We’re in the middle of the job-promising season, which occurs about once every four years.
Candidates for governor criss-cross the state promising that their top priority, if elected, will be creating well-paying jobs for Mainers.
This has been happening for as long as anyone can remember, and with about the same result — disappointment.
The only jobs a governor can directly create are in state government, and we need fewer rather than more of those.
In truth, Mainers are best positioned to create jobs for other Mainers.
That’s why we applaud John Lapoint, president of Packgen, and his employees in Auburn.
Seeing oil containment booms being used in the Gulf of Mexico, a Packgen employee came to Lapoint and said, “John, I think we could do this.”
By the next day, the company had turned its equipment to a new task — manufacturing those booms, and hoping to take some business away from China.
Ultimately, Lapoint hopes to double his 30-person work force to produce the sought-after oil booms.
If he can, those will be 30 jobs helping to support 30 families — thanks to the creativity and initiative of a local business person.
Sure, state government can either encourage or discourage job creation, and Maine needs to do more of the former and less of the later.
But, beyond that, Mainers need to stop looking to state government and politicians to create jobs.
What we really need are more engineers with imagination and expertise, and bold business leaders ready to seize new opportunities.
That’s how jobs are created.
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