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In this issue:
The New Model for Entrepreneurship
Steelcase CEO Guides Vision for Future
UofM's President Coleman
McKinsey Report: American Cities GDP Contributions
CNBC Best States for Business Rankings
Cities Where Paychecks Stretch the Furthest
Michigan GDP Grows 6th Fastest
S&P Credit Rankings
Michigan #7 Export State
2012 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
Detroit Design Festival
In the News. . .

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BLM VIEWPOINT


Business Leaders' Optimism Toward Michigan vs. U.S. Economy Grows

 

The latest Business Leaders for Michigan economic outlook survey shows that Europe's fiscal crisis, slowing global growth and the lack of a clear U.S. fiscal policy are dragging down the economy.  While our members remain bullish toward Michigan's economic future and the optimism between how they feel toward Michigan's vs. the nation's economy is actually growing wider, they project Michigan will not grow as fast over the next 18 months due to these macro-economic concerns. Read more. . .

    BLM 2012 Econ Survey chart 2q

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Business Leaders
for Michigan 
600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1760, Detroit, MI, 48243-1802

Phone: 313.259.5400

2012 NOVEMBER ELECTION


Information about the November Election

 

Six proposed amendments to the Michigan Constitution may be on the November 2012 ballot. The proposals being advanced either re-write legislation passed by our elected leaders or seek to bypass Michigan's legislative process.

 

Business Leaders for Michigan does not support these proposed changes to the Michigan Constitution. Brief descriptions of each proposal can be found by accessing this link.

BLM INITIATIVES


$55 million VC fund in Cincy cloned on the success here

Crain's Detroit Business | July 20, 2012

 Crain's Logo

For at least one city, Detroit has become a model of entrepreneurial development.

 

Dismayed by a study that showed the Cincinnati region ranked behind its metropolitan peers in venture capital attraction and investment, executives at the consumer products giant Procter & Gamble wanted to figure out a way they and other corporate citizens in southern Ohio could help young companies get formed and grow. Read more. . .

SPOTLIGHT ON BLM MEMBERS


100 Years & Building: Steelcase CEO Guides CorpMag Logo Vision for Future

Corp! Magazine | July/August 2012

 

For Steelcase President and CEO James Hackett, there is nothing more nerve-racking than watching someone struggle to set up equipment for a business meeting.

 

It is painful to Hackett because he knows there is a better way. There is a better way to connect people to one another. There is a better way to connect people to their environment. There is a better way for people to do their life's work. Read more. . .

University of Michigan business MLive Logo model is unsustainable, and Mary Sue Coleman is the right leader to change it.

MLive.com | July 19, 2012

 

Mary Sue Coleman is a rock star college president.

 

Since being appointed the 13th president of the University of Michigan in 2002, she has been on a tear, successfully guiding the U of M to ever-increasing stature through very difficult times. The U of M has risen in reputation to No. 18 in the entire world, according to the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings. At the same time, the annual all funds budget for the Ann Arbor campus has risen to $5.8 billion, and its endowment to $7.8 billion (sixth among all 642 U.S. colleges and universities and second among public schools). Read more. . .

DATA SUPPORTING THE TURNAROUND PLAN


The Rise and Fall of American Cities:

 

A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute shows how American cities rank in their contribution of GDP over the past 30 years.  For example, Detroit slipped from number 6 in 1978 to number 15 in 2010 in real GDP.  What's interesting though is that Pittsburgh, often cited as a model for Detroit's renewal, slipped even more.  The chart below shows vividly the rise of the sun belt cities and the fall of the snow belt ones.  Click here to read the full report.

 

 

McKinsey GDP Chart

Michigan Rises From #34 to #33 In CNBC Best CNBC Logo States for Business:

 

CNBC's latest best states for business ranking rated Michigan one spot higher than last year.  You can see below the factors that went into the rankings and Michigan's progress relative to 2011.  Note that these are rankings relative to other states.  BLM's annual benchmarking report is nearly complete and we will share it with you at our annual board retreat in September. Read more. . .

 

 

NBC Best State Chart  

 

A new report shows that your pay check goes a lot further in Michigan than most other locations.  The list below prepared by the New Geography and Praxis Strategy Group shows where your compensation has the most value based on cost of living. Read more. . .

