Freeman says, he's committed to those businesses and industries that have ties to Minnesota. Some Minnesota farmers are in trouble because of low crop prices and natural disasters. Freeman says the prices farmers are being paid for their crops don't cover the cost of production or provide any kind of return on their investment. Freeman's plan to boost family farms includes a moratorium on large scale corporate feedlots. He says more study is needed over their impact on local economies and the environment.
Housing is another issue linked to economic development.
Freeman says there needs to be more affordable housing for workers. Because as I have travelled over two hundred different cities in Minnesota over the last two years, one of the biggest barriers to economic development is a lack of housing, and there are a number of things we can do to enhance that. We also have to have affordable housing and available housing near where development is occurring. That means in urban areas where Freeman says the clean-up and revitalization of vacant polluted lands in cities is helping create new business and industry ventures. And building housing nearby where people can walk to work, or it's a short bus ride, makes a lot more sense than building massive new highways and wastewater treatment facilities in far-flung suburbs where people have a 15 to 45 minute commute.