"Our history has shown that we build opportunity by investing in people and by investing in the common ground where innovation can thrive. Minnesota faces serious economic challenges, but in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we have a unique capacity not just to recover, but to reinvigorate our economy."
Record of Results
- When R.T. became Mayor of Minneapolis, he asked why the city's job training programs were so disconnected from the region's employers and why there was so little data about whether these programs worked to help people get and keep jobs. R.T. changed things. He revamped the city's jobs program and as a result 10,000 unemployed people successfully completed training programs and got good-paying jobs. Then he went to work attracting good jobs to Minneapolis. Thanks to R.T.'s hands-on approach, Minneapolis has almost 2,000 good-paying health care jobs with Allina on the south side of town, and Coloplast on the north side.
Results: Typically, big cities have higher unemployment than the suburbs, and for years Minneapolis was in the same boat. Today, thanks to R.T.'s hands-on approach, Minneapolis has erased that gap and in many months the unemployment rate in Minneapolis is actually lower than in the rest of the region and the state. That's something almost no other big city in America can say.
- As Mayor, R.T. changed the way Minneapolis approached economic development. He challenged the old-style approach of offering subsidies to big corporations and refocused the city on helping small business. R.T. understands that small businesses are the engines of job creation. Especially in tough times small companies have trouble getting the capital they need to grow, even when their base business is strong. With that in mind, R.T. led the city in creating the Great Streets Initiative to support small-business growth. Great Streets is an innovative toolbox of low-interest loans and other business financing tools that are helping small businesses create jobs and support families.
Results: Minneapolis has invested $4.3 million to help small businesses create jobs and grow. These investments have leveraged millions more in private investment. Best of all, this program is paid for through an innovative new use of federal grant money, not with local or state tax dollars.
Action on Jobs and Opportunity
By the end of 2009, almost 225,000 Minnesotans are out of work. To understand the significance of this, think of the personal toll of one person losing their job: the worry and strain for them and their family; the fear of losing health care or their homes; the dislocation of families moving, children potentially uprooted from schools. The price paid by families in this recession is unacceptable, and Minnesota needs both a short-term response and a long-term plan.
R.T. is a strong supporter of Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Franken's work to extend federal unemployment benefits for Minnesota's unemployed workers and to make sure Minnesota gets the same benefits as other states. He also supports State Senator Tom Bakk's call for a special legislative session for early approval of the state's bonding bill so projects can get going and put people to work. R.T. also recognizes the power of federal stimulus dollars to get the economy moving again. Minneapolis has aggressively pursued these federal dollars to protect and create jobs, and the state of Minnesota should too.
Minnesota needs a long-term plan to grow jobs and our economy. As Mayor R.T. has focused single-mindedly on growing jobs and economic competitiveness, and he will do the same as Governor. Creating jobs starts with investing in education and training, so Minnesota can claim again to have the best workforce in the world. Next, we need to improve our roads, bridges, transit and technology- from transportation to high-speed Internet access everywhere in Minnesota -so that people can work productively anywhere, and so Minnesota projects can get to market efficiently and cost-effectively. Minnesota also needs to make smart investments in the common ground that enhance our quality of life, culture and natural resources, because we know that they attract and grow jobs and the talented workforce to fill them.
As Governor, R.T. will immediately bring business leaders, labor, civic organizations and the public sector together to develop a plan for job growth for every region of the state. This plan needs to build on our regional strengths and our unique strengths in industry clusters like health care, medical technology, natural resources, and marketing and retailing. With his background in business, R.T. knows that jobs are created by the private sector first. With this in mind, he will take action to improve the climate for business growth in Minnesota. Minnesota will not be a strong global competitor unless we are a leading place to do business. We need to keep a close eye on business taxes, but we also need to dispel the myth that low taxes are the best or only way to create economic growth.
Under the Pawlenty administration there has been no plan for growth and no strategy for economic recovery, and as a result Minnesota is getting left behind. R.T. will set a new direction focused on growing jobs and creating broadly shared prosperity.