 

New Geography COL Chart  

 

The latest U.S. Census data shows for the past year that inner cities growing fastest are the sprawl cities of the south and west.  Except for New York City, which gained the most new residents, the data underscores that migration to the Sun Belt continues and that any migration to traditional northern inner cities is minimal.  The chart below shows the largest numeric increases in population from 2010 to 2011 in inner cities. Read more. . .

 

  Census Bureau Growing Cities chart

Michigan's Credit Rating Ranks Third Worst:

 

The state's credit rating from Standard and Poor's is AA- which puts us third worst in the nation.  You can see on the chart below how we rank compared to other states and how the ratings have changed over the last decade.  Michigan last had a AAA rating in 2002 and no state has seen their rating lowered more over the past decade.  Read more. . .

 

SP Credit Rating chart

 

Michigan #7 Export State:

 

The latest manufacturing export data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Michigan ranks in the Top Ten nationally on a per capita basis.  Yet we rank below states like Indiana and South Carolina that have attracted considerable new manufacturing investment in recent years. 

 

Census Bureau Export Chart

 

 

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES


Got a great idea for the next big thing?  Enter the 2012 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Accelerate MI Comp Logo Tall Competition     

 

The 2012 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business competition designed to bring together later stage entrepreneurial companies with local, national and international investors.

 

It showcases the best and brightest new business concepts to investment capital to help foster their growth within Michigan. Targeting entrepreneurs with mid-to-late seed-entrepreneurial businesses - the competition has an immediate and positive impact on Michigan's economy.

 

Learn more at www.acceleratemichigan.org.

Detroit Creative Corridor Center DC3 Logo Black Announces 2nd Annual Detroit Design Festival

 

Calling All Designers and Design Ambassadors

September 19-23, Woodward Corridor, Detroit

 

The second annual Detroit Design Festival (DDF), presented by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3), is slated to fill Detroit's Woodward Design Detroit Logo Corridor from September 19 to 23. The festival, which boasted 85 Design Happenings featuring 300 designers in its first year, connects designers and creative practitioners, and exposes them to new markets and consumers to help Detroit become a global center for design and creative innovation. Read more. . .

IN THE NEWS


The growing shadow of municipal bankruptcy  

Advisor & Source| July 31, 2012

 

Bankruptcy buys time for a municipality, brings all parties to the table and empowers an independent judge to preside over the process, Phil Batchelor, Vallejo's interim city manager during it bankruptcy, said in a National Public Radio interview in July.

A poll in May showed a majority of voters in Michigan cities with emergency managers disapprove of them, but still prefer the appointed managers over their communities declaring bankruptcy. The study was commissioned by Business Leaders for Michigan. 
Read more. . .

Michigan's recovery outpaces rest of U.S.

Confidence rises along with home, retail sales

Detroit News | July 30, 2012

 

Michigan fell the hardest during the recession, but it's bouncing back better than the rest of the country.

 

While economic uncertainty in Europe is creating a cloud over the U.S. economy, and the state's unemployment rate has ticked up two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.6 percent in the past two months, existing home sales and retail sales in Michigan are doing better than elsewhere in the country. Read more. . . 

Where the jobs are: Ann Arbor Detroit Freep Logo

Detroit Free Press | July 30, 2012

 

Full employment -- when everybody who wants a job can find one in a reasonable time -- is something you'd expect to see in places such as North Dakota and Texas, not Michigan.

 

Ann Arbor is getting closer to this economic nirvana. Help-wanted signs have popped up in the windows of some of its crowded restaurants and bars, and the area's online jobs portal for high-skilled workers has nearly 900 job listings yet to be filled. In late June, the Web security firm Barracuda Networks announced plans to create 184 jobs in Ann Arbor for software engineers and other technical workers during the next three years. Read more. . .

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About Us

 

Business Leaders for Michigan, the state's business roundtable, is dedicated to making Michigan a "Top Ten" state for job, economic and personal income growth. The organization is composed exclusively of the chairpersons, chief executive officers or most senior executives of Michigan's largest companies and universities, which contribute nearly 25% of the state's economy and provide over 320,000 jobs in Michigan, generate over $1 Trillion in annual revenue and serve over 135,000 students.
 

Find out more at:  www.businessleadersformichigan.com

 

Business Leaders for Michigan
600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1760, Detroit, MI  48243-1802
Phone: 313.259.5400
E-Mail Address: [email protected]