New Governors Offer Previews of Their Economic Strategies

On Tuesday, 36 states held gubernatorial elections. Though it was a good night overall for incumbents, 10 new governors will take office next year. Republicans picked up four governorships that are currently under Democratic control, including Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts, while Democrats managed a win in currently Republican Pennsylvania. New governors will also take office in Arizona, Hawaii, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Texas. Several of these new candidates have made technology-based economic development a part of their platform, including new funding for research, STEM initiatives, workforce development and manufacturing.

Arkansas

Asa Hutchinson (R)
Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson, who will succeed Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, plans to implement a number of workforce-oriented initiatives to better connect the state’s education system with the needs of employers. His PREPARE plan calls for new Workforce Education Councils to coordinate and expand training programs for high school students and to help direct educational curriculum. These councils would partner with regional economic development authorities to help fill local private sector labor needs. Hutchinson has also pledged to develop a computer science curriculum with statewide technology leaders to be implemented in schools.

Arizona

Doug Ducey (R)
Succeeding term-limited current Gov. Jan Brewer, Gov.-elect Doug Ducey plans to eliminate unnecessary regular, simplify the tax code and recruit businesses from California, Illinois and other states with higher tax rates.

Hawaii

David Ige (D)
Gov.-elect David Ige defeated sitting Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary earlier this year. Ige has announced his plans to develop partnerships among the state’s universities, research institutions and TBED groups to establish Hawaii as the innovation center of the Pacific. He hopes to do this by cultivating support systems for innovation and implementing incentives to attract technology firms. Ige also plans to focus on making capital more available for startups in strategic industries, including IT, healthcare, energy and agriculture.

Illinois

Bruce Rauner (R)
Gov-elect Bruce Rauner defeated incumbent Gov Patrick Quinn. His jobs plan focuses on reducing taxes and regulation.

Maryland

Larry Hogen (R)
Republicans will take over the Maryland governorship as Gov.-elect Larry Hogan succeeds Gov. Martin O’Malley. His jobs plan focuses on reducing taxes and regulation.

Nebraska

Pete Ricketts (R)
Gov.-elect Pete Ricketts will succeed current Gov. Dave Heineman in Nebraska. Ricketts has pledged to use the state’s Department of Economic Development to shape regional economic blueprints for growth, particularly in addressing energy infrastructure challenges. He also has announced plans to increase public-private collaboration in education and training initiatives across the states. Ricketts plans to designate a specific position within the Department of Education to partner with private sector leaders to promote manufacturing and make manufacturing a priority focus of the state’s economic development efforts.

Massachusetts

Charlie Baker (R)
Republican Gov.-elect Charlie Baker will succeed Gov. Deval Patrick, who did not seek re-election.  Baker’s economic development plan focuses on reducing taxes and fees on small businesses

Pennsylvania

Tom Wolf (D)
In the only gubernatorial Democratic pickup of the night, Gov.-elect Tom Wolf defeated incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett. Manufacturing played a key role in Wolf’s campaign platform, as did restoring funding for higher education and research. His Made In Pennsylvania job creation program would reward manufacturing companies for generating jobs by providing cash payments of up to 5 percent of new taxable payroll. To qualify firms would have to increase their payroll by at least $1 million and create new, full-time jobs with a higher-than-average wage for the county.

Wolf outlined a Technical Education Applied to Manufacturing (TEAM) plan to match high school and vocational training with the needs of manufacturers. The plan would involve manufacturing employers in the development of an advanced manufacturing curriculum and ensure that students are able to obtain industry certification. In addition, Wolf pledged to provide stronger connections between the state’s community colleges and four-year institutions, and between higher education and manufacturers.

Rhode Island

Gina Raimondo (D)
Gov.-elect Gina Raimondo will succeed Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who did not seek re-election. Raimondo’s job plan includes strategies for boosting advanced manufacturing, developing the state’s workforce and supporting startup businesses. The plan calls for a new Rhode Island Innovation Institute (RI II), which would provide space and facilities to pair university students and researchers with private businesses to create new products and processes.  Raimondo intends to build stronger partnerships between the Community College of Rhode Island and the local business and manufacturing communities to improve the job pipeline. She also plans to review all of the state’s business regulations in her first year, increase entrepreneurial training and mentorship, and improve access to seed capita.

Texas

Greg Abbott (R)
Gov.-elect Greg Abbott will be Texas’ first new governor since current Gov. Rick Perry assumed office in December 2000. Abbott plans to increase state support for emerging research at universities through the Texas Competitive Knowledge Fund. He hopes to increase the fund’s appropriations by $40 million for the 2016-17 biennium, bringing total appropriations to $200 million. The fund was launched in 2007, but eligibility was restricted to research projects at the state’s five largest campuses and funding was inconsistent. In FY14, the fund was merged with the state’s Research University Development Fund, making projects at more institutions eligible. Abbott intends the new funding to support the wider range of institutions and generate extramural funding for a variety of research projects.