Comments on: Big business ideas for Michigan

By: Adam Kaplan

Adam Kaplan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:48:41 +0000

I read the proposed plan and agree with its high level primary conclusions — reduce state gov’t / waste and improve MI as a place to do business. What is largely missing are the specifics of Michigan’s assets that need to be capitalized on. It’s a bit disingenous to highlight our educational system without mentioning the tremendous brain drain that takes place. Also, where is mention of our hospitals / research institutions and similar assets that can position Michigan to lead in the next revolution in the way Health Care is managed in this country. I’d like to see working groups take this framework and drill down into industry by industry goals. A good start — but definitely more work to be done.

By: Neil Karl

Neil Karl — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:46:40 +0000

I am really disappointed with point #4 about Michigan business taxes. What do the Michigan business taxes have to be to compete with Ohio business taxes, Mexico, and in the global economy? Why should the state of Michigan and local governments be using business taxes to balance their budgets? Its tradition but not real world. If business taxes are not a problem, eliminate all tax abatements and Renaissance Zones as being not needed. Be consistent.

By: A reader

A reader — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:27:45 +0000

Much of what Business Leaders for Michigan has to say is eminently reasonable, but I cringe every time I see this suggestion that we reduce state worker compensation to the average of private sector workers.

About 24 percent of Michigan’s adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, yet 55 percent of state employees have this level of education, as over half of jobs in state government require at least a bachelor’s degree. These college-educated state employees are already paid less than college-educated workers in the private sector (see Charlie Ballard’s study, “The Retrenchment of the State Workforce in Michigan”). If the average state worker compensation comes out higher than the private sector average, well, it doesn’t take a bachelor’s degree to know that’s because more than twice as many state government jobs require college degrees than the private sector average.

BLM’s policy folks must be informed enough to know that it’s folly to keep suggesting driving state worker salaries down to the state private sector average – unless they think the state would somehow run better if we drove out college-educated public servants and replaced them with high school grads! I can only conclude from the fact that I see this suggestion over and over again that BLM is disingenuously trying to undermine any and all public support for the possibility of tax increases by portraying Michigan’s state government as horrifically bloated despite all of the cuts in recent years.

By: Kim Patrick Kobza

Kim Patrick Kobza — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:46:57 +0000

Phil, solid post. I would like to offer one additional observation.

Many states in the US, and many countries in the world are leveraging the value of social production through the active participation of business, education and citizen resources to rapidly advance their economies. They are actively involving stakeholders in problem solving on a non-economic basis. One of the major challenges to any organization effectuating rapid change is socialization and ownership of that change by the stakeholder communities – in this case business leadership, government employees, and educators.

Many of the best ideas obviously come from those most affected as hard as it sometimes is to engage them. However, failing to do that will lead to the State falling even farther behind even if successful in pushing program elements.

Building value networks efficiently to fully leverage the State’s resources, especially in times of tight budgets is key. That is what most other states are doing and that is what Michigan must do. It is a key strategic imperative. It involves much much more than simply pushing the right messages. It means driving active contributions.

Solid post.