The Issues » Jobs

Bringing Back the Jobs Government Scared Off

Share Your Jobs Story with Tom

I remember a Minnesota when 3M, Honeywell, and IBM were the top employers and our college graduates stayed here to live, work, and raise their families. At that time, our state was a place that welcomed and encouraged entrepreneurship, individuality, and responsibility.

Today, an expansive and expensive state government has crippled our business environments and lost our greatest resource – our people. The state’s largest employers are now the State of Minnesota, our public university systems, and the federal government.

As a small business owner for the past 13 years, I understand the challenges, frustrations and fear Minnesotans are feeling during this challenging economic time because I have experienced them first hand. Rising taxes, decreasing value, and more business mandates and regulations have killed the entrepreneurial spirit that has been the hallmark of our state for so many decades.

I think our next Governor should have firsthand knowledge of what it is like to get up every day in this state to get your teeth kicked in trying to make a living. I think the next Governor should understand firsthand what it means to have to make payroll. I think the next Governor should understand from personal experience how difficult it is to pay for not only your family’s health care insurance, but also your employees’.

We need reform to encourage a strong business economy and create jobs. This reform needs to reach every corner of our state, into every industry and every business large and small so that we can achieve a technological, industrial, and agricultural business renaissance here in Minnesota.

Higher taxes and more government spending do not lead to a better economic climate. Proposals to raise taxes and fees or eliminate tax incentives for businesses are not restoring our competitive advantage for business development. A reputation as the highest taxed state in the nation will not encourage economic growth but only drive it away.

Our state’s future relies on a blueprint for economic development built on private initiative and the entrepreneurial spirit. Strengthening our economy through business retention, relocation, and development in the private sector must be our priority. We must help create jobs by supporting tax incentives, streamlining permitting, and reducing mandates.