Lynch also deserves credit for restoring a businesslike approach to the state's politics, which had become fractious in recent years. "Business people like to operate in an environment where people talk straight, and he does," says Dick Ingram, head of the Portsmouth chamber of commerce.
New Mexico
Bill Richardson
Elected: 2002
Rating: 
The booming oil industry has allowed Richardson to rack up accomplishments. He has increased state funds for education and health care while backing an income tax cut that will reduce the state rate to 4.9 percent in 2008, a 40 percent drop. He supported and signed a bill that cut in half the state capital gains tax. He also created a venture capital fund out of the state rainy day fund in an effort to recruit VCs. In 2005, VCs invested $88 million in the state, up from $6.6 million in 2003.
Currently, Richardson is pushing an ambitious health care reform package. One new program provides state and federal funds to help small companies and self-employed workers buy health insurance. Another creates insurance pools meant to enable small employers to buy coverage at lower costs.
Finally, whatever the project's ultimate economic impact, one had to admire the brio with which Richardson and Virgin founder Richard Branson unveiled plans to build a spaceport in New Mexico--the splashiest state economic development announcement of the past four years.
Oklahoma
Brad Henry
Elected: 2002
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In 2003, the year Henry took office, Oklahoma's budget deficit hit $700 million and the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.6 percent. "Now we've got $70 oil and we're rolling in it," says Larkin Warner, an Oklahoma State University economist.
Henry has capitalized on the state's oil-based good fortune by signing numerous tax cut and tax rebate bills. He is also taking steps that will benefit the economy over the long haul, such as directing $256 million to the state's education system. At Henry's instigation, the state also created a program to provide health insurance to workers at small businesses. Enrollment is low so far, but if the plan works, it could serve as the blueprint for a larger effort--something the state needs, given that one in five residents are uninsured.
Oregon
Ted Kulongoski
Elected: 2002
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Driven by a sluggish national economy and steep declines in fishing and forestry, Oregon's unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent the summer after Kulongoski was sworn in. Today, unemployment stands at 5.3 percent and there are other signs that the economy is rebounding. The city of Bend has become a hub of start-up activity as Californians looking for a fresh start move there.
Though Kulongoski, a former labor lawyer, is viewed by many business owners with suspicion, the state has streamlined the building permit process on his watch. He has also expanded a research center to support technology transfer in nanoscience and microtechnology. Similarly, his Oregon Cluster Network supports industry clusters like renewable energy and wood innovation. Just this summer, he orchestrated a special session of the legislature--traditionally a big deal in Oregon--that secured $42 million in funding for public schools, some of which were at the point of shortening the academic year to cut costs.
Pennsylvania
Ed Rendell
Elected: 2002
Rating:
Back in the '90s, when he served as mayor of Philadelphia, Rendell developed a reputation as the consummate cheerleader. As governor, he's leading cheers again--with an economic agenda that mostly benefits large corporations. In July, Rendell signed legislation reducing taxes on business by $297 million, with most of the savings going to large manufacturers. On the entrepreneurial front, as part of his efforts to remake the state's Rust Belt image, Rendell has invested $40 million in public funds in nanotechnology and has created a $500 million investment pool, named for Jonas Salk and funded with tobacco settlement money, to support biomedical research. He also convinced PNC Financial Services to offer up to $100 million in credit lines to small businesses planning to expand or create new jobs in Pennsylvania. But, just as Rendell was sometimes faulted for being more talk than action in Philadelphia, as governor he has been accused of paying no more than lip service to small business.
