Ten People Who Made a Difference

By Mike Randle

1. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D)

It seems that every so often the state of Virginia elects a governor that just exudes talent. Former Va. Governor and now U.S. Sen. George Allen was a hugely successful governor in the mid-1990s. We've written it before and now we're writing it again. During Allen's term as governor, Virginia went from economic development patsy to economic development dominator in just a few years. Current Va. Gov. Mark Warner has Allen's touch as an incredibly effective state leader. Gov. Warner led the effort to cut $6 billion from the state's budget in just 16 months. Today the state enjoys a substantial surplus.

Warner, like Allen, is a deal turning machine. He can close a business deal as well as anyone on the planet. He's a great communicator and what you see from him is what you get. Warner is no apologist for being a member of the Democratic Party. Check out these selected statements from a recent speech.

"I am a Democrat because the New Deal literally saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. I am a Democrat because a generation after a Democratic president started the Peace Corps, you can still find faded photographs of John F. Kennedy on the walls of homes from South Africa to South America."

This is the second time Warner has been named as one of the Ten People Who Made a Difference. And it probably won't be the last. Gov. Warner's term ends in January of 2006. Like Allen, Warner has a bright political future ahead of him. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch if two former Virginia governors -- Allen and Warner -- were to win their party nominations and run against each other for president in 2008.

2. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)

The "Terminator" is the first person living outside the South who has made our annual "Ten People Who Made a Difference" ranking. Why did we place Arnold at such a lofty perch on our list? While most of the people of California truly love the guy for what he's done for the state since he was sworn in as Governor in November of 2003, one thing he hasn't done is stop the migration of California companies to the South. Thousands of new jobs have been created in the South over the last couple of years by companies leaving California and setting up shop in numerous Southern states. That's especially true in Texas, where Dallas-Fort Worth has benefited greatly from the migration. We admit that Gov. Schwarzenegger has accomplished plenty in the short time he has run the state of California, including actions on the revenue, environmental, judicial, workers comp reform and education fronts in the nation's largest state. Because of that, we assumed he would be able to stem the tide of relocating California companies and "things of that nature." But he hasn't and we thank him for that, making him one of our Ten People Who Made a Difference.

3. Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott (R)

This guy's enthusiasm toward making Mississippi a leader in job creation is infectious. Sen. Lott goes over and beyond any U.S. Senator we've seen when it comes to attending groundbreakings in his home state as well as for supporting economic development in general. And we loved what he said last year, which was something to the effect of "Kia is the next automaker to build a plant in the Southern Automotive Corridor ( www.SouthernAutoCorridor.com ) and Mississippi is where Kia will build that plant." We love it here at SB&D when a Southern politico goes out on a limb.

Whether Kia builds that plant (they are currently in a site search) in Mississippi or not really doesn't matter to us. All we know is that you can bet everything Trent Lott can do to make it happen he will do. Considering his stature in Washington, the Republican Party and his relationship with President Bush, go ahead and mark down that Kia will build its first U.S. assembly plant in Mississippi.

4. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D)

La. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who has only been on the job for one year, is the first person from Louisiana to make this list and the first woman to serve as governor of the state. We named Gov. Blanco as one of our Ten People Who Made a Difference because she is genuinely hell-bent on creating jobs and more prosperity in Louisiana. Growing Louisiana's economy is her No. 1 agenda and she has assembled an economic development team that rivals any in the South. It's been decades since the state of Louisiana's economic development chief was a seasoned veteran of the industry and Secretary of Commerce Mike Olivier is just that.

Blanco is also tackling another challenge in the Bayou State and that's one of ethics in government. The perception that Louisiana's politics weren't always on the up-and-up wasn't created overnight. To change that perception will take time, too. It's refreshing that Blanco lists the task of improving the state government's standards as one of her priorities. It's been an issue with business prospects for years in Louisiana, at least with the ones that didn't benefit from some type of state government payola. We certainly wish her luck in her quest to clean up state government in Louisiana.

5. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R)

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has only been on the job for two years, and in both of those years we named Alabama "State of the Year" in our annual SB&D 100 ranking, a first for any "small" Southern state. Did we name Alabama "State of the Year" in 2003 and 2004 because of Riley's leadership? Well, yes and no. Alabama was well on its way to its best economic development years in state history when Gov. Riley took office. One thing you can say for Riley is he took that ball and ran with it. We can't say that about every Southern governor.

Riley is another Southern governor who has chosen to place experienced economic development talent in key positions as opposed to appointing business men or women who have never been in economic development before to head up their state's economic development departments.

Riley is the prototypical, CEO-style governor that seeks out talent and then lets them do their jobs. The hiring of Neal Wade to head up the Alabama Development Office, the point-of-contact for site searchers looking to set up shop in the state, was a shrewd move considering Wade took a substantial pay cut to take the job. Wade is just one of several great hires by Riley. When you talk to an economic development official in Alabama, you can be assured that you are talking to folks who know what you need in your site search, whatever it may entail.

6. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D)

Kansas is nowhere near being a large Southern state. It's debatable if Kansas is a Southern state at all. Regardless, Kathleen Sebelius is starting to act like a Southern governor with 25,000 jobs created in the state in 2004.

She has been called "enlightened" in the media because her Kansas Economic Growth Act passed in the last legislative session. That act places special emphasis on the life sciences industry, a perfect fit for high-brow, education rich Kansas. In fact, the Kansas Bioscience Authority has been formed and it has some serious players from the industry on its board.

Kansas had a tough year in 2003. It looks as if 2004 was much better. You can credit Gov. Sebelius for that.

