You Want Jobs? Tell Government Where to Go

Before a packed house Jan. 19 at Tuckhoe Inn, members of Cape May County Chamber of Commerce were treated to a harsh dose of reality by Dr. Richard Perniciaro of Atlantic Cape Community College. If his name rings a bell, it’s likely you read his story here Jan. 4 regarding the reality of population loss in this county. If you missed it, the story was on the front page, not close to Spout Off.
It’s always interesting to hear from a chap who probably should have been a newspaper reporter, but wound up in academia preaching nasty facts to people who are left to fret about what they just heard. Maybe that’s why there were no vacant seats at the “Inn.” In fact, Perniciaro joked that he was, at first, honored so many would venture to Cape May County’s northern terminus to hear him opine the dread facts. Then his ego was clipped a few notches when he learned they make excellent crab cakes, and that was probably what brought out the membership.
He spoke of the local economy, jobs, the projected tourism season, the real estate market (places are selling for more now in Ocean City, he noted), and other such exciting factoids as crab cakes disappeared from plates.
He declared that one of the future economic hopes in the Garden State’s southernmost county rested with young entrepreneurs who would launch into areas of service that older folks (this writer is one, according to our bathroom mirror) will need in the coming years.
He pointed to recent openings of an airport brewery and wineries sprouting up where lima beans used to grow.
That’s a neat idea, everyone started to think. Such little businesses would serve to employ young college grads, so they won’t slither away like a black snake into the woods after they attain their sheep skin.
When he finished, during a question and answer session an unidentified woman rose to say that her son wanted to do what Perniciaro advocated, and which seemed to pave the way to economic security for Cape May County.
Trouble was, she said, the lad needed a $1,500 state permit, and that quibbling point stonewalled his operation for 18 months. So much for economic freedom in the Garden State.
After the applause settled, the last crab cake consumed and the warm bread pudding dessert served, and the warm bread pudding dessert served, a gent got to his feet and wondered almost the same thing.
Suppose, he began, he wanted to help those local breweries along and grow some wheat in Atlantic County. Could he get the Department of Environmental Protection’s approval? He wondered.
Knowing the draconian reach of the D.E.P. over so many facets of our lives, from well water to the size of beach sand and where we can walk when piping plovers are nesting, the man’s point was well taken.
The consensus of the business people in the room, those from banks and real estate title companies, small consulting firms and the like, all who employ in the private sector, and yet are made to shell out for the public sector: We need far less government regulation if we are to ever expect to attain economic prosperity in the future.
What would it take to make that dream a reality? For starters, an electorate which would demand of those they sent to Trenton that laws be passed that are in concert with what the people want, not what special interest groups favor or think is good for us or the environment.
Perniciaro dropped another juicy gem for those who wonder why we are languishing for jobs in this land of plenty: The New Jersey Turnpike was built in 18 months. Yup, you read correctly, 18, as in year and a half. Could such a project be accomplished in that time today? Ha! My sides hurt from laughing. You just can’t see it. Eighteen months? We have been weighing three overpasses on the Garden State Parkway in Middle Township, to eliminate deadly traffic signals on intersections, longer than 18 months. To think the turnpike was done in a year and a half.
That was a time when America was anxious to work, when politics helped pave the way for prosperity, not stall it, and we didn’t have to do endless studies to find out if frogs lived in a pond that was in the middle of the proposed roadway.
Maybe if we live long enough, we aging boomers will see young professionals flocking into Cape May County to work in businesses that we need. Freed of regulations, that stymie new businesses, imagine there would no longer be a huge jump in winter unemployment.
That was another point Perniciaro made. When casino gaming was the new kid on the block, and Atlantic City held allure, there was somewhat of a dip in winter unemployment here. Now, with the advent of gaming halls in Philadelphia and elsewhere, the pie is being sliced thinner all the time, and unemployment is about 18 percent here in the winter.
Enough lip service about government creating jobs. Hog wash! If government is to do anything it must get out of the way, quit with interminable regulations that thwart every attempt to start a business or industry, and give entrepreneurs latitude to put their ideas to work.
The overwhelming majority of those who heard Perniciaro speak were from the private sector. They far outnumbered government officials in attendance. It is long past the time when mercantile voices need to be heard from here to Trenton and down to Washington, D.C.
Let free enterprise take charge for the first time in a few decades, and we’ll see what New Jersey and America can do.