Well, maybe with Washington taking an ownership stake the Big Three will stay afloat. Maybe not.
Either way, in the shadow of those wobbling silos, a diversified, entrepreneurial economy is sprouting.
Check out these Michigan trends from the Edward Lowe Foundation’s youreconomy.org…
Between 2005 and 2007, Michigan:
- Gained 30,000 new business establishments (a net increase of 5.7 percent).
- Lost 2,167 business operations that were not headquartered in Michigan (a net loss of 8 percent)
- Gained 49,429 small, and often entrepreneurial, businesses with nine or fewer employees. Those businesses resulted in a net small business employment gain of 144,316 new jobs.
“Expanding companies are the linchpin for job growth,” said Mark Lange, executive director of the Edward Lowe Foundation. “This is especially true when compared to the jobs gained from opened or relocated companies. “We’re not saying that recruitment is wrong, but there has been an overemphasis on these activities due, in part, to competitive and political pressures.”
Consider, too, the still-robust tech sector in Southeast Michigan, as documented this week by Automation Alley’s technology report showing recent gains in advanced manufacturing and life sciences…
“In spite of the fact the entire automotive industry has declined, Southeast Michigan still has one of the highest concentration of technology jobs in America,” Ken Rogers, executive director of Automation Alley, told Metromode. “Our workforce makes us incredibly unique, and it will lead the region and state out of these difficult times. Talent, I believe, is the next economic development arena over infrastructure – and we’ve got the talent required to take the region into a new economy.”
Finally, take a gander at this….
It may not feel like it, but, even in the tough economy of the past three years, total personal income is up more than 10 percent (or, basically keeping general pace with inflation).
But… And it’s a big but… That income growth is the slowest in the nation, according to federal figures….
4 Comments
We abhor hearing figures of 8% unemployment, yet that implies we STILL have 92% of Michigan residents working. I realize this view is simplistic, but the fact remains things are not as bad for everyone as some would have us believe.
Likewise, when real estate sales are down one-third, it also implies business is ongoing (and growing) for two-thirds of real estate transactions.
Better days will certainly return (and the sooner the better!)
You’re right that it can be looked at as a perception that we still have 92% of work age adults working.
I think one can take away a concept that a small fluctuation in employment by percentage or something like housing foreclosures actually seems to make a bigger impact on a community than one can directly relate a percent to. Its the Ripple effect i think that occurs.
But this study and details directly correlates to a previous study done in 2005 by a think tank in michigan that i read, calculated an actual uptick of employment by all other sectors of 1% from 2001 to 2005 excluding the Automotive industry and its related businesses.
This also fits with the facts that Granholm and the Medc had been vigorously working to bring other jobs, technologies, innovation over those years to try as hard as possible to replace some of the losses by the Auto Industry that is not under Michigan’s govt control, and is instead being pummeled by the rest of the nation’s reluctance to buy Detroit’s products.
The GOP keeps saying she isnt doing anything to help the state, but if the fact that she has been point person on many many instances of increased or new investment by international and domestic corporations for 6 yrs while continually cutting state Gov costs, and fat built up by the previous administrations flies in the face of their baseless accusations.
These figures of small business growth are encouraging and reflect generally what is happening across the country – small business is always the principle employer. But, I believe it is important to look deeply into how our education system K-12 and post secondary institutions alike, are positioning themselves to provide the education these small businesses need in their workforce. If companies can’t hire the people they need as their business expands, we will loose them to State’s that can.
One for the Suggestion Box:
Somebody in Michigan should apply for federal funding for engineering feasibility studies for district heating systems in various Michigan cities where there are groups of government buildings that could share a small steam or hot water system. Cogeneration solves many objectives: energy efficiency, better air quality, more electric power security.