Rep. Graves meets with local business leaders
Dalton, GA,
Dec 4, 2011 -
Uncertainty and red tape weigh heavily on the economy.
That’s the message North Georgia business leaders had for U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, Saturday.
Graves met at Dalton State College with his 9th Congressional District economic advisory council, about two dozen business leaders from across the area Saturday. The Daily Citizen spoke to Graves after the meeting.
“There is a very steady concern about the rules and regulations coming out of Washington, about the tax code. All that uncertainty creates a hesitation in the marketplace and makes businesses less likely to expand and create jobs,” he said. “They don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like. Is the federal government going to get spending under control? Or are we going to go the way of Europe? Is the regulatory burden going to continue to grow?”
Graves said that even Friday’s jobs report, which showed that unemployment had fallen to 8.6 percent in November from 9 percent the previous month, hasn’t allayed those concerns.
“Unfortunately, it looks like that drop is due more to people leaving the labor market than it is to businesses creating new jobs,” Graves said.
Graves was accompanied to the meeting by Stephen Brereton, Canada’s consul general in Atlanta.
“Canada is Georgia’s largest export market, and Canada is the largest supplier of oil and gas to the United States. Petroleum products are actually Canada’s largest export to Georgia, and we are looking for ways to expand this trading partnership,” Brereton said. “With the great manufacturing base in this part of the state, we see great opportunities here.”
The Canada-United States economic partnership received a setback last month when President Barack Obama delayed a decision on whether to permit the construction of a pipeline that would take oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Graves noted that some Republicans in Congress are looking at tying approval of that pipeline to renewal of a payroll tax cut.
“The lack of an energy plan is another one of those stumbling blocks for the United States,” Graves said.
Chip Pearson, a former state senator and chairman of the economic advisory council, said that the 9th District is really three distinct areas with their own economic concerns.
“The Gainesville-Hall is the poultry industry. The central area is the mountains, which was textiles and a few other things but had been growing in recreation and second homes. And obviously, the Dalton area is manufacturing. Each has its own challenges,” he said.
Charles Oliver Dalton Daily Citizen
