Helping Communities Create Jobs that Create Jobs in 2020

The unemployment rate in the USA hit 10% in 2009 and stayed stuck there for two years. Everyone realized that we were going to be in it for the long haul when in the space of 18 months the same number of jobs that had been added to the economy in the last decade had been wiped out. We recognized that even if the economy magically returned to the same level of output at its height in 2007 it would still take three years for the 7.9 million newly unemployed to (perhaps find their way back into the workforce.) And unless the USA economy was addressed the political leaders of the country would turn their backs on pressing global concerns of climate change, water insecurity and food scarcity, among the many concerns that challenged us back in 2010.

So, some of decided that we couldn't leave this up to chance and decided to create community-based job creation initiatives. The first one I was involved with was the Princeton Job Creation Forum which was established to combat the collapse of the local financial services and pharmaceutical industries (for different reasons) but ended up addressing much wider community needs. We looked at the jobs that had been lost, predominately in construction and manufacturing and we saw that these industries and their jobs weren't coming back. Recognizing that fact, we started to link innovators, people with smart ideas and little access to funding, to people in the local community who could serve as investors. Not necessarily venture funders. We needed people who would commit to their community for the long haul. From there we build a network of Job Creation Forums in distressed communities across the country.

This network today spans the globe. Sharing ideas about how to make job creation a community effort. Local ownership of local economic enfranchisement with each community deciding where and how to focus their job creation efforts. And all of them learning from each other. A job is a powerful force for positivity. It enables people to feel like they can contribute. It enables them to feed and clothe and offer shelter to themselves and their families. It establishes a foundation of self-sufficiency which enables people to look beyond their own needs and offer support to others. In 2020 I help communities create jobs that create jobs.