|
|
|
|
|
June 2015
In Finding a Road Solution, Let's Not Solve One Problem by Creating Another
Michigan lawmakers are working quickly to identify a stronger road funding solution for our state. We've begun to hear some of their proposals, and it's clear we're still a long way from the finish line.
While we wait, the condition of our roads and bridges continues to deteriorate. It's more than just frustrating for motorists, it's economically dangerous. The longer we wait to fix our infrastructure, the less competitive Michigan becomes.
It is imperative that lawmakers work to identify road funding solutions that don't jeopardize other important state priorities that are important to our economy like job training, higher education and economic development.
BLM's position:
We believe a long-term solution to fixing our roads and bridges should meet the following principles:
- It should provide funding sufficient to ensure good quality road and bridge conditions
- It should include road and bridge warranties
- The funding source should be sustainable and dedicated
- The revenue should come from the users of our roads and bridges, and
- The solution should not adversely impact other critical priorities that help create jobs, such as job training, higher education and economic development.
Let's work together to get it done.
|
|
BLM Poll Outlines Path Forward On MI Roads
Statewide Survey Shows Voters Ready to Fund Road Fixes
Business Leaders for Michigan issued the results of a recent statewide public opinion poll that outlines how Michigan's roads and bridges should be fixed in light of the defeat of Proposal 1. The public opinion polling results show Michigan voters want the roads fixed-and they are willing to pay for the work- but policymakers need to shape a less complex proposal. More than half of survey respondents who voted no on Proposal 1 said they believed the initiative gave tax money away to too many other things. The survey also revealed that nearly 80 percent of voters believe the state's roads are worse than other states. Read more. . .
Recent articles:
DBusiness: New Poll: Michigan Voters Willing to Pay Higher Sales Tax to Fix Roads
Detroit News: Saturday Shorts - Michigan Residents Want Better Roads Plan
WMUK: Business Leaders Press Lawmakers for Road Funding Solution
CBS Detroit: Statewide Survey Shows Voters Ready to Fund Road Fixes if Lawmakers Keep it Simple
Associated Press: At Business Conference, Lawmakers Pressured to Fix Roads Now
|
|
Coalition Launches Mobility Initiative to Expand MI's Global Leadership of Connected Vehicle Technology and R&D 
MICHauto, an economic development initiative of the Detroit Regional Chamber, and a group of leading business, automotive and university stakeholders announced the Michigan Mobility Initiative to strengthen, protect and promote the state's global leadership in next-generation mobility development. This includes high-tech research and development into self-driving cars, connected vehicles, new fuel technologies and other important innovations. Read more. . .
Recent articles:
Crain's Detroit Business: A Changing Auto Industry is Michigan's Brightest Opportunity
Detroit Free Press: Auto innovation at Mackinac: What will drive MI's future?
DBusiness: Detroit Regional Chamber, MI Leaders Form Initiative to Strengthen Mobility Development
CBS Detroit: MI Mobility Initiative Promotes State as Global Leader of Connected Vehicle Technology
Automotive News: New Mich. group wants to take driverless-car mantle from Silicon Valley
|
|
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Westin Book Cadillac Detroit  8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Cost to attend $125
Full agenda coming soon!
Keynote Speaker:
Tom Kelley
General Manager of IDEO
Don't miss Tom Kelley - one of the world's most respected experts on harnessing innovation and design. He is the General Manager of IDEO, the award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping private and public organizations with innovation and growth. Under his watch, IDEO has won more admiration and awards than any other design firm in the last decade.
Tom's newest book, Creative Confidence, is among the best-selling business books in the country, leading in the field of motivational leadership and problem-solving. Tom's earlier books include The Art of Innovation, which describes IDEO's "deep dive" approach to successful product creation, focusing on brainstorming and teamwork as invaluable tools; and The Ten Faces of Innovation, which shares ten unique strategies for making sure that good ideas make it to market.
Click here to learn more.
|
|
ADVANCING THE MICHIGAN TURNAROUND PLAN & THE NEW MICHIGAN STRATEGY
|
|
|
The Michigan Turnaround Plan reflects the significant progress that has been made in making Michigan more competitive. It identifies areas where we can compete, invest and grow in order to make our state stronger for generations to come.
|
|
Invest: Top Ten State for Talent
|
|
|
Our view: To fill the jobs of today and tomorrow, Michigan needs to fill its pipeline with an educated and skilled workforce.
|
|
New campaign highlights skilled trade opportunities for students
Skilled trade jobs represent about one-third of MI's employment base, with more than 8,300 jobs currently available. A new campaign aims to promote opportunities in skilled trades to students and help close MI's growing talent gap. Through a partnership between the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan's Talent Investment Agency, Mike Rowe, TV host and founder of mikeroweWORKS, and Tom Daldin, host of Under the Radar Michigan, videos have been created to address common misconceptions and perceptions about skilled trades, highlight opportunities and inspire K -12 students as they begin to think about careers. Read more. . .
Click here to watch the videos.
