Summer 2011
Mike Randle, Editor
The Ten Best and Ten Worst Economic Development Governors in the South in the last 20 Years
SB&D has been monitoring economic development in the South for almost 20 years now. That being the case, we thought it would be a nice read if we weighed in on which Southern governors we believe were the best and worst at creating jobs and capital investment in their states over the last two decades.
We will preface this article with this: several of the governors and former governors listed below are friends of my wife Stacy and me. And a few are not (they like Stacy, just not me). But for the most part, we get along with the Southern governors we know.
Therefore, we will try our best to keep this subjective ranking as objective as possible, keeping our relationships – good or bad -- out of the equation. We have loosely based the ranking on results from the annual SB&D 100 during each governor's term(s) in office. It should be noted that the following rankings will list each governor in alphabetical order, so there is no distinguishing the best or worst based on their posted position.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The seven new governors in the South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia) are not eligible since there hasn't been enough time to judge their effectiveness in the practice of economic development as of yet.
The Ten Best Economic Development Governors in the South 1992-2011
George Allen, Virginia -- 1994-1998
Steve Beshear, Kentucky -- 2008-present
Phil Bredesen, Tennessee -- 2003-2011
Carroll Campbell, South Carolina -- 1987-1995
Jim Hunt, North Carolina -- 1977-1985, 1993-2001
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana -- 2009-present
Rick Perry, Texas -- 2000-present
Ned Ray McWherter, Tennessee – 1987-1995
Bob Riley, Alabama -- 2003-2011
Mark Warner, Virginia -- 2002-2006
OUR TAKE: All of these governors landed some of the South's most impressive projects in history, including Volkswagen, BMW, Nucor, Saturn, Caterpillar and Hyundai just to name a few. Those left off the list that deserved consideration include Paul Patton (Kentucky); Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Louisiana); Haley Barbour (current Gov. of Mississippi); Bev Perdue (current Gov. of North Carolina); Mike Huckabee (Arkansas); Lawton Chiles (Florida); Zell Miller (Georgia); Kirk Fordice (Mississippi); Ann Richards (Texas); Jim Martin (North Carolina); Bill Clinton (Arkansas); Ray Mabus (Mississippi); Brad Henry (Oklahoma); Don Sundquist (Tennessee); Tim Kaine (Virginia); Bob McDonnell (current Gov. of Virginia); and Joe Manchin (West Virginia).
The Ten Worst Economic Development Governors in the South 1992-2011
Mike Easley, North Carolina -- 2001-2009
Edwin Edwards, Louisiana -- 1972-1980, 1984-1988, 1992-1996
Ernie Fletcher, Kentucky -- 2003-2007
Jim Gilmore, Virginia -- 1998-2002
Guy Hunt, Alabama -- 1987-1993
Fob James, Alabama -- 1979-1983, 1995-1999
Sonny Perdue, Georgia -- 2003-2011
Mark Sanford, South Carolina -- 2003-2011
Jim Guy Tucker, Arkansas -- 1992-1996
Douglas Wilder, Virginia -- 1990-1994
OUR TAKE: For fear of losing more high profile friends, we won't touch this one with a ten-foot pole! All we will write is that not every Southern governor in the last 20 years made any of the above lists, including George W. Bush (Texas -- 1995-2000) and his brother, Jeb Bush (Florida -- 1999-2007). While Mike Easley's (North Carolina) SB&D 100 numbers were outstanding in his second term, the inside story that we have is he wasn't engaged in economic development at all. On the other hand, Jim Fain, Easley's Secretary of Commerce, was one of the best state economic development directors we have ever seen, making up for Easley's lack of interest in economic development.
mike@sb-d.com
www.RandleReport.com
www.SB-D.com
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www.SmallTownSouth.com
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