Ed Martin at a campaign event. (Photo/Martin for Congress)
(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) On the heels of an endorsement by the Missouri Farm Bureau’s “Farm PAC,” congressional candidate Ed Martin launched an expansion of his “Shop Local, Hire Local” plan to include farm and agricultural interests.
“Ed Martin’s action plan for jobs, Shop Local-Hire Local, was created back in June after holding a number of roundtables with small business leaders and some 150 “Ask Ed Anything” meetings,” said Martin spokeswoman Theresa Petry. “Shop Local-Hire Local focuses on publicly encouraging all Missourians to look to local businesses and local workers first.”
Agriculture products sales contributed $37 million to the economy of the 3rd District in 2007. In 2009, a report by the Missouri General Assembly said that agriculture adds more than $12.4 billion annually to the state’s economy and provides a job for upwards of 245,000 people.
“In order to create jobs you have to be willing to work hard yourself. This is why I am actively engaging in open dialect with farmers and small businesses and spreading the message of Shop Local-Hire Local,” said Martin in a statement. “To find a good solution for the unemployment plaguing our district, one must first truly understand the problem and be involved. This is not the time to play bureaucratic games – people’s livelihoods are at stake. And I want to assure the people of Missouri’s 3rd district that I’m hitting the streets and farms working hard for them.”
Congressman Russ Carnahan. (Photo/)
Congressman Russ Carnahan, who Martin is running against, talked about the Supporting Entrepreneurial Economic Development Act on the same day Martin expanded his economic plan. Carnahan’s plan, which his office says will be of no cost to taxpayers, is centered on providing “business incubators greater flexibility to help biotech entrepreneurs access “seed-stage” funding as they work to bring their concept to market,” says congressional spokeswoman Sarah Howard.
“Small businesses are the key to any economic recovery. But access to capital remains one of the most significant challenges to small businesses as they try to grow and create jobs,” Carnahan said. “By tapping into St. Louis’s strength as a center for science and innovation and encouraging entrepreneurship, we can bring high-quality jobs and sustained economic growth to the entire region.”
“We need a local approach to creating jobs,” Carnahan said. “With creative solutions that foster small businesses, we can spur economic growth that will have a ripple effect throughout the region.”
email: eli [at] politicmo.com | phone: 417.597.3873 | twitter: @eyokley 
Did those government stimulus-created jobs pass you by?
Are you unemployed?
Do you want a job?
If you are serious about getting a job, find a business that hires illegal immigrants. Apply for one of those jobs.
If you do not the the job, picket, protest, and complain to everyone using every method you can.
If you make enough noise you might actually get the job.
If you are not willing to do this, do not complain about being unemployed, do not complain when your unemployment benefits checks stop coming, and do not complain about illegal immigrants taking jobs that American workers should get.