A long-term plan that's already paying off!

With our state’s unemployment rate over 13%, revitalizing our economy will be the top priority for our next Governor and Legislature. The task of creating jobs – and, more importantly, careers - for Michigan’s workforce will not be easy, nor will it be accomplished overnight.  

We hear a lot of talk about green jobs and innovative technologies, and this seems like something from the distant future. But we must understand that the “green” jobs of the future require the exact same skills as the “greasy” jobs of today.

Michigan already has the world’s foremost advanced manufacturing cluster; we have a skilled workforce, great university and community college systems, and 330 advanced manufacturing R&D centers - more than all the other states combined or any other country in the world. In short, we know how to make things - we can bend metal, extrude plastic, and lay fiberglass better than anyone in the world. The problem is that the goods we have been producing - cars, boats, furniture - have all been in declining industries.

To succeed in the 21st Century, we must utilize our existing strengths in manufacturing to diversify and grow our economy. We do this by applying our manufacturing knowledge to produce wind turbines, solar panels, and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, making our energy and transportation infrastructure more sustainable in the process. Michigan will also see huge gains in other sectors, including the production of medical devices and components for the aerospace and homeland security industries.

The good news is that this transformation has already begun. The Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund, which I administer as a Vice President at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has already helped more than 1400 companies create almost 25,000 jobs, file 900 patents, and commercialize 450 new technologies, while leveraging $1.5 billion in private investment. These investment programs are good for the workers and companies who benefit from new opportunities, but the State also benefits through increased tax revenue. Additionally, the 21st Century Jobs Fund investment programs that I administer run at a profit – they create jobs and add money to the State’s bottom line.

I wrote my dissertation at the London School of Economics on state-level economic development - what works, what doesn’t, and why - using Michigan as a model. I found that a targeted, technology-based strategy like the one employed by the 21st Century Jobs Fund is the best, most cost-effective way to create jobs. This cannot be a quick-fix solution; it will require a long-term commitment from the next Governor and Legislature - and those down the road - to continue to invest in growing and diversifying our economy.

For the better part of the last decade, I have dedicated myself to the task of crafting a long-term vision for Michigan’s future. I want to take this vision to the Legislature so that, when the state’s leaders have that debate about Michigan’s future, we have a strong, credible voice with the knowledge and experience to make that vision a reality.