New Releases

RSS Available for Mayor's News

RSS allows you to stay informed by getting the latest news from the Mayor's office without having to revisit our Web site.

Subscribe to Mayor's RSS feed

Learn more about RSS.

Mayor Rybak Unveils Resilient Economic Plan

Strong Economy Puts People First and Builds ‘Common Ground’ Infrastructure

March 5, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) – In his annual State of the City Address today, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak unveiled an economic plan he says will keep Minneapolis’ strong economy growing and “recession resistant” during this current time of economic uncertainty facing the state and nation.

“Minneapolis has shown that you build common ground for a recession resistant economy by investing in people and investing in an environment where opportunity and innovation is fostered,” Mayor Rybak said. “You build common ground for a recession resistant economy when you make sustained, long term investments, not just quick fixes. When quality government invests in people you get quality results. When you don’t invest, there are consequences.”

In contrast to decisions made by state and federal government leaders in recent years, Mayor Rybak said that Minneapolis would forgo quick-fixes in favor of continued investments in people.

“I disagree with the economic philosophy used too often by some in Washington and Saint Paul,” Rybak said. “You don’t build a recession resistant economy that creates lasting prosperity with a one-time rebate check, or tax cuts for only the very wealthy. The sad state of the economy today is living proof that tax cuts to the wealthy, without investments in people, have been a failure.”

Speaking at the new MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis’ historic Mills District, Mayor Rybak made reference to the City’s 150^th birthday being celebrated this year and recounted economic lessons learned from the past that are relevant still today.

“The story of our past provides a useful guide to our future,” Rybak said. “We didn’t get here by a single act, or by giving breaks to a few lucky people or companies. We got here with a long term, sustained commitment to innovation, training a diverse workforce, and remaining connected to our region and global economy.”

Job #1 is Putting People First

“The heart of our economic plan begins with people,” Rybak said. “We start with people because if you have a talented workforce where people are trained and ready, innovation flourishes and companies grow. And when you make greater investment where there is greater need, you get greater results. In Minneapolis, our people-focused strategy works to attack under employment with job creation and prepares for future employment with investments in our children.”

Rybak said that the City’s $7 million investment in its Close the Gap initiative placed 14,000 hard to employ residents into unsubsidized private sector jobs, added to 3,300 subsidized city jobs for previously unemployed residents. He said this effort is part of the reason, for the first time since the 1980’s, Minneapolis has seen consistent job growth and rising wages for three straight years.

In addition to growing jobs and moving unemployed people into quality employment, Rybak said that Minneapolis needed to continue its investment in educating workers it needs in the future. “Major demographic shifts are occurring in this state and country that threaten our economic prosperity,” Rybak said. “We will not be producing enough high school or college graduates to replace retirees at a time when we need more educated workers, not less. It is a glaring reality that too many youth are unprepared and unsupported as they enter the workforce.”

At the center of this effort lies one of Rybak’s key youth initiatives, The Minneapolis Promise, an innovative cluster of coordinated efforts designed to eliminate barriers to college education for Minneapolis public school students by providing counseling so young people can plan a vision for their future, high quality summer jobs, and financial assistance for college. As a result of this initiative, 2,011 youth had jobs last summer and 723 Minneapolis public high school graduates have seen the financial obstacles to college disappear.

Mayor Rybak also hailed the city’s school board and Superintendent Bill Green for producing a “visionary plan for school reform and the guts to make it happen.” Rybak said that, though difficult, it was essential to combine elementary schools in north Minneapolis and that now performance is improving in those schools. He also applauded the school board’s plan to have every student graduating from Minneapolis high schools ready for college, with no exceptions.

Job #2 is Investing in the Common Ground

Citing a recent Brookings Institute report that shows how the density of cities fosters innovation and economic growth, Rybak said that as important as it was to invest in human capital, the City needed to remain focused on investing in physical infrastructure that brings people together by:

“No other part of our common ground is more important to our economic growth than public safety,” Rybak said. “Making Minneapolis a safe place to call home has been our highest priority and will continue to be. We can’t rest until it’s safe for any person to walk down any street in our city. Both Police Chief Tim Dolan and CPED Director Mike Christenson often say that economic development leads to crime reduction and crime reduction leads to economic development.”

Rybak said that the city’s efforts to stem crime are continuing to show results for the second year in a row with crime reduction in all areas of the city through 2007 and into 2008. So far this year, violent crime is 5 percent lower, aggravated assaults are 21 percent lower, property crimes are 42 percent lower and burglaries are 29 percent lower than at this point in 2007. “Our crime rate is dropping, but it’s still too high,” Rybak said. “We will not let up in our fight to make each street in Minneapolis a safe place to call home. We’re making progress but we have a long way to go.”

Rybak closed his Address by recalling the city’s ability to respond decisively when the I-35W Bridge collapsed as further proof that investments in people and common ground pay off.

“When people are unemployed or worried about losing their jobs, they need to know that their government will act, and act decisively. We will. But in Minneapolis our citizens can also know that our immediate response to these economic challenges grows out of years of work.”