[Mary
Burke] said that her highest priority would be to promote the creation of jobs.
The current administration has a sorry record in this area, and she said that
the people of Wisconsin deserve better. Her credentials lead me to believe that
she may really know what to do to create jobs in our state. She has both private and public experience.
She helped to grow Trek Bicycle into a worldwide brand with thousands of
employees, and as Commerce Secretary, she helped to create and to preserve many
jobs in Wisconsin. So, she knows that we can have good jobs without giving the
state away to a few companies that make large campaign contributions.
In effect, I said that we
could trust Mary because of her experience and her attitudes. Now, I would like to hear more. If Mary really
knows how to create jobs – and I believe that she does – she should be able to
tell us more about her plans to do so. This should not be a problem for her.
After all, she has made job creation a central plank in her platform, and she
has indeed had a lot of experience creating jobs.
I can think of some things
she might do:
· She
could decide to invest some of the state’s money into repairing our roads and
bridges.
· She
could provide support for commercial research and development to create new
products made in Wisconsin or that are made from material that are produced in
Wisconsin. (That wouldn’t create many
jobs in the short run, but it would help in the long run.)
· She
could invest in trade missions to spread the word about Wisconsin’s products in
other countries.
· She
could negotiate actively with Wisconsin’s companies to do more of their work in
Wisconsin.
· She
could develop programs to build on existing strengths. For example, the
Gulfstream production facility at Outagamie County Airport might be used as a
basis for attracting related businesses.
I’m sure that there are other
things that I don’t know about but that Mary, with her broad experience, can
think of. So, Mary, what do you have in mind?
