Near the end of tonight’s State of the State address, Governor Granholm put Michigan’s current challenges into context, noting that “When history is written, it will say that this decade of economic turmoil was among the toughest any state had to face in generations.” Against that historical backdrop, Granholm asked “How will that history judge us?”

From a local standpoint, the Governor outlined a number of proposals that can make a real difference on the ground here in Northwest Michigan. Things like an ambitious renewable energy program, increased spending on tourism promotion, and robust incentives to attract investment from the film industry all mean jobs for local residents and investment for our local economy.

In addition, in phone calls to some local business leaders after the speech, there is real excitement about the two specific proposals the Governor introduced – the Invest Michigan! venture capital fund and tax incentives for high-growth industries. These initiatives can have a direct impact on our ability to diversify our local economy and create good paying, year-round jobs.

The Governor’s focus on education and the No Worker Left Behind skills training program also helps ensure we have the best educated, best trained workforce in the world, now and in the future. Furthermore, as someone who has witnessed the power of early childhood education to transform the lives of the children (and their parents) who take part, I was especially pleased to see her commitment to outline an approach to significantly expand early childhood education in the next few weeks.

Finally, from stopping the dangerous water withdrawals that threaten our lakes and streams, to putting more police on our streets (and more sexual predators behind bars), to investing in Michigan’s communities, the Governor laid out a strong quality of life agenda that deserves support from all of us, regardless of party.

Perhaps that’s the most striking element of tonight’s address. After a year of partisan rancor and deadlock, it was refreshing to hear the Governor call for a new era of bi-partisan cooperation in Lansing. We’ll see what happens, of course, but changing our focus from fighting within the legislature to fighting for the people of Michigan would be most welcome. Without it, it will be that much more difficult to turn our state around. And if we fail to do that, history will judge us harshly indeed.