7. Wes Larson, Chair, Florida Rural Issues Working Group

Development and job creation in rural Florida has been an afterthought for years. That hasn't been the case in just about every other Southern state. States such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi placed rural development at or near the top of their economic development agendas for decades. Not so in Florida. But that is changing and you can point to one man that is making the difference.

Wes Larson first came to work at the Putnam County, Fla. Chamber of Commerce in 1985 and ever since, his steady persistence has made an impact felt well beyond Putnam County. Wes has spent many years working with a variety of organizations in support of initiatives to level the economic development playing field in the State of Florida. Wes is the Chairman of the Rural Issues Working Group, an advisory group to Enterprise Florida regarding issues and their impact on economic development in rural Florida.

"I am delighted, but not in the least bit surprised, that one of Florida's finest, Wes Larson, has been recognized by Southern Business & Development as among the top 10 people who have made a marked difference in the South," said Governor Jeb  Bush. "Wes has remained a stalwart champion on behalf of rural Florida, and his advocacy on behalf of its citizenry has been instrumental in guiding our economic and community development policies and efforts. Rural Florida communities have significantly benefited from his outstanding efforts and I congratulate him on this recognition."

Instrumental in several legislative campaigns that produced tools of equity for rural Florida, Wes Larson, is active in educating Florida's legislators on how legislation affects rural Florida. A work plan titled "The Crossroads Florida Report" was generated while Wes served as Chairman of the Florida State Rural Development Council's Industrial Committee. This work plan served as the inaugural work plan for Enterprise Florida in rural Florida. The majority of the goals included in this plan have been accomplished.

As Chairman of the Rural Issues working Group, Wes led the group, during 1998, in an effort to develop a rural economic development legislative bill, the first effort of its kind. This bill became the most comprehensive piece of legislation for rural economic development ever enacted in the history of the State of Florida. In 2001 Wes helped the Florida Legislators to understand that the then existing Enterprise Zone Program did not allow for the differences in density or other critical site location factors between urban and rural Florida. Wes then asked the Florida legislature to modify Florida's Enterprise Zone program and create "Rural Enterprise Zones". The entire program is up for reauthorization this year and once again Wes has stepped up to the plate to explain the significance of the rural enterprise zone program as a tool for Rural Florida.

Darrell Kelley, President and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Florida's public-private partnership for economic development, said, "Wes Larson really deserves credit for the tremendous progress we've made in Florida's rural communities. He's been tireless in his efforts to keep rural issues at the forefront of political and economic debates, and equally energetic at rallying support from within the rural communities themselves. And despite having to compete against other important state issues and needs, Wes has done a great job in gaining and keeping the interest of our legislators, local officials, economic development partners and business owners. He's a force to be reckoned with - thanks to his leadership, rural communities now have a place at the table, and are seen as strategic partners in Florida's economic future.

The legacy of Wes's hard work will benefit generations of Floridians to come, from infrastructure improvements and job opportunities to increased educational and recreation facilities.  Perhaps most important has been Wes's unwavering belief in the value of Florida's rural communities, and the strength that his belief has given to others."

8. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R)

We weren't sure about some of Gov. Sanford's policies when he first took office in 2003. He said he was bringing a "Wal-Mart" approach to state government, probably a good thing considering the fact that when he took office South Carolina's state budget was a mess. Like other state budgets throughout the U.S., it has improved of late but it's not "out of the woods yet" as he said in his State of the State Address in January. But that's not because Sanford hasn't tried.

To label Gov. Sanford a penny-pincher would be accurate. But the pennies he's pinching are taxes paid by the taxpayer. While in Congress in the 1990s, Gov. Sanford was ranked No. 1 in the entire Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste. In fact, each year while in Congress, Sanford returned over $200,000 back to taxpayers in funds his office did not spend. Rumor has it he drives an old Honda. We would like to see him drive an old BMW considering the German automaker operates a huge assembly operation in the state.

But the one thing that got Gov. Sanford on this list was the magic he has helped perform on his once ailing economic development agency, the South Carolina Department of Commerce. That department we rated in 2000 as the most consistent state economic development agency in the South during the 1990s. The services they provided to you for the longest time were highly consistent and never wavering. Shortly after that recognition, the South Carolina Department of Commerce hit the skids. Even after cutting its budget substantially -- a Sanford forte -- the South Carolina Department of Commerce today seems to be no worse for wear. They have gotten back on their feet and are now thick in the recruitment game and turned the best year in years in 2004.

9. Missouri Sen. Anita Yeckel (R)

In February of 2004 the Missouri Senate Judiciary Committee voted on a bill to ban all forms of human cloning. But Senate Bill 765 was stopped by a tie vote of 4-4 during committee action. Prior to the vote, supporters of the bill to ban human cloning in Missouri were optimistic the legislation would pass. After all, five of the eight members voting on the bill said they would support it. One of those was Missouri Sen. Anita Yeckel. But when it was time to vote, she changed her mind and voted against a ban on human cloning in Missouri to the delight of biotech centers such as the Stowers Institute in Kansas City and Washington University in St. Louis. The change in mind killed the bill.

We're not taking a stand either way here with pro-lifers or those in the life sciences. We're simply maintaining that Sen. Anita Yeckel made a difference in the South in 2004. She showed a lot of guts to change her mind and vote against the ban. Even more, Yeckel is Catholic.

10. President George W. Bush (R)

If you are a regular reader of this magazine, you know we were critical of how President George W. Bush handled the recession. What should have been an 18-month recession at best in our opinion ended up lasting three years. Some of President Bush's actions, or lack thereof, we wrote, was somewhat responsible for such a long downturn.

We are not going to go into detail about our gripes at the time, but if you are President long enough in this country the economy is going to turn for the better at some point. And it has. So, if we hammered the President when the economy was bad, we should at least give him credit when it's good. And we're doing that now.