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Why Michigan Needs to Invest in Higher Education
If you ever doubted the value of a higher education degree, a recent study by Georgetown University researchers of how workers fared during and after the recent recession answers that question. Those with a bachelor's degree or higher maintained jobs during the recession and have gained 2 million more since then. Conversely, one out of every ten workers with a high school degree or less -- lost their jobs during the recession and haven't regained them during the recovery. Workers with associates degrees are holding essentially the same number of jobs as they were before the recession.
The study shows that some level of education beyond high school is critical to personal success and that more education generally leads to a brighter career. The Legislature took a step in the right direction in 2012 when it increased funding for higher education based on performance. This will help more Michigan residents get the education they need. But this was just the first step of what needs to be a long term commitment by the state to make increases to higher education a key priority because it's one of the single best ways to grow personal income. |
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BLM Social Networks
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Business Leaders for Michigan 600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1760, Detroit, MI, 48243-1802
Phone: 313.259.5400
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Register Today!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Radisson Hotel, Lansing
8:00am-1:00pm
This Leadership Summit will bring together stakeholders working to
grow jobs and build a New Michigan by leveraging six of Michigan's most distinctive assets.
Find out more about the event here!
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2012 Benchmarking Report Affirms MI's Economy is Improving, but Still Short of Top Ten Status
According to the 2012 Economic Competitiveness Benchmarking Report released in December by Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), Michigan has outpaced most of the nation in terms of recent economic growth and many trends are headed in the right direction, but its performance on most key indicators fall short of being a Top Ten state leaving its long-term recovery still uncertain. Read more. . .
Read articles about the Benchmarking Report below:
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ADVANCING THE MICHIGAN TURNAROUND PLAN & THE NEW MICHIGAN STRATEGY
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Step 1: Responsibly Manage Finances - Fiscal Practices in Law
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Our view: To ensure that the state is consistently managed well in the future, BLM strongly supported adopting good fiscal principles into law rather than by administrative practice.
Action: The Legislature enacted into law requirements for each state agency create a spending plan 60 days after their budget is enacted and that each state department have a strategic mission, vision, goals and balanced scorecard.
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Step 3: Making Michigan Competitive
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Our view: Michigan's competitive position is improving significantly but still falls short when compared to "Top Ten" states. Michigan must address all six steps of the Michigan Turnaround Plan to global competition.
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FORBES 2012 Best States for Business Rankings - Michigan Business Climate Ranks 47th
The latest annual Forbes ranking of best state business climates puts Michigan at 47th - the same ranking as last year. If you read our latest Benchmarking Report, the facts behind the ranking sound familiar:
- Business costs: Citing the same data as our benchmarking report, the ranking reflects that Michigan's costs have come down, but so have those in other states. We remain 3% more expensive than the average state.
- Labor supply: Low college attainment rates are hurting Michigan's image and ability to create jobs in "new economy" sectors.
- Regulatory climate: About average on all factors, except very weak on the availability of business incentives.
- Economic climate: Low job, economic and personal income growth (BLM's overall goals) over the past five years.
- Growth prospects: Low forecasts of job, economic and personal income growth over the next five years.
- Quality of life: Mixed rankings on a combination of factors including cost of living, college rankings, climate, education, health and recreation.
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How Do States Compare in Their Competitiveness?
Chief Executive.net | December 13, 2012
Wisconsin has become the belle of the economic ball in the Upper Midwest because of the state's aggressive fiscal overhaul led by Gov. Scott Walker. But at least two other states in the region whose governments also now are dominated by Republicans, Michigan and Indiana, have been transforming themselves into business-development mavens and challenging the buzz around the Badger State.
Michigan has been doing something similar under Gov. Rick Snyder, also elected in 2010. His big gambit was eliminating the state's onerous and complicated Single Business Tax on receipts in favor of a flat rate of 6 percent for most corporate entities. Read more. . .
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Step 3: Making Michigan Competitive-Responsive Regulatory
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Our view: Regulatory requirements in Michigan are often greater than those of other states, and the compliance process can be more difficult due to the multiplicity of jurisdictions. BLM supports creating a responsive, collaborative regulatory system to provide a seamless, one-stop process for business growth that aligns state and local site development and business regulations.
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Reforms boost MI's ability to compete
State gov't made big strides in 2012 to cull unnecessary, unproductive regulations
Detroit News | January 3, 2013
Housecleaning is tedious. It fails to excite the imagination. Those thoughts come to mind as Gov. Rick Snyder continues to tout the things his administration has done in the past year to make government neater, friendlier and less clunky.
It's easy to be underwhelmed as he brags about dissolving obscure commissions or dumping obsolete statutes, but we shouldn't overlook the benefits of those efforts. There's a lot of government red tape that's invisible to most of us, but time-consuming and costly for those it directly affects. Read more. . .
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Step 4: Invest for Growth - Infrastructure
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Our view: Michigan needs excellent transportation infrastructure to connect the state to the global economy. BLM supports a comprehensive transportation funding strategy.
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Editorial: Repair Michigan's infrastructure
Roads, bridges and street lights in disrepair are another factor keeping businesses away
Detroit News | December 28, 2012
Last-minute passage of bills authorizing a Detroit lighting authority and a southeast Michigan transit authority offer new hope sagging infrastructure in the state's most populous region finally will get fixed. That plus this year's pact with Canada for a new international span over the Detroit River are victories for Gov. Rick Snyder and building blocks toward the better Michigan he aspires to create.
