Jobs in Minnesota
September 8, 2009| Posted in ISSUES, Videos
I worked the counter and the drive-thru at this Wendy’s for three years, starting in tenth grade. I still remember my first pay check, with the red and yellow logo in the upper left-hand corner, for $2.35 an hour.
For most of us, from our first job onward, our work is fundamental to who we are. In our adult lives, only crippling illness is as destabilizing as the loss of a job.
All across Minnesota in recent months, I’ve seen faces and heard voices tightened by the strain of economic insecurity. So far this year, tens of thousands more Minnesotans have lost their jobs and known the hardship and sobering self-doubt that comes with unemployment.
And while charts and graphs don’t convey this human story, this one is revealing in a couple of ways. First, it confirms that our fortunes are connected to what happens beyond our borders. That presents a great opportunity, as Minnesota has so much to offer in the global marketplace.
But here’s what should concern us: relative to the rest of the country,Minnesota’s long-held employment advantage in stable periods – a constant for most of our lifetimes – disappeared completely under the Pawlenty administration.
Clearly, something is not working. So what is the answer?
In the short term, we need to harness our state capital investment funds, and other state resources, on projects that will create jobs and serve as long-term investments in a brighter Minnesota future. Transit and transportation. Weatherization and energy conservation. Wastewater treatment plants. That’s a win-win situation for all of us.
It’s also imperative, right now, to loosen up credit for small and new enterprises by redirecting our economic development dollars to stand behind loans that will get businesses investing again. We have to bring Minnesota’s long-established entrepreneurial energy back into play as soon as possible.
But state government can’t do it alone. We have to listen to and partner with businesses, using smartly-crafted tax incentives and other policy tools to get private sector dollars flowing to create more Minnesota jobs.
In the longer term, we need to undo a decade of neglect, of the things that attract the best and the brightest here. We’ve always been known as a high-education, high-innovation state, tolerant of differences, and supportive of new research and development in science and technology. We have to get back there. When people believe in the promise of Minnesota, investment and jobs will follow.
We need a governor who will sell Minnesota, not sell it short.
Everyone has their own individual traditions and favorites when it comes to the fair – that is one of the things that makes it so wonderful. Paul has always carried the prior year’s state fair ticket in his wallet all year, until it is time to ceremonially transfer the new ticket into his pocket as we enter the fair gates for the current year. I used to find this a little obsessive, but now it seems pretty charming. Like many Minnesotans, he is also proud to have attended 42 years worth of fairs to match his 42 years in age. This year was a big year for us because we transferred from the Mini-Midway with all the kid rides, to the grownup Midway with all the big rides! We made a nighttime visit this year, which we hadn’t done since before we had kids. It was pretty exciting, and lucky for the kids (and me) Paul is game for any of the most daring rides (I am happy hanging back to take pictures). Only thing I noted is that the competition for winning stuffed animals is much stiffer in the evenings! It is such a magical place – always sad to say goodbye until next year.
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