Vance has been touting a big jobs plan since November 2011 with the promise to release it by January 1st.  I waited patiently.  I asked for it in early January.  They said it’s coming.  I waited.  I had the opportunity to sit down with Vance and have coffee 2 or 3 times between December and February.  I spoke to Vance about “the plan” and the great work contained in it.  He told me about his meetings with 15 of the 17 county managers in the district, and he was working hard to speak with the last two.  He told me about all the hard work that was going into discovering exactly what each county needed to create jobs – specialized training, infrastructure, advertising, marketing, beefing up EDC, and activity.  I asked to see it and at first he said it wasn’t ready yet. Then in later meetings he said, “I’m not going to share with anyone unless I get ‘hired for the job.'”  I was puzzled and asked why wouldn’t you share it with everyone, if it will help?  I asked why don’t you distribute it?  He said no, not until he is elected.  I found that to be a rather selfish position to take for a man positioning himself as selfless and benevolent.  I asked if he would share it with who ever the nominee was for the district?  He said no, he would just go back to his businesses and keep the plan.

In the conference call on Monday, 5/14/12, I asked him if the jobs plan was done.  He said gruffly, “yes.”  I asked if he was ever going to release it, since this plan is the foundation of his whole campaign.  He said again gruffly, “yes, I’ll release it.”

Well here it is below, as well as the older plan.  But this new plan is nearly the same as the outline of a plan he released in September (maybe earlier than that).  Where’s the plan??  This was released yesterday, 5/17/12, by the Asheville Citizen-Times as a press release of an unveiling of Vance’s jobs plan.  It’s no plan, it’s a shorter, less detailed outline of old outline he has had on his website since the beginning of the campaign.  I’ll ask again, where’s the plan?  Why did he tell me on the conference call, in front of many witnesses, it was done and that he would release it??  Is this the kind of run-around candidate you want “representing” you in Washington?

They only reason I want to see the jobs plan before we “hire” him, is because of the bad taste I still have in my mouth over Obamacare.  Remember when Nancy Pelosi said “We have to pass it to know what’s in it.”  Well, I’m not so trusting of politicians after that.  I’m not willing to take anyone’s word for it. Show me first.  As the old adage goes, “Burn me once, shame on you.  Burn me twice, shame on me.”

[plan source: http://www.vancenc.com/issues_01.html]

[press release Asheville Citizen-Times http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/politics/2012/05/17/patterson-unveils-jobs-plan/ ]

=============================== released as “unveiled” jobs plan, 5/17/12, below

Here’s Patterson’s plan:

This jobs plan will bring full employment to WNC in four years.  To reach full employment we need 17,500 jobs.

Steps:

1.  Determine how many jobs are needed – 17,500 or 73 manufacturing companies of 48 employees.
2.  Prepare a presentable package for companies to review showing resources, labor, and quality of life.
3.  Reach out with my 80,000 data base of 25 employees or more, Dept of Commerce, Industrial Shows.
4.  Coordinate with existing EDC programs.
5.  Revise Trade Laws that affect WNC – NAFTA (Rules of Origin), CAFTA, Asian Trade Agreements
——————————————————————————————————————————————

The foundation of my jobs plan is manufacturing, because for every manufacturing job created we get3 – 4 other jobs in the community.  (Reference:  Working for America Institute, and Economic Policy Institute) Those would be jobs in Agriculture, Construction, Health Care, Education, Research, Entertainment, Services, and Recreation.

Manufacturing is coming back, but they are smaller companies – 25 to 100 employees.  Many of them are niche manufacturing companies; average size will be 48 employees.  We need 17,500 jobs to reach full employment.  Thus, to get to full employment we need 3500 manufacturing jobs,73 manufacturing companies of 48 employees over the next 4 years.  This would be 18 a year, or about 1 per county.
We can do this.

So, how do we do this?  Hope the economy improves, sit back and wait?  NO!

I have an active data base of 80,000 distribution and manufacturing companies of 25 employees or more at my company.  I will use this resource to reach out and pull in companies from across the country and around the world to WNC.

We have a quality of life that is the envy of the world:
1.  Security and Beauty
2.  Manufacturing Friendly Work Force and Work Ethic
3.  Resources
4.  Recreation
5.  Retirement
6.  Reasonable Regulations and Zoning
7.  Culture and Stability
8.  Conservative Ethics
9.  Manufacturing Friendly Town, County, State government

I will bring companies from across the country and around the world to WNC using the following business marketing methods:

1.  Website
2.  Industrial Shows
3.  E-mail Blasts
4.  Direct Mail
5.  Coordination with existing Economic Development Council Programs
6.  N.C. and U.S. Departments of Commerce

The communities will need to step up and make sure their community is presented properly so the owners want to locate here.

