TRAVERSE CITY -- The new Governor has not released any talking points for Wednesday night’s speech and that's left many curious as to what hot button issues he'll end up touching on.
7&4's Kate Fox spoke to local business and school leaders to see what tops their list...
Since the beginning of his campaign Snyder has promised to make Michigan a more business-friendly state but a business owner in Traverse City says the first priority should be balancing the state's budget.
CEO of Grand Traverse Industries Steve Perdue says, "We have to live with our means, manage our finances and that's going to be a tough job--that will be very important to the state in terms of business growth."
Perdue says he'd like to see Governor Snyder transform Michigan into a competitive state and he says to do that --means reforming Michigan's business tax.
He says in particular, "…personal property tax for business has to be eliminated."
To create jobs, Perdue says the Governor must support diversity, innovation and manufacturing.
This will help northern Michigan attract and keep young people here.
Director of Summerside Properties Ron Robinson is an operator of many hotels in the area and says he'd like to see the three million dollars in Pure Michigan funding reinstated.
Robinson says, "More people come to Michigan see what Michigan has, maybe they'll bring their business here and help the economy...it's not money were spending hoping to generate, its proven money comes in."
Robinson says for every dollar spent on the campaign--almost three dollars comes back. This helps to reduce the state's 1.8 billion dollar deficit.
Education is also a big concern. Superintendent of TCAPS Steve Cousins says there needs to be a coherent approach as to what's expected of school districts.
Cousins says, "Clarifying whether were going to expect districts to compete against each other or to consolidate and collaborate with each other that might be the biggest thing that the governor could do in terms of clearing the path for schools to be innovative.
Cousins also says early childhood education should be touched on.
He explains, “The fact that we have so many kids who come into school unprepared with out some basic building blocks—that’s something I think this governor could really address--so were talking universal preschool for kids."
