December 12, 2008
Radio address highlights job-creating announcement
LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that in a time of extreme challenge for our auto industry and rising unemployment, Michigan got some great news this week with Michigan State University being selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).
"This $550 million laboratory will be a cutting-edge research facility where scientists can work to better understand the behavior of nuclear isotopes and their impact on the world," Granholm said. "The design and construction of the facility will create 5,800 jobs. Once complete, this rare isotope lab will employ 300 scientists and staff and will create more than 220 additional spin-off jobs and generate more than $1 billion in economic activity for Michigan."
Granholm said that we will all benefit from this rare isotope research, as similar research has led to advancements in radiation treatments for cancer patients, improved homeland security technology, and a better understanding of the health risks of space flight. The governor emphasized that the work that will be done inside this new world-class facility reinforces that Michigan is the right place to locate for businesses looking to be on the cutting edge of science and technology.
"This new lab is a perfect compliment to our $2 billion, 21st Century Jobs Fund that's creating jobs and diversifying our economy by investing in cutting-edge research in life sciences, and homeland security, alternative energy, and advanced manufacturing," Granholm said.
The governor also thanked President Bush for standing up for the millions of workers and for doing what the Senate would not do - provide assistance to the U.S. auto industry.
The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state. The address is available on the governor's Web site at (
www.michigan.gov/gov
) for download, together with a clip of the quote above. The radio address is also available as a podcast on the Web site, as well as on iTunes and via RSS feed for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. Links to the audio files and text of today's address follow.
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
Radio Address - FRIB Victory
December 12, 2008
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
In a time of extreme challenge for our auto industry and rising unemployment, Michigan actually got some great news this week.
Michigan State University was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to be the new home of an important new center for scientific research known as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.
This $550 million laboratory will be a cutting-edge research facility where scientists can work to better understand the behavior of nuclear isotopes and their impact on the world.
The design and construction of the facility will create 5,800 jobs. Once complete, this rare isotope lab will employ 300 scientists and staff and will create more than 220 additional spin-off jobs and generate more than $1 billion in economic activity for Michigan.
Though most of us will never understand the work being done inside the lab, we will all benefit from it. The work already being done at MSU in rare isotope research has led to advancements in radiation treatments for cancer patients, improved homeland security technology, and a better a understanding of the health risks of space flight.
Now this new world-class facility will take that research to the next level, leading to additional medical and technological breakthroughs that will create jobs and stimulate the economy.
But perhaps even more important than the work that will be done inside the lab is the message that it sends to researchers and businesses across the country and around the globe.
Being chosen as the home of this new facility reinforces that Michigan is the right place to locate for businesses looking to be on the cutting edge of science and technology.
This new lab is a perfect compliment to our $2 billion, 21st Century Jobs Fund that's creating jobs and diversifying our economy by investing in cutting-edge research in life sciences, and homeland security, alternative energy, and advanced manufacturing.
I hope you'll join me in congratulating MSU President Lou Ann Simon and her outstanding team who worked so hard to bring this exciting project to Michigan.
And I also hope that you will thank President Bush for standing up for the millions of workers who were at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the United States Senate's refusal to support a bridge loan for our auto industry. Thank you, Mr. President, for doing what the Senate would not do.
Thank you for listening.
# # #
Printer Friendly
Text Version
Twitter
Facebook
Yahoo
Google
Digg
reddit
Newsvine
StumbleUpon
Bookmark
Email Page
