By David W. Burns
January 31, 2011

Conference of Mayors President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz moderated and hosted a conversation during Thursday afternoon of the 79th Winter Meeting between mayors and CEOs from three major corporations, along with Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Mesa (AZ) Mayor Scott Smith, all who discussed jobs and ways to grow the economy.

The business leaders who served on the panel included Philips Lighting North America General Manager Zia Eftekhar, Carlson Companies Board Chairman Marilyn Carlson Nelson, and Siemens Corporation President and CEO Eric A. Spiegel.

Eftekhar discussed one of the pathways to new jobs and economic development: energy efficiency. "Over 80 percent of all buildings in this country were built prior to any good, effective energy efficiency codes," remarked Eftekhar. He continued, talking about energy retrofitting. "Those are sustainable jobs that can't go anywhere else. Those jobs have to stay in our communities. Whether they are jobs in designing those buildings, installing the products, or any aspect of implementation," he said.

With energy efficiency and conservation being a priority for the Conference of Mayors, this idea was received strongly by the mayors in attendance.

In addition, Eftekhar stressed the importance of businesses needing to do a better job of partnering with mayors specifically. "You, as the executives of your community, have a role and we need to be fully cognizant of that role and supportive of that role in how you can make doing business in your communities easier," said Eftekhar. He continued, "That's the kind of close relationship that needs to exist between us and the cities," citing financing deals as a potential way that relationships can strengthen.

Carlson Nelson also shared her thoughts on how cities and mayors can support job growth and economic development. Carlson Companies is a hospitality company better known through its Radisson Hotels brand along with the casual dining chain TGI Fridays. "One of the quickest ways to make a job creation is to drive travel," said Carlson Nelson. "There's not a state or city in this room where travel and hospitality aren't one of the top five employers."

Carlson Nelson also talked about a group in Minnesota that she's a part of called the Itasca, a group that brings together 40 CEOs, mayors, the governor, head of the university, and the head of the state education department in Minnesota that focuses on the long term issues impacting the community, mostly with a focus on livability and the economy. This group and its leadership has helped make Minneapolis'st. Paul a more livable area and increased its job employment rate.

Spiegel focused his remarks on economic recovery where jobs aren't coming back. "I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio," Spiegel said. "When I grew up there after the war, it was the third largest supplier of steel in the world, and also a major supplier to the automotive sector. Those things died in the ‘70s and people waited and waited and waited for those jobs to come back…. They never came back."

Spiegel continued, "We need to think about the future and how we will remain competitive as a country. We need to create the right kinds of jobs that will lead to growth opportunities. China is pushing forward very fast on a lot of technologies that are leading the world and we're falling behind."

Mayors had their own take on how to spur economic growth and job creation in their cities, many of which compliment the ideas that the CEOs shared.

Leppert and Smith both focused their remarks on the importance of competitiveness in the global world and creating a business friendly environment in their cities. Both Leppert and Smith came from the private sector and ran companies prior to their present tenure as mayor.

In the end, it was clear that there were many shared ideas between the mayors and business leaders, especially on the issue of education. The CEOs and mayors on the panel all agreed that education in the United States needed to improve in order to become more competitive. At times they were critical of our current public school system calling for higher standards comparable to other countries along with empowering principles and teachers instead of school boards and administrators.

"We have tripled the dollars spent per student and we have lost on reading. It is not a dollars question; it's how you spend those dollars. That's what counts," concluded Leppert. "The issue is global not local and our one chip to play is education."

"We have gotten some great nuggets to begin the work together," concluded Kautz.