But doing nothing was a worse option, and the only way out of the recession is creating growth, Walz said.

Klobuchar said southern Minnesota already has a beacon of health-care efficiency in the Mayo Clinic. A Dartmouth study showed patients at the hospital system pay about half the copays of the UCLA Medical Center during the final two years of their life — without sacrificing the quality of care.

The politicians, of course, are only a small portion of the more than 500 people who have attended regional meetings for the project during the past six months.

John Monson, vice president of rural finance for AgStar Financial Services, said he’s not at a loss for biobusiness ideas; he’s seen five proposals that would together employ 1,000 people.

The government could help by providing loan guarantees, meaning the government would step in and pay back a loan if the borrower can’t pay it. This would reduce risk and result in lower interest rates.

Monson said the government offers this guarantee for finished products but not for startup companies,

“When you start something new, there’s a lot of risk,” he said.

The Futures Summit essentially brings to a close the information-gathering phase of the competitiveness project.

Researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia have been hired to guide the project, and they’ll condense the guidance from the summit and regional meetings into a series of action steps, culminating in a May 15 meeting to discuss that plan.

Tim Penny, president and CEO of the Initiative Foundation, said the project isn’t about directing the market.

But the public, nonprofit and private sectors could be collaborating more closely, he said, and devoting their resources to the most promising areas for economic development.