The 2014 Michigan Turnaround Plan:

Celebrating progress. Recognizing still more work ahead.

Power of Many 2014

Complacency is MI's enemy. The world has changed, and we need to keep our collective feet on the gas so we don't fall behind again. The new MTP is a fact-based road map to achieve the goal of making MI a Top Ten state. It is a Plan for all of us, as it is going to take all of us pulling in the same direction to grow a stronger MI. Find out more at MichiganTurnaroundPlan.com. We encourage you to share it with your colleagues, friends and family.    Together, we can turn our great state around!

The updated Michigan Turnaround Plan is organized into three key areas of effort to help the state compete, invest, and grow.

• COMPETE: Michigan has made strong gains toward rebuilding its competitive position.  The Plan builds on those gains by recommending continued modernization of the state tax system, debt reduction, measures that boost fiscal stability, greater cohesion attracting and growing jobs, and more stable and collaborative local government. 
• INVEST:  The MTP recommends boosting state investment in infrastructure and education--two key elements that help grow a healthy sustainable economy.  The Plan calls for high school graduation to be tied to meeting college or career readiness benchmarks,  Top Ten college affordability, increasing the number of workers with education and training beyond high school, growing school-to-work transition experiences and the tracking of college placements. 
• GROW:  The Plan lays out strategies for creating a culture that breeds innovation and long-term prosperity. It suggests ways the state can build on its assets to create a New Michigan economy, the importance of a thriving Detroit, the need to welcome new talent from across the U.S. and around the world and steps to position Michigan as a center of innovation.

Michigan comeback has a long way to go 

Detroit News | April 4, 2014 

Gov. Rick Snyder can call Michigan the "comeback state" all he wants, but his buddies in the business community have a reminder for him: The job isn't finished. Not even close, actually. Yes, the unemployment rate is down to 7.7 percent from 13.5 percent - the nation's highest - at the end of 2009. Yes, job creation and income growth are up, but considering where they bottomed there's plenty more ground to make up. 

"Complacency right now is our No. 1 enemy," Doug Rothwell, president of Business Leaders for Michigan, told The Detroit News Thursday. "Michigan's history is that we get complacent at times like this."

 Read more. . . 

Michigan gains ground, but bad roads and weak education threaten comeback 

Detroit Free Press | April 3, 2014 

Michigan has made some headway since 2009 toward the lofty goal of becoming a Top 10 state in job growth and incomes, but in two crucial areas - education and the condition of roads and highways - still lags well behind most of the nation and is even losing ground by some measures.

Both the gains and frustrations of Michigan's struggle to rebuild its battered economy are addressed in a new update by Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM) of the Michigan Turnaround Plan first issued nearly five years ago by the the statewide group of 85 corporate CEOs and university presidents.  

Read more. . .

Business group right; Michigan has more to do. Key efforts are to compete, invest, grow 

Lansing State Journal | April 3, 2014 

Business Leaders for Michigan, a roundtable of the state's major employers, released a five-year update of its Michigan Turnaround Plan on Thursday. The key headline: More work ahead. The group says about one third of its original plan has been accomplished, but is not bashful about its concern that relief over the improving state economy could actually slow future progress.  That would be a mistake. As the group's CEO, Doug Rothwell, puts it concisely: "Complacency is Michigan's enemy." Read more... 

State business leaders urge Lansing to spend more on roads and education  

Mlive.com  | April 3, 2014 

Michigan's economy may have turned around in the past five years, but state leaders cannot stop now, according to Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM).  Five years after unveiling the "Michigan Turnaround Plan," Rothwell is pushing an updated plan that urges the state to spend more money on its roads and schools if Michigan's economy is going to continue to grow. Read more... 

Business Leaders for Michigan calls on state to compete, invest, grow 

Crain's Detroit Business  | April 3, 2014 

The Business Leaders for Michigan has updated its turnaround plan for the state and is kicking off a promotional media campaign that will include TV, radio and print advertising, as well as social media. The ads encourage viewers to help in the turnaround effort by visiting the BLM website that lays out the plan to make Michigan a "top 10 state."  Read more...  

Business Leaders for Michigan release revamped Michigan Turnaround Plan  

MiBiz  | April 3, 2014 

While Michigan is clearly in a better place than it was at the depths of the recession, the state still has a ways to go to improve and compete at the level of other Top 10 states. As such, the Business Leaders for Michigan is revising its turnaround plan for the state to focus on three key areas that leaders of the state's largest companies believe will help Michigan continue on a path of recovery and growth.   Read more...