By Matt Tomsic
mtomsic@scbiznews.com
Published March 25, 2011

The chairman and CEO of General Electric told an audience at the College of Charleston on Thursday that he is optimistic about the economy, that businesses should get into clean energy and that job growth has to be created by the private sector.

Jeffrey Immelt spoke during the College of Charleston Friends of the Library’s Winthrop Roundtable. After his speech, he answered questions from the audience.

Immelt said that the world has entered a new era that has brought more volatility but that the economy is getting better every day despite that volatility.

“I'm more optimistic about the state of the economy than I've been any time since the financial crisis,” he said. “I would be an optimist if I were you here tonight.”

Immelt also highlighted the profits his clean energy business has brought to his company. GE had about 20 energy products generate $100 billion in revenue in 2010, while reducing cost in factories, improving GE’s brand and driving innovation, he said.

Immelt said he hopes to transition the debate about clean energy from talking about green energy to energy efficiency. “Green energy” turns people off, he said, and has been cast as elitist.

“And it's wrong,” Immelt said. “But sometimes, perception is reality.”

After his remarks, an audience member asked Immelt if he thinks there should be a carbon tax. Immelt said he thinks a market price for carbon will drive the right behavior.

“I’m in the minority,” he said. “This isn’t going to happen anytime soon in this country. I can live with that.”

In the meantime, he said, businesses should invest in clean energy and not wait on public policy.

“We can create our own market,” he said.

The last issue Immelt addressed during his speech was job creation.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama appointed Immelt chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

“There’s no ‘easy button’ for job creation,” Immelt said. “But 9% unemployment is not sustainable in this society.”

Jobs need to be created by the private sector, and the country needs to ensure it’s educating the workforce that it needs.

Immelt said the country has 3 million open jobs that can’t be filled because workers don’t have the right training.

The government should also look at reforming regulations and taxes, he said.

“We've talked about the issues for a generation,” Immelt said. “What I'm here to tell you is we've got to get it done.”

Immelt also fielded questions from the audience about available credit for small businesses and the still lagging housing market.

After an audience member mentioned he couldn’t get loans for entrepreneurial investments for his small business, Immelt said credit has to be available for small businesses. He said he doesn’t know what’s causing the problem now, but he suggested it could be banks not wanting to lend money and regulators dissuading banks from giving those loans.

Immelt also said he thinks the housing market may be the last piece of the economy to recover. The housing market grew at a certain rate for 80 years before “going on steroids” in the years prior to the financial crisis, Immelt said. Now, it will take some time to get back to that trend line.