IDAHO'S BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

Jefferson Jewell: Investment in R&D will generate wealth

Jewell is a co-founder of Blackfin Technology

"We need quality infrastructure and we have to invest in education. Those are threshold requirements for the future, not ends unto themselves.

"To remain competitive, Idaho needs to attract and nurture research and development investment. This applies to companies in technology and agriculture and everything in between. Simplot and Micron are perfect examples of how research and development spending can generate tremendous amounts of wealth for Idaho. Remember, research and development investment occurs outside of technology companies.

"I would immediately adopt packages to make Idaho a better place to spend research and development dollars. That includes investing in education and giving incentives for research and development spending.

"Research and development jobs pay very well, so each dollar in state-backed incentives recycles through the economy and returns more than a dollar in additional tax revenue and growth."

Mark Rivers: Nurture new entrepreneurs

Rivers is BoDo commercial district developer and founder of the WaterCooler, a business incubator.

"We've done a great job of solidifying a legacy employer base, promoting our reputation and building a wonderful lifestyle. But we haven't done enough to create the next generation of job growth and new investment and new ideas. ... If our top priority isn't job creation and economic development, our mind is wandering. We're bleeding jobs and not doing enough to advance the upside of new employers."

Rivers' other suggestions for using federal stimulus money in Idaho:

Build incubators to help fast-track our emerging businesses like alternative energy companies.

Create an Idaho innovation fund to provide loans and loan guarantees to qualified early-stage companies.

Develop a science and technology park in Boise to connect and advance more research, commercialization and public-private economic initiatives.

Nancy Napier: Foster creativity in our students

Napier is director of International Business at Boise State and executive director, Centre for Creativity and Innovation

"Education, health care and energy are all critical for Idaho and ones where the stimulus should be able to make an impact within the state, and may help the state make an impact beyond, partly because we already have 'pockets' of innovation and world-class leadership.

"The U.S. is slipping in creativity and innovation on several measures worldwide. Basically, we are doing what we've always done but other countries are getting really systematic about improving their education, research and industries to tap into creativity/innovation. ... We need to get serious about being sure our students, at all levels, understand how to think and be more creative in whatever fields they pursue."

John Freemuth: Put money into research on water, energy

Freemuth is a Boise State public policy and political science professor; fellow of the Andrus Center for Public Policy

"We should look at our competitive advantages. The governor should convene a diverse set of Idahoans from the public, private and nonprofit sectors to come together and try and work this through, quickly. However, we need to be flexible things change quickly and we also need to pay close attention to new ideas, startups and the general notion of investing in 'promising uncertainty.'

"In energy, we can do things, in biofuels for example, with our agricultural and forest resources. We can and should invest in higher education generally, and especially in areas where our three research universities are working together collaboratively. We are too small to compete against each other."

Freemuth's suggestions:

Conduct water research - how to better use it, how to solve the energy/water use relationships, what to do about water and climate change issues.

Ensure rural parts of the state are linked through the latest high-speed Internet and data connections.

Invest in the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, a partnership comprised of Boise State, Idaho State, University of Idaho and Idaho National Laboratory, whose mission is to deliver innovative, cost-effective, credible energy research leading to technology-based economic development.

Peter Crabb: Idaho needs to set its own course

Crabb is a Northwest Nazarene University finance and economics professor

"The mission of President-elect Obama's economic stimulus package does not directly apply to Idaho. Gov. Butch Otter said it well when he stated, 'My goal as your governor is to empower Idaho to be all that America was meant to be, and to empower Idahoans to be the architects of their own destiny.' We need to craft our own plans.

"Participating in this economic stimulus package locks us to the priorities of Washington, D.C., which may or may not be in line with those of Idaho. ...

"Idaho does not need a 'retrofitting for the global economy.' Idaho companies as big as Micron and as small as Dawson Taylor Coffee Roasters have been participating in the global economy for decades.

"Our managers and workers know with whom they compete and will therefore continue to work as hard as ever to meet that competition."