Read more. . .
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Step 6: New Michigan Strategy - Higher Education Marketplace
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Our view: Michigan's higher education system is one of our state's most significant assets to drive economic growth. BLM supports boosting investments in higher education to make college more affordable and grow the state's talent pipeline; and leveraging the innovative strengths of MI's higher education system.
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University of Michigan among the top schools for spending on research
Detroit Free Press | December 26, 2012
When it comes to spending money on research and raising research funds from the federal government few are better at it than the University of Michigan.
Last month, when the National Science Foundation put out its annual list of the 30 leading U.S. institutions in terms of research spending, U-M -- specifically the flagship Ann Arbor campus -- was No. 1 among all public universities and colleges, with expenditures of nearly $1.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Read more. . .
More information on R&D funding in Michigan:
Detroit Free Press: Top 10 U.S. colleges and universities spending on research and development
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Step 6: New Michigan Strategy - Global Center for Mobility
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Our view: As Michigan is the home to the world's largest automotive cluster and the most automotive production/research facilities, the automotive industry is one of our state's six most significant economic assets. BLM supports actions that grow MI's market share of this growing industry sector and positions our state as the Global Center for Mobility.
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Ford investing $773 million in 6 Michigan plants, adding 2,350 jobs 
Detroit Free Press | December 27, 2012
Ford will create 2,350 hourly jobs and invest $773 million in six southeast Michigan plants during the next two years, fueled by Americans' decisions to replace aging cars and trucks.
Neither fiscal cliff anxiety nor Washington dysfunction will derail the automaker's expansion plans for 2013 and beyond. Read more. . .
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DATA SUPPORTING THE TURNAROUND PLAN
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The States That Recovered Most (and Least) from the Recession 
24/7 Wall St | January 3, 2013
In November 2007, when the nation was on the brink of the worst economic recession in years, Michigan had by many measures the worst economy in the U.S. The state's unemployment rate was more than a full percentage point higher than any other state. And once the recession hit, Michigan's already struggling economy was not spared. Unemployment nearly doubled, peaking at 14.2% by August 2009, the highest rate any state reached during the recession. Read more. . .
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Michigan = Average in State New Economy Index
The latest annual State New Economy Index benchmarking how competitive states are in attracting innovation and knowledge jobs shows Michigan ranking 19th overall and about at the 50th percentile. This is down slightly from 2010. Michigan's scored best on the immigration of foreign talent, manufacturing base, number of scientists and engineers and industry R&D. We scored lowest on entrepreneurial activity and related metrics, the in-migration of U.S. talent and workforce education levels. These findings track with our own benchmarking reports. Read more. . .
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Analysis of NY Times Report On State Incentives
A recent New York Times report gave a rather critical view on the
cost/benefit of granting business
incentives and a bloated estimate on the value of incentives awarded in Michigan. For example, the Times counts not having a sales tax on services as an "incentive" worth one-half of the $6.6 billion/year they say the state "spends" on incentives. No doubt the use of incentives has escalated dramatically in recent years and continues to do so with many states becoming over-dependent on them to attract jobs. This was the case in Michigan in the last decade. But the report failed to point out that most tax incentives stop paying out once a company leaves a community or cuts jobs, while most cash incentives are rarely paid back. Read more. . .
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MI Metros-Faster Growth Than Nation, Off Low Base:
A Brookings study affirms our own benchmarking that the Detroit metro region has continued to experience faster GDP and employment growth than the nation the past year. Grand Rapids has faster employment, but slower GDP growth than the nation during the same period. Read more. . .
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New La-Z-Boy headquarters in Monroe to generate $47M investments, add 50 jobs
Detroit News | December 19, 2012
Monroe-based La-Z-Boy Inc. will construct a new world headquarters that will generate at least $47 million in new private investment and add 50 jobs, according to a Wednesday news release.
The furniture company was approved for $2 million in Michigan Business Development Program incentives for the construction of the new facility, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said Wednesday. Read more. . .
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Ghafari Celebrates 30 Years of Continuing Innovation
This year, Ghafari celebrates its 30th anniversary, a
proud achievement in an industry that has experienced its fair share of ups and downs. In that time, they have been fortunate enough to establish themselves as a well-respected, cutting-edge architecture and engineering firm with offices and projects around the globe. From their humble beginnings in 1982 as a four-person CADD operation in Livonia, Michigan, to their position today as a full-service international firm of nearly 400, it has been an exciting ride so far. Read more. . .
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MI economic forecast: Slow, steady growth in jobs for 2013
Detroit Free Press | December 31, 2012
Led by its resurgent auto industry, Michigan has been climbing out of its deep economic hole over the past two years. Building on that, economists remain generally positive about the prospects for further jobs growth in 2013.
But nobody expects the state to fully make up the devastation of the "Lost Decade" of 2001 through 2010. Michigan lost more than 800,000 jobs during that stretch.
Over the past two years, Michigan has added back about 120,000 jobs, and more job gains are expected over the next two years. But clearly the state still has a long way to go to make up all its lost ground, at least in the labor market. 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. Our members drive over 25% of the state's economy, provide over 325,000 direct and 820,000 indirect jobs in Michigan, generate over $1 Trillion in annual revenue and serve nearly one half of all Michigan public university 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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