AUSTIN, MN -- "Collaboration" was a repeated theme at the First Congressional Economic Summit hosted by Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz on July 20 at the Austin Holiday Inn Conference Center.
Panels of area experts discussed agriculture, energy, conservation and rural economic development; transportation, infrastructure, and technology; health care access and quality; and education.
"You can't be from Minnesota and not talk about renewable energy," said Kevin Paap, president of Minnesota Farm Bureau and a panelist.
Another panelist, Doug Tiffany, a research fellow in the Applied Economics department at the University of Minnesota, said farmers need to look at the environmental impacts of their business and consider what the industry will look like for the next generation. Thom Peterson, of Minnesota Farmers Union, added that only 6 percent of our nation's farmers are 35 years old and younger.
The Minnesota Project's Loni Kemp said renewable energy needs to be thought of in the context of conservation and stressed the value of cellulosic and perennial plants. Paap said more research needs to be done on cellulosic plants before a big investment can be made.
George Crocker, executive director of Community-Based Economic Development, said his group would like communities to have an economic stake in producing energy by collecting the profits and using those dollars to meet their financial needs.
The transportation, infrastructure and technology panel discussed issues related to being located in the middle of United States while working with markets around the country and world.
The panel discussed the need for people to have access to broadband Internet, the lack of competition in the railroad transportation industry, the safety of Minnesota roads, a solid transportation system's ability to attract new industries for economic development, and the growing need of businesses to have access to fast and reliable transportation.
The health care panel talked about access and quality, moderated by Glenn Forbes, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He agreed that changes need to be made to the health care industry. Forbes said the nation lacks a single vision on what we want or need and that there needs to be collaboration between government, health care providers and the public to have lasting results.
Dr. Mark Matthias, the chief medical officer of Mankato Clinic, discussed the challenge of attracting physicians to rural areas. Another panel member, Dr. Mary Bliesmer, director of the School of Nursing at Minnesota State University, added that there aren't enough resources to train all the people who want to apply to their nursing program. Both of these statements led to discussion about the growing concern of the industry's ability to replace the number of people retiring with the limited number of people entering the workforce.
The health care panel also discussed their industry's need to improve information technology. Drew Flaada, director of IBM-Mayo Collaborative, discussed potential uses for technology that could make improvements to tracking information, such as accessing an individual's health care record.
The final panel of the summit focused on the education system's ability to train and prepare the next generation for the workforce and contribute to economic development.
Bob Hoffman, vice president of Strategic Business, Education and Regional Partnerships at Minnesota State University, moderated the education panel.
"We have a critical crisis of skilled workforce ahead of us," he said as he explained that there aren't enough people attending colleges and universities to replace retirees.
Hoffman explained that it's important for the education system to teach people how to "learn and re-learn" as technology evolves and new jobs are created. Terry Lees, president of Riverland Community College, said that universities need to work with employers to better train the current work force. Panelist Barb Embacher, of School to Work, discussed the need to teach young people how to be innovative thinkers while giving them council on their future career goals.
"We can't separate any of the issues we talked about today," said Walz in his closing remarks, adding that "there's challenges facing us, but I have been convinced all along that out of challenges come the best solutions."
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