Tsongas unveils economic plan

BYLINE: By Matt Murphy, mmurphy@lowellsun.com

LOWELL -- Congressional candidate Niki Tsongas said yesterday that UMass Lowell and the district's community colleges must play a major role in job growth and business development throughout the region.

"Especially as (UMass Lowell) gets further into nanotechnology and fulfills it's potential, there will be manifold opportunities to build the economy in the 5th Congressional district," she said.

Tsongas plans to release a six-point-plan for economic development today, the first significant policy initiative she has advanced to date in her budding campaign.

"The great legacy of all those who have served in Congress in recent years from this district has been their involvement in economic development. This plan is my way of profiling how I look at the issue and what I think is important," she said.

Tsongas will also tour and meet with top executives today from Ballard, a Canadian-based fuel-cell technology company with headquarters in Lowell. Last week, she toured the biotechnology research and manufacturing facilities located in Devens.

Highlights of the Tsongas plan include:

* Develop a Workforce Training and Job Development plan, in conjunction with local colleges, that would target federal funding toward job training and employment services.

* Use loan pools, tax credits and cultural and educational grants to attract businesses to vacant manufacturing buildings in cities like Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill.

* Build on and develop new public-private partnerships to make the 5th District a better place live, work and raise a family.

* Support higher education.

* Increase grants and funding for research and development in the technology, bio-medical and defense-related industries.

* Start an outreach program for existing businesses to encourage local economic growth and preserve existing jobs.

Tsongas has also stated her support for reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research program, which brought in almost $300 million to the state in 2004, second only to California.