LANSING – When Pfizer announced it was moving its Ann Arbor laboratory and some of its other operations out of the state, Gov. Jennifer Granholm quickly announced the availability of loan funds to help displaced employees start new businesses in the state. But with the budget for Fiscal Year 2007-08 still unresolved, the status of those loans is in question.
The administration has placed a hold on releasing any of the $8 million dedicated to the program until the budget is resolved. But that is not to say the money would be available for resolving any of the expected shortfalls.
The need for the loan program has not gone away, but the administration has decided not to begin any new spending until the budget is resolved, said Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd.
“We need to resolve our budget crisis and then we can move forward on a number of projects we would like to move forward on,” Ms. Boyd said. “Is this the kind of investment we should be making in Michigan? Absolutely.”
But Boyd declined to liken this move to attempts by legislators to use 21st Century Jobs Fund money to fill holes in the current year budget, saying only, “We need to get our fiscal house in order.”
Though some businesses had planned investments based on the announcement of the loans, no application process had been announced for the funds. Officials were still working out a process for the economic development corporations in Ann Arbor, Holland and Kalamazoo to share oversight of the fund.
Pfizer made the announcement back in January as part of an overall plan to consolidate its operations and restore profitability.
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