Hedge also said Martz wants to increase the amount of money going into Montana's educational savings accounts. The time when those students leave the university system is what Martz's campaign is most concerned about. O'Keefe campaign manager Bill Lombardi said both job availability and affordable education should be students' main concern. People want to find good jobs where they can make good money and they want the opportunity to enhance their education. He said education plays a key role in economic development because universities always attract businesses.
Education is the engine of economic development.
O'Keefe's education plan includes training in the latest technology at community colleges and colleges of technology. It favors expanded research at university levels and nonprofit institutions and it seeks partnerships with companies to locate training centers at Montana universities and colleges. Lombardi said O'Keefe and his running mate, Carol Williams, stand behind an economic plan that coincides with strengthening Montana's education system and investing in human and intellectual resources. And it will eventually pay off. For O'Keefe and Williams, investing in education means prioritizing and putting education up front for state funding.