Witt wants public-private partnerships in 4th District

Job creation and training in Arkansas' 4th Congressional District must include further development of public-private partnerships between educational institutions and businesses, congressional hopeful James Lee Witt said Thursday.

Witt, a Democrat, opened his Hot Springs campaign headquarters at 3400 Central Ave. on Thursday. He will face Bruce Westerman, a Republican, Ken Hamilton, a Libertarian, and Janis Percefull, an Independent, in the Nov. 4 general election.

"These partnerships will focus on creating and retaining a competitive workforce with the skill level to sustain high-quality Arkansas jobs," said Witt, who unveiled his job development plan while in Hot Springs.

While he was director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Witt said he created a public-private partnership program to help communities. By the time it ended, the program involved 250 communities.

"Basically, it was building partnerships to help in those communities as a partner, and a lot of money was raised to help minimize risk to the communities and create new jobs," he said.

Witt said his plan will focus on regional job development, noting the variety of resources and needs in the 4th District.

"I think when you look at the 4th District, particularly the southern half, the idea is to be able to break it down into regions and look at the resources that are available and bring in the Small Business Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and other federal agencies, as well as state agencies, and then bring in corporate partners. Tell them what resources are available and see how we can entice them to come in and help," he said.

"I believe we must create opportunities to fill open positions by providing those who want to work with the skills and training to do so. We can't have a 'one-size fits all' approach. Using a regional focus for economic growth will allow us to maximize our resources and work in a collaborative manner to ensure successful programs and initiatives are in place," he said.

"Arkansas can increase its comptetive advantage by developing education and training to provide students with professional and technical skills based on industry needs," he said.

He said one of his goals if elected to Congress will be to help put together incentive packages that will help bring in corporate partners and good jobs to the district.

"That's what it's all about," he said.

"I'm not running for Congress to make a career. I'm running to make a difference. Giving people an opportunity is what we should be doing," he said.

In announcing the opening of his local campaign office, Witt said, "Hot Springs has a deep history and is rich in culture like no other town in America. I am excited about the opening of our new office."

A resident of Dardanelle, where he grew up, Witt served as the county judge for Yell County for 10 years, then was appointed as director of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services. Former President Bill Clinton nominated him to be the director of FEMA and he was unanimously supported in the U.S. Senate.

After leaving FEMA, he opened James Lee Witt Associates, a company that helps governments and corporations throughout the world recover from disasters and deal with other crises.

Local on 06/13/2014

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