MACKINAC ISLAND – In a presentation that won an enthusiastic reception from attendees at the Detroit Regional Chamber annual conference, Gov. Jennifer Granholm outlined in greater detail what she called her plan to rejuvenate Michigan’s economy by building on the areas alternative energy, life science companies and homeland security industries.

The presentation came to a rousing conclusion when she displayed a new travel promotion ad celebrating “pure Michigan” that clearly tugged at the heartstrings of those in the packed Theatre of the Grand Hotel.

Also at the session, Granholm said the state cannot disinvest at a time when it needs to invest, reinforcing her position that any replacement tax to the Single Business Tax must be revenue neutral.

And asked what she thought of the chamber’s proposal for a business licensing proposal that would provide businesses with about a $500 million tax break, Granholm said such a cut would force the state to “cut the things that people value out of the budget.”

But as she described again the outlines of a tax proposal she would support, Granholm drew applause both when she said the replacement tax should not tax consumers and that it “should tax profits, and not jobs.”

While Granholm still is saying her campaign for re-election has not begun, the meeting has been seen as an opening for her bid to win a second term. Later in the day, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Granholm’s presentation “was the best I’ve ever heard her. She’s clearly focused.”p>

Republican officials said Granholm’s performance was impressive but that it was a “great rhetorical presentation” and it could not hide “three and a-half years of a dismal performance.”

In a press release, Domino’s President David Brandon said he was shocked that Granholm’s outline was no better than it was.

Granholm’s presentation dealt with many of the same issues that she discussed on Wednesday during the chamber’s political action committee reception, outlining her administration’s proposals on a variety of economic and educational issues.

Michigan’s economy now is a table relying mostly on one leg, the governor said, and that leg is the auto industry. While Granholm said she did not want Michigan to lose that leg – “There is a new car owner born every 12 seconds. There are new car owners being made even as I speak.” – the state has to rebalance on three other legs.

As she has in the past Granholm said two of those legs the state needs to build on are life sciences and homeland security industries.

And as she did in her State of the State address, Granholm talked about alternative energy, drawing applause when she said she wanted Michigan “to be the state that makes us free of foreign oil.”

Also building on her call for the state and its residents to do more to promote Michigan, she showed the television ads the state unveiled Thursday using the new “upper hand” slogan.

But she also showed a new travel promotion using a “pure Michigan” slogan that will replace the “Great Lakes, great times” theme currently in use, which drew heavy applause.

She also showed an ad that was under consideration – urging people to find their “true north” and that the crowd found very moving – that state officials decided to modify because they did not want to give the impression they were only promoting the state’s northern regions.

While outlining what the administration had accomplished so far, Granholm also used the opportunity to call on the Legislature to enact a number of already pending proposals, particularly her proposal to give all high school students a $4,000 merit scholarship. Republicans in the Legislature have resisted the proposal thus far.

But with that scholarship, the state could go a long way towards boosting the number of college graduates who would help build the state’s economy, Granholm said.

She also urged business leaders in the state to oppose the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which would outlaw the use of affirmative action programs based on race and sex in education and state and local government. Not only would the proposal hurt the state’s education progress but it would hurt its economic development, she said.

MCRI officials have said in the past that adoption of similar proposals in California and Washington have not hurt their economies.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com