This will be a coordinated effort with local, regional, state, and national efforts focused on Western North Carolina.  We will be that shining example of how to turn an economy around, restore jobs, and establish a firm foundation for future growth, all without the federal government involvement.

In addition, we will determine what international trade agreements are hindering manufacturing in WNC and move to have these agreements, or at least the clauses negated.  An example would the Rules of Origin clause in NAFTA that destroyed the garment trade in the Carolinas.

[released Asheville Citizen-Times unveiling http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/politics/2012/05/17/patterson-unveils-jobs-plan/ ]

——————————————- plan outline released prior to September 2011

JOBS

Manufacturing is coming back. We need to not only prepare our communities with transportation, education, and communication, but also we need an aggressive business plan to bring those manufacturing jobs to Western North Carolina.
When you start a new company you do not wait until the doors are open for business to begin working. You start long before to prepare for that opening so you hit the ground running. I wrote this Jobs Plan in August, 2011 and have been working this plan for the past five months.
The key to my plan is Manufacturing. Why manufacturing? Because, manufacturing is the engine of job creation. Every time there has been a surge in manufacturing there has been a boom in the economy. The reason is that for every job created in manufacturing as many as four other jobs are created in the surrounding areas. Those would be jobs in Services, Construction, Recreation, Entertainment, Education, Health Care, Agriculture, and on and on.
The plan I am working is as follows:
STEP 1 – I have traveled to all 17 Districts and interviewed with the County Managers to discover what kind of jobs the communities want. Realize that not all communities want “smoke stack manufacturing” in their area. Not all communities want four-lane trucking and railroads. This is important in laying out a jobs plan. We need to consider the following industries and what communities want them for job creation:
1. Manufacturing                 6. Arts and Culture
2. Health Care                    7. Education
3. Services                          8. Agriculture
4. Entertainment                9. Historical
5. Recreation                    10. Environmental

There is a huge difference between the requirements of a Manufacturing community and a Historical Community, or a Recreation Community. These requirements need to be taken into account.
STEP 2 – Determine what resources there are in each community and what needs to be developed to attract the desired jobs.
1. Transportation            5. Security
2. Skilled Labor                6. Zoning
3. Communications          7. Technology
4. Education                    8. Quality of Life

STEP 3 – Write the Plan. This will be a coordinated master plan showing how Manufacturing and Agricultural communities and residents can take advantage of the Research, Recreation, Retirement, and Services offered in the other communities. It will show how the roads and communications needed for manufacturing and agriculture can be used by the Historical and Recreation communities to attract visitors. Now work in the Health Care System, and Educations Systems along with the Research and Technology Communities and you get an idea of what it takes to pull all this together. All 17 Counties can offer parts to the plan to create activity in Western North Carolina, and activity creates jobs!
STEP 4 – Research the resources in our Community, Regional, State and Federal Economic Development Agencies to determine what kinds of programs are available to take Western North Carolina to the rest of the country and the world. I’m a manufacturer. I’ve negotiated and done business across the country and around the world, including England, Europe across to Greece, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Central and South American, Brazil and China. I know what other business owners are looking for and it isn’t tax breaks. We need to pull those companies in; those jobs and not just wait for them to find us.      I have already met with the North Carolina Commerce Department in Raleigh and in Washington and was amazed at the programs available for use.
STEP 5 – My Congressional Office will have an internal Commerce Group dedicated to coordinating the efforts on all levels with a plan to present Western North Carolina to the World, highlighting our Quality of Life and Western North Carolina Work Ethic.
STEP 6 – A firm foundation on which to build jobs is mandatory. Without a firm foundation any effort or progress made will not last and we will be once again wasting our resources as we did with the stimulus funds. To build this firm foundation I will take a business approach to Washington to do the following:
A. Establish Fiscal Responsibility by lower spending, reducing the size of government, and balancing the budget.
B. Establish Steady Money Growth. Stop the gross expansion of the money,
end bailouts, and stop monetizing of our debt.
C. Establish Reasonable Interest rates – 4% is the floor in business, and a
reasonable rate.
D. Establish Free Trade among states for all products, including health
insurance.
E. Establish a Policy of Always Negotiation for America’s Best Interest with
Countries. Our job is not to save the other country, but to do what is best
for America!
F. Establish a Simplified Tax System and stop using it for social engineering.
Notice the word “Establish”; this means to “institute”; a firm stable basis
on which business can plan for the future without fear of unwarranted
change. This has meaning to the business owners who create jobs.

plan from his website  http://www.vancenc.com/issues_01.html