Recent articles:
Detroit News Editorial: Give Michigan workforce a boost
MLive.com: Mike Rowe of 'Dirty Jobs' stars in videos for Michigan skilled trades initiative
Detroit News: Don't discount dirty jobs
WEMU: Building Interest in Skilled Trades Job One for MI
|
|
URC Report: Attracting, fostering and inspiring talent for a global economy
Michigan's leading research universities are magnets for topnotch talent, attracting, developing and retaining highly skilled individuals to propel Michigan's economy into the future, a new report confirms. With more than $2.1 billion in research and development annually, the University Research Corridor (URC) is one of the nation's top academic research clusters. The URC's members - Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University - engage 12,000 worldclass faculty members and 35,000 graduate students, elevating their undergraduate programs and supporting regional economies. Read more. . .
Click here to read the full report.
|
|
DATA SUPPORTING THE TURNAROUND PLAN
|
|
|
Mchigan: Unemployment Hits National Average
Marking the 20th straight month of decline, Michigan's unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% and matches the national average for the first time in fifteen years --since September 2000!
Read more. . .
|
|
Michigan Median Property Taxes > All States to Our South
While Illinois and Wisconsin are worse, Michigan's median property taxes are higher than every state to our south according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, including Ohio, Indiana and the southeastern states we most often compete against for jobs. Read more. . .
|
|
Michigan Rank for Innovation & Entrepreneurship: 32th
An annual report by the U.S. Chamber ranks Michigan as the 32th best state for innovation and  entrepreneurship. Our strengths in STEM job concentration and university R&D were weighed down by middle to low rankings on the proportion of our businesses in high-tech sectors, the growth of self-employed people, success of business start-ups and growth of STEM jobs. These findings largely align with our own benchmarking that shows low tax rates (Michigan's corporate tax doesn't impact entrepreneurs) aren't enough to create a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. Read more. . .
|
|
How Does MI rank for business? A look at recent and future performance
The annual rankings of the best states for business by Site Selection and Chief Executive magazines resulted in very different outcomes for Michigan. Site Selection ranked Michigan as the 7th best state based on a ranking methodology driven largely by recent economic performance. Chief Executive ranked Michigan as the 43rd best state based on benchmarking factors more likely to indicate how the state will perform in the future, such as business tax and regulatory policies, workforce quality and living environment.
Click here to view Site Selection rankings. Click here to view the Chief Executive magazine rankings. |
|
South Landed 6 of Top 10 Largest Economic Development Deals
Site Selection also ranked the largest economic development deals of the past year and found six of the Top Ten were in the south. The only northern state making the list was New York for a project being built by Tesla founder Elon Musk to build the largest solar panel manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere. Read more. . .
|
|
Amway Opens $81 Million Nutrition Manufacturing Center in Ada, Michigan
Area Development | June 4, 2015 
Amway opened the first phase of its new $81 million nutrition manufacturing facility in Ada, Michigan. The manufacturing facility will be located near Amway's world headquarters. The 317,000-square-foot facility will house select manufacturing operations for the company's Nutrilite brand of vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements, sold exclusively by Amway Business Owners. The Michigan facility is one of five new manufacturing facilities slated to open in 2015 for Amway, part of its ongoing $332 million manufacturing expansion. Read more. . .
|
|
Bill Ford: "More encouraged than anytime in 40 years"
Detroit Free Press | May 28, 2015 
Bill Ford is decidedly upbeat about economic activity in Michigan -- "more encouraged now than I've been in 40 years," he told the Free Press in an interview at the Grand Hotel, where he also spoke at the annual Mackinac Policy Conference. But he also said that the state's business and government leaders need to stay assertive on pushing a pro-growth policy agenda because the Ford Motor executive chairman expects the auto industry to change more in the next five years than in the past 30 years. Read more. . .
|
|
American Axle looks to add 1,000 Detroit jobs
Detroit Free Press | May 28, 2015 
American Axle & Manufacturing aims to create 1,000 new jobs in Detroit over the next five years near its headquarters at I-75 and Holbrook, CEO David Dauch said. Dauch, who took the reins at AAM in 2012 from his father Dick Dauch, the cofounder and longtime CEO, said he was meeting with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to talk about the vision and the status of discussions now percolating to attract one or more other suppliers to locate on the first 192 contiguous acres of land. Read more. . .
|
|
JPMorgan Chase outlines new aid for Detroit
Detroit Free Press | May 18, 2015 
JPMorgan Chase plans announced the steps it will take over the coming year as part of its five-year, $100-million commitment to Detroit. Over the past year, Chase said, it has injected $34 million into Detroit in programs such as workforce training, small business expansion, and community development. Read more. . .
|
|
Steelcase Foundation awards $2M to education group to raise achievement
MLive.com | May 8, 2015 
The Steelcase Foundation has awarded Education Trust-Midwest, an education advocacy group, a $2 million grant for a new program to provide greater support and coaching to local teachers and administrators and promote collaborations to raise student achievement. "Our support for this project is representative of the Steelcase Foundation's commitment to quality public education in our community," according to Julie Ridenour, president of the Steelcase Foundation, established more than 60 years ago by the office furniture manufacturer. Read more. . .
|
|
|
|
About Us
Business Leaders for Michigan, the state's business roundtable, is dedicated to making Michigan a "Top Ten" state for jobs, personal income and a healthy economy. 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 32% of the state's economy, provide nearly 375,000 direct 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
