At a hearing of the House Small Business Committee, Congressman Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) urged members to take action to help stimulate rural economies and to promote job creation.
“Our rural communities and small businesses are the very heart of our nation and are an essential aspect of our nation’s economy,” said Shuster. “We must reach out to rural communities to help stimulate the economy and ensure that we are providing the same economic growth incentives to them as we are to urban areas of the country.”
Congressman Shuster noted that recent trends in migration patterns and the events of September 11th have increased the importance of supporting growth in rural economies.
“In the last half of the 20th Century, migration flowed from rural areas into urban centers,” said the congressman. “I believe that the early part of the 21st Century will see this trend reverse for a number of reasons. Rural areas in American are more affordable than urban centers and provide families a high quality way of life. In addition, employers are beginning to discover the availability of quality work forces in rural America and the abundance of natural resources such as water. The events of September 11th have also forced many to rethink the viability of concentrating all of our resources in urban centers, increasing the attractiveness of spreading resources into rural areas.”
Also attending the hearing was Undersecretary of Agriculture for Rural Development Thomas Dorr. Secretary Dorr noted that new ideas are needed to boost rural development,
“I truly believe there are opportunities available in rural America if we utilize new ideas, new solutions, and new approaches.” said Shuster. “Re-tooling and re-thinking how our federal dollars are spent will develop new business opportunities in rural American as well as help to sustain existing and viable business enterprises.”
In August, Congressman Shuster introduced legislation designed to institute some of the innovative ideas discussed by Secretary Dorr. His legislation, entitled the Rural Economic Growth Act of 2003, is designed to boost investment into rural communities, promote job creation and create partnerships between businesses and the federal government.
Congressman Shuster’s legislation includes a rural tax credit of 50 percent, over a 10-year period, to businesses that move to rural areas and either occupy an existing facility or construct a new building.
“The 50 percent tax break will provide companies incentive to move to rural areas and will offer them a means of recovering some of the many other costs associated with starting a company or moving,” said Shuster.
In addition, the legislation amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers to take advantage of the work opportunity credit for hiring residents of rural areas. Under the bill, employers can claim 25 percent of an employee’s qualified first-year wages up to $6,000 for employees working at least 120 hours but less than 400. For employees working 400 hours or more, the credit is calculated at the rate of 40 percent of the qualified first-year wages up to $6,000.
