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BLM SAYS YES, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!
This headline might sound contrary, but it describes Business Leaders for Michigan's (BLM) view of the upcoming ballot proposals.
For the first time in more than a decade, we can imagine a better Michigan -thanks to the work of Gov. Rick Snyder and House and Senate leaders. For the last 2 years, they've spent only what the state could afford, reduced our debt and created a better tax system that rewards hard work. As a result, we have a healthier economy that is starting to grow, and more Michiganders are back to work and keeping more of what they earn.
But this progress is at risk. On the Nov. 6 ballot, we will be asked to make decisions that impact whether Michigan can continue to move forward.
Proposal 1 asks us to decide whether to keep the Emergency Manager Law that is helping financially troubled communities regain financial stability.
Proposals 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ask us to decide whether to permanently embed in our Constitution specific labor, tax, energy, and bridge-and-tunnel building policies that promote the interests of particular groups at the expense of Michigan's hardworking taxpayers and families by making it more costly to live, work, and raise a family here.
To keep moving Michigan forward, BLM supports keeping the Emergency Manager Law and opposes Proposals 2-6 which attempt to entrench special interests in our Constitution forever. Let's not return to the days of out-of-control spending, no accountability, and little hope for the future.
Click here to read more about the proposals.
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Michigan Voters Show Support for Consolidating Gov't Services, Not Government
Efficiency a plus, but location and loss of community identity could be areas of concern
Michigan voters support the idea of consolidating government services, like public transportation, police protection and other administrative functions as a way of increasing the efficient delivery of public services, according to an August 2012 statewide survey commissioned by BLM.
These same voters, however, oppose consolidating township or village governments entirely and increasing the role played by Michigan counties.
Read more...
Detroit News: Sharing local services still makes sense |
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Tom Walsh: Venture capital fund draws notice 
Detroit News | September 9, 2012
If imitation is indeed flattery's sincerest form, then let's take a close look at why big outfits like Kroger and Procter & Gamble are so smitten with what's going on in Michigan.
Specifically, it's the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, formed in 2008 by Business Leaders for Michigan, that has caught the eye of -- and been copied by -- Cincinnati's business leaders as a way to accelerate entrepreneurial activity by attracting more early-stage investment.
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BLM Social Networks |
Business Leaders for Michigan 600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1760, Detroit, MI, 48243-1802
Phone: 313.259.5400
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New Study Affirms Michigan is a Key Player in Logistics Industry
According to a study commissioned by Business Leaders for Michigan, Michigan can grow its position as a logistics gateway by accelerating efforts to support and maintain its logistics base, increasing investments in infrastructure that support global product movement and identifying niche industry sectors to build upon. Read more. . .
Detroit News: Michigan could lead in logistics
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Dow Corning Corp. investing $117 million in Bay County manufacturing site
MLive.com | October 4, 2012 
Dow Corning Corp.'s presence in Bay County is growing even larger.
The Williams Township-based corporation on Thursday announced it would invest $117 million at its Auburn manufacturing site in Williams Township, creating 73 jobs. Read more. . .
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Farmington Hills-based Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company celebrates its 100th anniversary
Oakland Press | October 4, 2012 
Farmington Hills-based Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company, one of the nation's leading property and casualty insurance companies, marks its 100th anniversary of being in business, which began when the company was successfully founded in 1912 to protect America's workers on the job.
The company's roots began in Detroit with the formation of Michigan Workmen's Compensation Mutual Insurance Company. Read more. . .
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Why choose Flint as a place to grow instead of  Chicago?
Because of resurgent auto industry, American Banker writes about FirstMerit buying Citizens Republic
Crain's Detroit Business | September 21, 2012 
Michigan is a better place to do business than Chicago, if your business is buying banks, according to the American Banker in a online story posted this week and titled: Why FirstMerit avoided the Chicago Way, and what it says about M&A.
On Sept. 13, Akron-based FirstMerit Corp. (Nasdaq: FMER) announced it was buying Flint-based Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. in a stock deal valued at $912 million. Read more. . . |
'Company Towns' built by Ford, Upjohn, Olds, Durant, are Michigan's largest cities
MLive.com/Bridge | September 6, 2012 
Most large Michigan cities owe their economic successes -- and downfalls -- to an astounding number of entrepreneurs who turned their businesses into major corporations.
Detroit was the Silicon Valley of its day, as Henry Ford and dozens of his competitors put America on wheels in the early 20th century. Read more. . .
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Dow and Midland: It's just good chemistry
MLive.com/Bridge | September 6, 2012
Midland's key ingredient to its long-term economic success can be summed  up in one word: Dow.
The Dow Chemical Co. has had an outsized impact on this handsome, prosperous mid-Michigan community of about 42,000 since Canadian immigrant Herbert Henry Dow arrived in 1890 and started manufacturing bleach. Read more. . .
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DATA SUPPORTING THE TURNAROUND PLAN |
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Michigan Metros Strongest in Recovery:
The latest Brookings data continues to identify the Detroit and Grand  Rapids metro regions among the strongest nationally in post-recession economic recovery. Read more. . .
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URC Universities Rank High in R&D:
The latest National Science Foundation rankings show U of M at #2, MSU at #41 and Wayne State at #78 for overall research and development expenditures. Read more. . .
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10 Underrated Hotbeds of American  Innovation
Fast Company has identified Detroit as one of the ten most underrated places for innovation. Read more. . .
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Save the Dates! November 13 - 15
Accelerate Michigan Competition and
Gala Showcasing the Gems of Detroit
* Guardian Building * Westin Book Cadillac * Orchestra Hall
Learn more at www.acceleratemichigan.org.
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Michigan Recovery Aided By  Entrepreneurship Competition
Huffington Post | October 5, 2012
When Lauren Bigelow drove into downtown Detroit last year for a dinner event at the historic Madison building, she witnessed a surprising sight. As she passed through areas where the automotive industry decline and the economic recession hit hardest, and through neighborhoods where property values had fallen 80 percent over the course of three years, she looked up and saw a light on the horizon -- literally.
Less than a mile away from the Madison, the lights of Comerica Park were on, illuminating the stadium's all-brick exterior, the giant stone tigers with baseballs in their teeth, and all of downtown Detroit, weeks after the baseball season had ended. Read more. . .
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'Fiscal cliff' leaves economy hanging 
Automatic fed cuts, Europe crisis, other woes darken outlook
Detroit News | September 28, 2012
If it really is "the economy, stupid" in presidential elections, things are starting to look a lot less rosy than the lofty Dow Jones Industrial Average might suggest.
Orders for durable goods plunged 13.2 percent in August, the Commerce Department said Thursday, another sign of a slowdown in manufacturing. The U.S. economy grew just 1.3 percent in the April-through-June second quarter, down from an earlier estimate of 1.7 percent, and the unemployment rate remained stuck at 8.1 percent. Read more. . .
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Michigan's choice: Future or past?
Detroit News | September 30, 2012
It took a long, hard fall before Michigan awoke to the reality that clinging desperately to its past was blocking the path to a more prosperous future.
When the bottom finally rushed up and smacked it in the face, the state had to acknowledge that its best days were decades gone. It looked around and found itself in a new peer group. Instead of New York, Illinois and Wisconsin, it was slumming with Mississippi, West Virginia and Arkansas.
And even those states were rising, while Michigan was doomed to keep sliding - unless things changed. 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: info@businessleadersformichigan.com |
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