Snyder counting on TC region to lead

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Gov. Rick Snyder speaks to more than 300 area business, government and non-profit officials Friday morning at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Billl O'Brien

March 3, 2012

Snyder counting on TC region to lead

By Bill O'Brien bobrien@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sat Mar 03, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY-- Gov. Rick Snyder told northwest Michigan to support local agriculture, revive manufacturing and attract young people to help restore Michigan's economy.

Snyder, businessman-turned-governor, brought his upbeat outlook to Traverse City on Friday. He addressed a Hagerty Center group of more than 300 business, government and nonprofit officials.

Snyder broached numerous topics in his 45-minute talk at a regional summit, including ways to grow the "micro-economy."

"This is a region where I'm counting on you to be one of the leaders," he said. "I'm hoping you want to step up and lead down the path."

Snyder acknowledged the area's strong tourism trade but mostly focused on growing other sectors. The manufacturing base needs skilled workers, and he urged communities to focus on quality-of-life issues so young people return to Michigan.

He wants more agricultural research and development and more food processing operations to add jobs and markets for state goods. He pushed again for a new international bridge between Detroit and Windsor.

"Our future needs to be tied to more and more trade with Canada," he said.

Snyder lauded area efforts to regionalize land-use issues and proposals to combine local municipalities and streamline services.

A panel including state Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle and Keith Creagh, head of the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, preceded Snyder's talk. The leaders want better coordination between the two departments to improve agriculture shipments outside Michigan. They said bolstering the rail system also would boost export capacity.

"As agriculture moves north, we've got to figure this out," Creagh said. "If you don't have the infrastructure, you don't have much."

Creagh said there's $1 million proposed in the upcoming budget to bolster regional food systems and in-state food processing. Too many agricultural products are shipped out of Michigan to be washed, cut or otherwise processed before they go to market, he said.

A discussion among area lawmakers carried a more somber tone. State legislators lamented school funding inequity and under-funded public education pension plans.

State Sen. Howard Walker, a Traverse City Republican, voiced "some concerns" with Snyder's education funding proposal. Walker said it could increase disparity in per-pupil funding among Michigan school districts. Walker also called for using $100 million from a recent lawsuit settlement from bank foreclosure problems for the state education fund.

Earlier, Snyder said his proposed budget calls for another $80 million in school money, but he wants it tied to student improvement, among other factors.

The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Michigan Council of Governments and Michigan Land Use Institute organized Snyder's visit.