As you know, I have offered a proposal that I am asking City Council to place on the ballot in the May election. It has two main components that are directly linked and which complement each other. One is the Better Jobs Initiative to address the basic workforce development needs of our citizens. The other is Better Future, an integrated series of strategic initiatives in economic development that are designed to leverage the maximum increase in the value of our existing economic assets. I want to explain the rationale for this proposal, and why I think you, as leaders of the business community, will understand and support it.
Economic development is workforce development.
There is no economy apart from the people who are employed in it. Workforce development, raising the skill levels of our labor force, is economic development, of the most fundamental nature. And workforce development and economic development, as presented in the package of Better Jobs and Better Future are interrelated such that, although each could provide an incremental improvement on its own, together they will be even more successful. As business leaders, as employers, as Chamber members, you will recognize these truisms. You are, I know from talking with many of you, already aware of the limitations of San Antonio's existing labor force.