Lew Ebert: NC Can’t Afford to Wait
In a guest column in the Charlotte Business Journal, NC Chamber President and CEO Lew Ebert shows why the NC Chamber and statewide business community are taking a leadership role to address North Carolina’s transportation funding crisis.
The North Carolina business community widely recognizes the inextricable link between transportation, business and jobs. The NC Chamber Foundation commissioned a study that shows for every $1 billion in additional transportation investment in our state, we will generate 14,300 jobs, $10.3 billion in additional wages and $10.8 billion in additional gross state product annually. That is an annual 10 to 1 return on investment for short- and long-term economic activity.
In addition to highlighting the benefits of long-term infrastructure investment, it also shows the negative consequences of inaction. The study identifies 16 options for alternative funding methods, and doing nothing is not one of the recommendations. The status quo is actually a decision for economic decline, job loss and reduced GDP – outcomes the NC Chamber and organized business community refuse to accept.
This year must be a year of action, where our elected leaders make a decisive long-term commitment to securing our state’s future.