HOUGHTON - Gov. Rick Snyder tackled subjects ranging from mining to education cuts at a packed town hall meeting at the Bluffs Senior Community in Houghton Tuesday.
Snyder also visited Michigan Technological University during his stop in Houghton, part of a week-long tour of the Upper Peninsula.
The visit comes after months of heavy activity in Lansing, including 130 bills in 200 days, which Snyder called "working in dog years."
He rejected what he termed an approach of focusing on credit or blame, pushing a message of "relentless positive activity."
"Whether it's been here one year or for decades, we're going to take it on, put a solution in place and move on to the next problem," he said. "And we're going to be relentless in taking them on, one after the other, so we don't leave problems for our kids or people in the future."
Snyder put the biggest emphasis on job creation. In the past, Snyder said, the state has relied on "hunting," or luring big companies to the state with incentives.
Instead, Snyder said, he's pursuing "gardening," or growing businesses in-state through entities such as the Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation SmartZone.
"Business 101 will always say, 'Before you go out and get that new customer, make sure you're taking good care of the people that have gotten you there already,'" Snyder said. "The very best marketing, the very best way to get someone from out of state, is word-of-mouth marketing from happy people right here."
On the issue of recent revisions to Michigan mining law, Snyder offered a succinct response that got the biggest applause of the day: "Let's go mine."
"We've got the best, toughest regulations in the country. We should be proud of that fact," he said, also calling for growth in areas such as timber. "Now that we have those rules, and people want to comply, and we're going to manage to make sure they're complying, let them go do it. That's how we create jobs. That's part of the culture here. Lets just do it smart and responsibly ... let's be proud of the resources we have, let's be proactive, and show the world we can do it the right way that's better than other people."
Snyder said mining is the biggest opportunity for new industry for the Upper Peninsula. As the economy bounces back, he said, there will also be good opportunities with timber and tourism.
"I'm still waiting to see someone head to fish or actually show them hunting in a Pure Michigan ad," he said. "So we can open this up and actually encourage some things that are part of our culture and who we are, that we shouldn't be sort of hiding away. We should be proud of these things."
Snyder was also asked about the 15 percent cuts for higher education, a questions that moderator Glenn Mroz said he had asked the governor himself. Snyder said it was a "tough call," but that they had hopefully seen the last of such cuts.
"It's really a question now of growing the economy, and being smart about how we reinvest," he said. "It's not just about giving people checks, it's about having a dialogue about performance, results and productivity. And I believe we're working on a good partnership model to do that."
Copper Country Intermediate School District Superintendent Dennis Harbour came away with a positive impression from the meeting.
"I think the governor did an amazing job of addressing a huge cross-section of issues," he said. "He's articulate, he's positive, he's all about doing things, making things happen. Clearly in six months he already has a history of doing things - that was impressive."
