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Economic Development

Economic reckoning

November 21, 2008 – 12:11 pm

Is there a kids' soccer game, kids' dance class, neighborhood book club meeting, or cocktail party in Southeast Michigan where the economy and Big Three meltdown ISN'T a topic of conversation this month?
As you head into the Thanksgiving holiday, here are a few tidbits for discussion we've picked up in recent days...
GM'S FRIENDS & FAMILY [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

A New Economy Up North

November 21, 2008 – 10:32 am

How does a place like Grayling, Michigan thrive in the 21st Century?
Home to about 15,000 people, the Grayling area is known as a crossroads in northern Michigan, a place most people simply drive through on their way to Mackinac Island, Traverse City, or Petoskey.
The last big-name employer, Fred Bear Archery, left town more than a [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (0)

Getting Michigan moving on transportation issues

November 13, 2008 – 1:25 pm

Michigan faces "dire" consequences -- including a loss of 17,000 more jobs, billions in federal matching funds, and lost global competitiveness -- if it doesn not double its investment in infrastructure, a bipartisan Transportation Funding Task Force reported this week.
The dozen and a half possible fixes include the first general increase in fuel taxes [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (2)

Battle Creek chooses jobs over unions

October 31, 2008 – 10:35 am

Did you feel the economic tremor in Battle Creek this week?
There's growing buzz in Michigan over the state's long and storied labor history (we should, indeed, thank unions for bringing us paid vacations and the concept of a weekend). Does the state's strong labor climate drive away potential new business? Or, is that a straw-man argument [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

SE Michigan's Entrepreneurial Cities

October 24, 2008 – 11:13 am

Congrats to six Metro Detroit communities for earning the title of the region's most entrepreneurial cities..
Auburn Hills, Dundee, Plymouth Township, Southfield, Tecumseh and Troy.
That news comes from the University of Michigan-Dearborn's Center for Innovation Research...
The 2008 “eCities” study (or “the Entrepreneurial Cities Index”) found that many southeast Michigan municipalities “are hard at work attracting, cultivating, [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Michigan's bizarre circular thinking on biz taxes

October 24, 2008 – 9:36 am

Doug Drake tried to warn us.
"Are you ready for some grumbling?" Drake asked a crowd two years ago at a statewide tax policy conference hosted by the Center for Michigan. A veteran of many state budget and tax fights, Drake raised concerns about the prospects of replacing Michigan's old SBT business tax.
Let me remind you [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Accountability, Clear Taxing & Spending, Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (2)

A transit bellwether on Election Day

October 24, 2008 – 8:31 am

Talk about mass transit trains and high-speed rail has picked up steam in Michigan's two biggest cities in the past couple years. In August, public support for mass transit was evident as voters approved 15 out of 16 transit millage votes, mostly for busses.
Chris McCarus, Michigan's roving and always forward-looking radio correspondent, reports that the [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (0)

Michigan Angles on Wall Street Crisis

October 2, 2008 – 1:47 pm

The Wall Street mess and the locked-tight credit markets are clearly impacting Michigan in many ways. A few examples from the past several days...
LACKING LIFEBLOOD: As the Detroit Free Press documented, homeowners and businesses alike are seeing credit dry up, making it tough to make payments ranging from mortgages to payrolls.
AUTO DOLDRUMS: Domestic auto sales [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Mass Transit Momentum, in Livingston, too

September 26, 2008 – 11:31 am

Metro Detroit mass transit czar John Hertel has been working for many months on a regional plan to end Southeast Michigan's dubious distinction as the only major American urban center without a rapid transit system.
This week, he unveiled his plan.
The push is growing even in the distant exurbs. Consider Livingston County, where cheap gas and [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Flint's Answer to Right to Work

September 26, 2008 – 11:26 am

Last week, hours after business leaders declared Right to Work an important reform for Michigan's future, Democratic and Republican legislators showed up to the Grand Rapids Marriott for a dinner celebrating the West Michigan Regional Policy Conference. Senator Deb Cherry, a Democrat from the Flint suburb of Burton, was among the dinner guests. I impishly [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (2)

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