhoods because there's no money in it for them. Municipalities serve those folks, and we can serve them better than private industry can because we can be sure that they've got fiber to the home." He [Mooresville Mayor Bill Thunburg] urged the legislators to consider the need for economic development.

"Technology's moving so fast, some of my cities and counties say that as far as they're concerned, broadband service is almost like electricity, water and natural gas in terms of how essential it would be for citizens to have it and how much of a deprivation it would be not to, just because private industry won't do it," she says. She'd like to find some balance between the concerns of the industry and needs of local communities. As it stands, Rep. Angela Bryant (D-Halifax, Nash) says, the bill "is putting us too much at the mercy of the private businesses."

By limiting the ability of municipalities to provide Broadband Internet service, this bill effectively limits competition, especially in rural areas. The issue of Internet access is new and its importance is often underreported. As the telecommunications industry lobbies state governments to enact similar bills across the county, those of us in the South must be cognizant of the effect such policies will have on our rural and impoverished communities. Every day, Internet access becomes more necessary to participate in the global economy. If the South hopes to become integrated into the global network, people must recognize now the importance of infrastructure for the future.

A New Way of Doing Business?

North Carolina's business leaders long have been characterized as "progressive plutocrats" willing to partner with government to create new economic opportunities. Yet recent developments at the state chamber of commerce seemingly signal a new way of doing business, according to a cover story in the May issue of Business North Carolina.

The article focuses on Lew Ebert, the new president of the North Carolina Chamber, the business organization formerly called NC Citizens for Business and Industry. An experienced business advocate in Pennsylvania and Kansas, Ebert already has brought a different approach to the Tar Heel state's largest business organization. During Ebert's brief tenure, the Chamber has adopted a new name and has begun taking more conservative and oppositional stances on issues ranging from taxation to public education. Will this new tone resonate with North Carolina's traditional political and business culture, wonders the article, or instead sound horribly off-key?