Jobs

By Roxanne Qualls

Please go to my web site, http://www.RoxanneQualls.com to access my position on local issues and background on my initiatives.

Small businesses employ over 50% of the private sector workforce and generate 60-80% of net new jobs annually. The size of a small business can vary from a one-person enterprise to one employing more than 1,500, and can have annual receipts of up to $21.9 million, depending on the industry. Some initiatives may be applicable to all small businesses, but others may need to be tailored in response to the variety of types of small businesses

Small business also includes our locally-owned shops and stores that make up the fabric of vibrant neighborhood business districts. These small businesses usually employ local residents.

1. Support available to all:

• Cut the red tape at City Hall. Establish Small Business Assistance Teams, composed of representatives of departments that issue licenses and approvals, to work with applicants to ensure a speedy and effective approval process so businesses can get up and running.
• Expand micro-lending programs so start-ups can access money needed to hire employees and purchase inventory.
• Reward job creation by making small businesses eligible for a local tax credit for every new job created that pays a living wage and health benefits.
• Grow small businesses into larger businesses. It can take a number of years for a start up to generate a profit. Support future success by allowing start-ups to carry forward their operating losses for 25 years, just as the federal government does.
• Revitalize and renew business districts by making unused city owned property available at a nominal fee to start-ups and locally owned small businesses.
• Work directly with the African American Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to identify new start-ups and to match entrepreneurs with resources, and identify new and existing minority businesses in areas undergoing redevelopment.

• The University of Cincinnati, Children's Hospital and our other research institutions are very competitive in the number of patents obtained. Turn patents into profits and jobs by partnering with university and hospital researchers to turn research into commercial products.
• Use Focus 52 Funds to develop a medical-university Uptown Research Park.
• Grow21st century green jobs and businesses using 21st century financing tools. Establish a 
property assessed clean energy (PACE) program that finances large-scale energy conservation 
measures for commercial buildings.
• Partner with the Port Authority to acquire, cleanup and prepare aging industrial sites for new 
green manufacturing.
• Grow hi-tech startup businesses into larger businesses. It can take a number of years for a startup 
to generate a profit. Support future success by allowing start-ups to carry forward their operating losses for 25 years, just as the federal government does.
• Incentivize significant capital investment with tax credits. The more a company invests, the less likely it is to move.
• Create a Technology Industry Inclusion Council with the goals of increasing minority employment in technology firms, increasing minority ownership of technology firms, and creating a pipeline from CPS into high-tech jobs.
  3. Get the biggest bang for the buck
• Focus major public investment in the six regions of the City identified as giving the highest ROI in tax revenues and jobs for the city based on GO Cincinnati.
• Reward major investment in jobs and Cincinnati by giving a local tax credit based on the amount of capital investment in the business.
  4. Level the playing field
• Make a standard minimum package of city support and assistance available to any business that generates new jobs in the City of Cincinnati.

• The United Way of Greater Cincinnati has set as a Bold Goal that 90% of the people in Cincinnati will be gainfully employed by 2020. To reach this Bold Goal means opening opportunities for all Cincinnatians to participate in the tremendous progress of the city, and in the sizable investments both the public and private sectors are making in downtown in our neighborhoods.
• Anyone who wants to do business with Cincinnati will need to demonstrate a commitment to hire trained city residents, and local sourcing of supplies and materials.
• To ensure the maximum inclusion of all members of our community in the opportunities created by public investment in infrastructure, public buildings and private development supported by public dollars, the city must conduct a Croson Study.
  6. Put all of Cincinnati to work building Cincinnati
• Use the $3.2 billion Metropolitan Sewer District investment over the next 20 years to create a path to employment for Cincinnati residents.
• Integrate apprenticeship opportunities into major developments that receive more than 30% public funding support.
• For all major city transportation or public works projects, make it possible for small businesses to compete by issuing bid packages in manageable increments.
• Fully utilize existing pre-apprenticeship training programs to prepare young people for apprenticeship programs in the building trades.
• Partner with CPS to introduce career opportunities in construction and advanced manufacturing in the K-12 curriculum.
• Partner with CPS to reinvigorate vocational education geared to high demand trades in construction and manufacturing.
  7. Engage the entire community to identify, train and place people who want to work
• Contract with community-based organizations, such as the African American and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, The Urban League, the Hamilton County Community Action Agency, and the Urban Appalachian Council for outreach and recruitment, screening, and job skills training.
• Make workforce and business inclusion a requirement for all Focus 52 projects.