Nurture Regional Innovation and Flexibility

Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently signed an economic stimulus plan for the state that redirects $1.95 billion of the state's pension fund into direct investments in Florida's economy. The amount is limited to 1.5 percent of the state's pension money, but even that limited percentage can add up to massive investments in jobs for the state's residents.

In creating the program, legislators and the Governor pointed to the success of similar programs in other states, particularly the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation's largest pension fund. A recent study found the California fund's in-state investments had fed an estimated $15.1 billion into in-state economic activity in 2006 and created 124,000 jobs, more jobs than the construction or motion picture industries.

As the country enters into a recession and suffers increasing job losses, the Great Lakes Region is facing a particularly acute crisis. Literally millions of decent-paying manufacturing jobs have disappeared from the region in recent years.  How regional political leaders are responding to that crisis provides lessons for state policymakers across the country.