Hanover -- One is the Democratic governor of a small New England state with lots of ledge and forests and 137.8 people per square mile.

The other is the Republican governor of a Great Plains state where oil and wheat are major industries and there are just 9.3 people per square mile.

But Govs. John Lynch, D-N.H., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., found common ground yesterday as they both espoused a pro-business philosophy to help their states ride out the national recession in a forum before more than 100 people at Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center.

“As governors, we need to do what we can to promote an environment that will allow businesses to compete and to prosper, because ultimately, if businesses are successful, they will make more money, they will grow their revenues, and it will create more jobs,” said Lynch, who drew on his experience as a turnaround specialist and former CEO of an office furniture company.

Lynch said New Hampshire has approved a research-and-development tax credit to spur investment, enacted health-care programs focused on prevention and wellness to ease the burden of insurance premiums on small businesses, and also sought to lower the high school dropout rate to improve the pool of skilled workers available for employers.

Hoeven, a 1979 Dartmouth graduate and former banker who has served as governor since 2000, said his administration is focused on diversifying the North Dakota economy even as it capitalizes on its natural resources.

“We don't just raise crops and livestock. Now we process potatoes into French fries for McDonald's and Burger King and tater tots, and sugar beets into a whole range of sugar products, and durum wheat into all of the pasta products. And we turn our canola into biodiesel, and our corn crop into ethanol, and we power those plants with waste-steam from coal-fired electric plants,” Hoeven said.

He said the state needs to help ensure “good stewardship” by employers, but that he also seeks a “legal, regulatory and tax structure that empowers business, combined with education that prepares people to be the innovators and the creators that will enable us to compete and be successful in a global high-tech economy.”

Thanks to its energy economy, North Dakota actually has been adding manufacturing jobs and has an unemployment rate of about 4.2 percent, the lowest in the country, he said.

North Dakota Republicans are hoping that Hoeven will challenge U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., next year, but Hoeven yesterday gave no hint of ambitions outside of his state, and also talked up the importance of bipartisanship, a common theme for Lynch.

“There has to be a recognition of shared value,” Hoeven said. “To get a little, you have to give a little, and solutions aren't perfect.”

Asked about national health care reform, Lynch said he was a supporter, but also said, “I believe we should figure out how to pay for it … I am very concerned that the cost -- and the cost is not insubstantial -- will be pushed on the states.”

Hoeven took a more GOP tack, arguing first for tort reform to cut down on malpractice suits and defensive medicine, while also seeking more insurance competition across state lines and more transparency on the cost of medical services, a point also made by Lynch.

“I think Americans want choice, that's fundamental to how people think,” Hoeven said.

Both sang the praises of broadband for economic development in their rural states, and Lynch said he would continue to press FairPoint Communications, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to meet its promise to expand broadband service in the North Country.

Lynch said Coos County would be ideally suited for a call center if the technology were there.

The two governors, in discussing the growing role technology plays in education, also talked about how their college-aged children are tethered to computers and iPhones.

Lynch said his daughter, Julia, a Dartmouth student, is now studying in Australia, but that they communicate through a popular service that allows people to talk via computer and avoid costly long-distance fees.

“We Skype,” Lynch said.

Though Lynch, a University of New Hampshire graduate, ribbed Hoeven about past hockey triumphs for the Wildcats over Dartmouth, they also agreed on several more weighty issues.

“I'm very nervous because I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Gov. Hoeven is saying,” Lynch joked at the end of the forum.

“It's a good thing,” Hoeven responded.

“It is a good thing,” Lynch replied.

John P. Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com or (603) 727-3213.