LANSING – Although Michigan’s jobless rate of 9.3 percent is the highest since 1992, the Upper Hand campaign, launched three years ago, has made some inroads into creating jobs in Michigan.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s marketing strategy has also improved the perceptions of Michigan in the eyes of out-of-state businesses, officials said.

The campaign has resulted in 21 completed projects in 2008 and 12 in 2007, including Wayne County’s Accretive Health, which created 650 jobs and brought in $2.4 million from private investments, along with Echo Global Logistics in Oakland County, which is responsible for 950 new jobs and $4.2 million of investment.

Jesse Bernstein, president and CEO of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, said the Upper Hand campaign has had a “tremendously positive effect.”

“People who I meet other places, they are saying, ‘Wow, that’s a great campaign, we didn’t know that was going on in Michigan,'” he said. “Overall, it’s been very well received. They didn’t associate Michigan with the kinds of businesses that are being presented.”

Bernstein said a big reason for the perceived narrow focus for Michigan’s economy is because an important part of getting Michigan publicized as a place to do business is remembering there is more to our state than the automotive and manufacturing industries. He said the agricultural and tourism industries are also integral to the state economy, as is the office furniture industry.

“We need to reposition ourselves… as a place for innovation,” Bernstein said. “In tandem with the Pure Michigan campaign, wherever they’re running it it’s creating a very different view of Michigan, and that’s what we need.”

The film production incentives enacted this year have aided in repositioning Michigan as well, he said.

“When people start seeing Michigan and our landscape and scenery, it’s going to make a very big difference when people think of our state,” Bernstein said.

Former President Bill Clinton also has praised the Michigan campaign. Speaking on WJR Radio in October, Clinton said, “I see as a citizen out here living in New York the wonderful television ads that the State of Michigan has been running to promote the Michigan economy.”

From 2006 to 2008, the MEDC has spent $37.8 million on marketing, 80 percent of that outside of Michigan. The state has advertised on the radio, in print, at public relations events, on the Web and in airports, and has seen results. From 2007 to 2008, its website saw a 483 percent increase in traffic. Media advertising on television and radio began in April 2006 and has run through September 2008.

On Wednesday, a new program for the ad campaign was approved by the Strategic Fund Board.

The campaign will resume in February as Lisa Danscok, MEDC’s senior vice president of marketing, communications and Travel Michigan, said the corporation will spend $11.8 million in 2009 on marketing. The project is funded by tobacco settlement dollars and the 21st Century Jobs Fund.

Actor Jeff Daniels is the spokesperson for the campaign, and according to MEDC literature compiled by Dansock, Daniels is responded to well in his role. Daniels appears in radio and television advertisements for the campaign. Also featured in those ads are success stories from “C-Level” executives, who are the target audience for the campaign.

“C-Level” executives are chief financial officers, chief executive officers, and site consultants. The campaign especially focuses on those executives in the alternative energy, homeland security and defense, advanced manufacturing and life sciences sectors.

MEDC literature said those sectors most effectively leverage the state’s strengths and promote the state’s assets.

In an interview with Gongwer News Service, Dansock said the campaign has companies thinking about Michigan as a place to do business because it shows the state is committed to being business-friendly.

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