No Stone Unturned to Create Minnesota Jobs Blueprint for Getting Minnesotans Back to Work

Early adoption of Medical Assistance program would bring $1.4 billion home (Nonpartisan House Fiscal (Analysis spreadsheet for HF1 of 2010 Special Session)
Delivers 7 to 1 return on investment for Minnesota (MN Department of Human Services)
Estimated 11,114 jobs created in the first 18 months and 30,860 jobs created in the first term (Nonpartisan Families USA medicaid calculator)

Proposes a $1 billion bonding bill in each of the first two years
Invests in critical infrastructure including:
- $700 million each year in non-residential construction including roads, bridges, building construction, and energy efficient retrofitting of state buildings. Estimated 19,950 jobs will be created or saved from this portion of the bonding bill each year, creating 39,900 jobs over 18 months and 59,850 jobs over four years. (Dr. Fuller of George Mason University testified on 1/22/09 that one job is created for every $35,087 in bonding)
- $300 million each year for flood mitigation, conservation projects, and asset preservation at he U of M and MnSCU. Estimated 3,000 jobs will be created or saved each year creating or saving 6,000 jobs over 18 months and 9,000 jobs over 4 years. (State Economist Stinson noted on December 2, 2009 that for projects including conservation and asset preservation projects, one job is created for every $100,000 in bonding)

Itasca Investment Small Business Pilot Loan Program - Provide low-interest loans for high growth potential small businesses between 10-99 employees. Businesses will be able to obtain up to $250,000 in low-cost financing for capital purchases and expansion.
Minnesota Micro-Loan Pilot Program - Increase matching micro-loan financing opportunities for small businesses administered through hometown non-profit organizations. This program will provide a match to qualified micro-loans (up to $25,000) to start or expand a business.
Develop Micro and Small Business Virual Toolkit - Link business owners to information on business incentives, financing, informational services, consulting services, including information on markets, consumers and competitors, and search engine marketing.
Streamline the Process of Creating and Permitting a Business as identified by the bipartisan House Small Business Caucus.
Aggressive Focus on Expanding and Growing Small Businesses yielded a 7% annual growth rate in places like Littleton, CO. Florida’s small business community achieved similar results. There are 135,000 small businesses in Minnesota. If 7% of Minnesota’s small businesses grew by just one employee per year, 14,175 jobs would be created in 18 months and 37,800 jobs over 4 years.

Partner with higher education institutions to make sure Minnesota is recruiting and preparing people for high-demand occupations like nursing, wind mill maintenance, and home health aides.
In nursing alone, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) project a shortage of 9,200 nurses by 2015. Our estimates use the HRSA projection to create or fill 2,760 jobs in 18 months and 7,360 jobs over four years.

North Star Innovation Reinvestment Authority - Captures additional growth in state income taxes generated by new jobs created in Minnesota within designated science, biotechnology, and innovation fields and reinvesting this revenue to ensure continued growth. Texas, Michigan, and Missouri started similar programs.
As Texas had the most accurate job creation count, we scaled their job creation numbers to Minnesota’s population to generate an estimate of 2,835 jobs in 18 months and 7,560 jobs over four years. Because of our robust biotech and science industry, this is a conservative job estimate.

Implement statewide economic development plan using performance measures to maximize outcomes.
Form a public-private Minnesota Ambassador Team to attract businesses to Minnesota.
Evaluate and modernize our economic incentives provided through DEED.
Expand the role of Workforce Centers to assist people with starting a business and self-employment.
Partner with Workforce Centers to provide comprehensive training for self-employed or micro-business owners including marketing, bookkeeping, and how to start your own business. This program could reach as many as 20,000 micro-business owners, and create or save 13,200 jobs in 18 months and 35,200 jobs over 4 years.

Utilizing the newly-enacted PACE tool (Property Assessed Clean Energy) and scaling up utility energy savings programs, private contractors will implement aggressive energy efficiency measures like caulking and sealing, furnace tuning and replacement, thermostat upgrades, lighting upgrades, window replacement and appliance upgrades.
Retrofitting 1,000 public energy inefficient buildings through a targeted bonding approach.
Collaborating with businesses to provide up-front capital for energy retrofitting. Energy savings will repay the up-front cost of retrofitting. This approach is being developed currently at the St. Paul Port Authority.
Estimates for employment numbers were generated from scaling up current programs in Minnesota around energy efficiency. Estimates on retrofitting homes are based on projections from the Weatherization Program Technical Assistance Center. This projection estimates that 7,900 jobs will be created in 18 months, and will be sustained over 4 years.

Through direct recruitment efforts, and the implementation of the Green Enterprise Authority, Minnesota will attract at least one major clean energy manufacturer each year.
This estimate projects that these types of companies would employ on average 240 people

Margaret Anderson Kelliher for Governor