The state of Minnesota went through a deep recession in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Major employers threatened to leave Minnesota unless the business climate dramatically improved.  Newly-elected Governor Rudy Perpich, (D) listened to the major employers and introduced a comprehensive strategy to change the economic climate in Minnesota and make it more attractive for business to create jobs. 

In his 1983 State of the State address, Governor Perpich said, “I believe that creation of jobs and expansion of employment rests on these broad principles: 

1. We must nurture the start-up and growth of small business as the key to the economic and social revitalization of Minnesota.
2. The economic health of our farm economy is vital.
3. We already have the human, financial, technological and natural resources to achieve this revitalization, but these resources are not being utilized to their utmost.
4. The only practical way of tapping these resources is a genuine and broad-based public-private partnership that includes business, government, education, labor, agriculture, churches and all other segments of influence in our society.  All of us must head in the same direction. 
5. We need more than a quick-fix.  We need improved productivity in the workplace.  We need quality in education, particularly in languages, math, science and computers.
6. We need a long-range plan to visualize where Minnesota is headed 5, 10, and 20 years down the road”

Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich, The State of the State, January 5, 1983 Link to the speech

As a result, major employers stayed, created high-wage jobs, formed multiple spin-off companies, and fostered an entrepreneurial environment that attracted vital “angel” capital to spawn new technology companies.   

Governor Perpich concluded his 1983 State of the State speech with eight key points:

1. “The goal of our Administration will be the economic recovery of Minnesota, and to achieve this goal we will rely on a strong partnership between government and the people it serves.
2. We must continue to reduce the cost of government by reevaluating how and why government taxes us and what it does with those tax revenues; we must look to government reorganization and consolidation as another way to reduce cost.
3. We must reform our tax system to make it more stable, more equitable, and simpler.
4. We must better manage our state finances: I will veto any further shifts, we will insist on a reasonable budget reserve, we will use conservative budget estimates, and we will reduce, to the extent possible, our reliance on short-term borrowing. 
5. We will reevaluate the fiscal relationship between the state and our schools and local governments; the state can no longer be the guarantor of local finances.
6. We must maintain a forward-thinking education system; we cannot afford to send our students into a high tech society with a low tech education.
7. We will do everything possible to create favorable opportunities for business growth in the state; we will recommend “investment budgeting” and we will strive hard for the passage of workers’ compensation insurance reform. 
8. And finally, we must not forget our duty to those Minnesotans who are out of work and without any sources of support” (Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich, The State of the State, January 5, 1983).

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