DETROIT ? Michigan could add 500,000 new jobs and see personal incomes rise by $18,000 per person in the next eight years, predicts the Business Leaders for Michigan in a report released Tuesday.
The report, backed by research conducted by McKinsey & Co, provides a 10-year vision for growing the New Michigan economy. Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford emphasized the state?s high concentration of engineers, its revived auto segment and growing medical and bio-pharma industries.
While adding 500,000 new jobs would replace only 60 percent of the 843,000 jobs Michigan lost in the last decade, the potential growth would place Michigan among the top 10 U.S. states in terms of growth in gross domestic product and improvement in the jobless rate, BLM said.
In the BLM?s 2009 turnaround plan, the group pushed for changes in the way Michigan?s finances and budget were managed, along with tax changes and other steps to make the state more competitive in attracting and retaining jobs. Tuesday?s report said progress has been made by the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder on these structural changes, but many challenges remain.
?Michigan?s legacy as the powerhouse of American industry has suffered significantly over the last decade,? the report said. ?The state has created fewer jobs than any other state since 2000 and per capita income fell to the bottom quartile among all states.?
From that depleted base, however, Michigan ? with an aggressive focus on its unique assets ? can become ?one of the fastest growing states in the U.S., bring our unemployment rate down below the national average and push personal income to new levels,? the report said.
Those unique assets could be developed and branded in six key areas:
? Michigan?s manufacturing savvy ? with more engineers than any other state and 20 percent more patents issued per capita ? can be branded as the world?s Global Engineering Village.
? The state?s central location and logistics potential can build the region into a a premier Gateway to the Midwest.
? Investment in strong universities can create a Higher Education Marketplace that attracts and retains talent.
? More emphasis on existing resources, from boosting agricultural exports to fully using the state?s airport runways and rail lines, could grow a Natural Resources Economy.
? Building on the state?s revived auto industry to ensure that it remains a world leader in transportation technology and research ? the Global Center of Mobility.
? With cutting-edge hospital systems and medical research centers in both east and west Michigan, the state has the assets to be a Life Sciences Hub and attract both patients and talent from all over the world.
Although the new BLM report emphasizes the positive in terms of Michigan?s potential, it also raises some red flags, particularly in the area of higher education.
Many more states are increasing their investments in higher education to meet their future talent needs,? the report said, ?and doing a better job than Michigan does at translating that commitment into innovation that has commercial impact and fosters growth.?
?Our state?s higher education expenditures are falling behind those of other states, hindering our universities? ability to grow and attract additional federal and private R&D research funding.?
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