By Jack Healy, Director of Operations, MassMEP jackh@massmep.org
“Each regulation is a complex subject because it must be light enough to prevent entrepreneurship from being squashed.”
— Jean Triole, 2014 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics
A 2014 study performed by RTI International examined the barriers to manufacturing growth in North Central Worcester County. The study found that regulatory challenges were impeding growth in close to 80% of the firms surveyed.
The study also found that costs like healthcare mandates, unemployment insurance, environmental regulations are as burdensome in terms of time and money. There was a general consensus among respondents about the amount of administrative overhead required to support such regulations. In the words of one survey respondent:
Regulations themselves (environmental) are not the problem; it’s the bureaucracy that goes along with it. The effort to comply is a heavy burden. You have to pay the state to file reports after you have done the work, thousands of dollars for fees alone. But the US EPA doesn’t charge fees. We must pay consultants who must approve. The fee is not based on production, but the number of employees…even if you don’t pollute. That needs to change. Requirements need to match actual pollution rates.
Such statements are not news for anyone working in manufacturing. Read the full article