LANSING – For years now, the story has been that young people leave Michigan in search of jobs and more exciting places to live. If Governor Rick Snyder and the forces at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are successful in their new development strategy, young people will want to remain in Michigan and will have the jobs that will allow them to stay here.
Less than a week ago, the state hosted an event at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant in Chicago with a presentation on the companies in Michigan looking for talent under the state’s new “MichAgain” strategy to entice former residents back to the state.
It was the second such effort the MEDC has undertaken, and more are planned, said Amy Cell, senior vice president for talent enhancement at the MEDC, including meetings in Western states.
The first, held earlier this year in Boston, has already netted some results in terms of people wanting to return to Michigan, officials said.
It is also a tangible example of a major new element of economic development strategy under Snyder, given that his goal is for the state to essentially end tax credits to help with economic development.
The idea behind the program is to assist former Michigan residents in making contact with companies and agencies in Michigan looking for talent, Cell said. The MEDC is actually picking up on an idea used at Ann Arbor Spark, where Snyder was chair, current MEDC President Michael Finney was CEO and where Cell was in charge of the talent search before coming to the MEDC.
But the MichAgain proposal is not the only effort the state is making to keep young people in Michigan, or attract young people to the state.
The MEDC has also started a “Live, Work …” program that began in March with a “Live, Work Detroit” event.
Some 250 current college students from 20 schools were taken around the Detroit area and shown where they could live and find entertainment and cultural activities – such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and Eastern Market. They also had a chance to meet with company executives about jobs. Among the firms that met with the students were Chrysler LLC, Quicken Loans and Compuware, she said.
Cell said early spring is a critical time to help get students interested in where they could look for work or for places to live once they graduate. “We wanted, as quickly as we could, to get them in front of Detroit,” she said. Many students want to move to a big city when they graduate, she said, and “We wanted them to see, ‘Hey, there’s a big city right here.’ We wanted to break down the stereotypes of the city,” she said.
While the program was geared towards students in Michigan or nearby, a student from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, heard about it, Cell said, and participated.
The two different events are all part of the strategy Snyder has talked about repeatedly during the campaign and since his election to help keep young people in the state as they graduate from college.
Cell said Snyder was very focused on the concept of talent retention while he was involved with Ann Arbor Spark.
The Ann Arbor group held an event similar to the MichAgain program in Austin, Texas, and it generated several leads for people to return to the state.
The state’s MichAgain event in Boston attracted some 30 people for lunch and to hear different speakers talk about job opportunities in the state. MEDC officials said as many as four people have already signed up to return to the state.
Among those speaking a week ago in Chicago were Maureen Donohue Krause, director of economic development and community affairs in Oakland County, and Mark Perry, director of real estate services at MASCO Corporation.
While the state’s economic image has been driven largely by the fate of the auto industry, the state has seen growth in high-tech firms that need workers with specific talents, so the programs help direct students in those areas, Cell said.
Though she acknowledged the state’s economic bad news has been something of a turnoff for some, and the state has had to battle negative images of Detroit, she said those looking at the state understand that any big city will have crime problems. The biggest task is showing people that jobs exist, she said.
In addition, the programs help present entrepreneurial opportunities to students looking at that direction, Cell said.
In terms of the “Live, Work …” initiative, Cell said programs also will take place at Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. Officials in Midland also wanted to have a similar program, so after working with Davenport University, a program is planned for that city so students can see some of the opportunities developing with high-tech industries in that region.
Cell said the event is a great opportunity to boost regionalism in the state.
Calling herself an aggressive person, Cell said she would like to do as many as 10 different events a year to help build the state’s image with younger talent. The only caveat on doing as many events as possible is the ability of the different companies, universities and local governments and development agencies to be a part of the effort, she said.
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