My Point of View by Shannon Savick

Contrary to any doom and gloom you may have read from folks recently, Minnesota is doing well, especially compared to our neighbors.

Unemployment is now down to 4.5 percent both statewide and in Freeborn County, much better than the 6.1 percent unemployment across the United States as a whole. While a previous columnist seemed to claim that overall employment had gone down over the last 13 years, the truth is that, at 2.8 million, our workforce is larger than at any time in our state’s history. Those employment levels have helped boost state revenues $168 million ahead of projections for fiscal year 2014. Minnesota continues to be an economic leader, and others are taking notice.

For 2014, Forbes magazine named Minnesota the third best state to make a living while CNBC named Minnesota the sixth best state in the nation to do business. These rankings are based on many factors ranging from average income to cost of living and employment rate.

But they are also impacted by our high-quality workforce. In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently ranked Minnesota second for talent pipeline in its 2014 annual report.

Those talented workers don’t just appear out of thin air. Developing that workforce starts with high-quality education for our children starting with early learning scholarships and all-day kindergarten. It requires investments at all grade levels so we can keep class sizes down and give teachers the resources they need. It takes top-notch colleges and universities that can train those high school graduates in everything from welding and manufacturing to teaching and engineering while not charging an arm and a leg for tuition. It takes private-public partnerships with our technical and community colleges and local businesses so new hires can learn the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace.

That high-quality workforce is what makes a company set up shop in Albert Lea instead of Albuquerque. It’s what makes a business expand in Owatonna instead of Omaha. But maintaining and improving our high-quality workforce into the future requires investment. That’s why our 2013 state budget invested so heavily in education and workforce training. Without those investments, our workforce would suffer.

Look what’s happened in Wisconsin, where they’ve slashed budgets and cut funding for schools and job training. Their state Department of Workforce Development recently reported that unemployment has gone up in all of Wisconsin’s biggest cities and in 61 out of 72 counties. That’s not the road we want to go down.

Just two years ago, Minnesota was facing a budget deficits and owed millions to our local schools. Now, we’ve made critical investments in education and we’re on track for another budget surplus. We know there’s still work to be done to help get people back to work, but we’re making progress. Let’s keep moving Minnesota forward.

 

Shannon Savick, DFL-Wells, is the state representative for District 27A. She is seeking a second term in the Nov. 4 election.