March 30, 2004

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today spoke with Holland Mayor Al McGeehan and pledged that her administration will work to make Michigan competitive for existing jobs as well as new ones in light of the news that Johnson Controls, Inc. will be eliminating jobs in Holland over the next 18 months.

"Time and again, we have seen communities in Michigan come together to create new economic opportunities when presented with dire news on job losses," Granholm said. "The high-tech jobs of the future will be driven by brain-power. We will work to ensure that the Michigan workforce and our business climate are magnets for the high-tech jobs of the 21st century."

Granholm pointed to other local communities around the state that have turned their focus to attracting the new, high-tech jobs of the future when jobs have been lost.

"The Kalamazoo area and Marquette County are just two examples of communities that have forged partnerships to create new job opportunities when jobs were lost," Granholm added. "Holland can and will do the same."

The Kalamazoo area formed partnerships to offset job losses announced by Pfizer in 2003, and the Marquette County communities partnered to overcome the loss of K.I Sawyer Air Force Base in 1995.

Granholm noted that challenge creates opportunity, and she said the loss of jobs in Holland emphasizes the need for Michigan to attract 21st Century businesses. In her State of the State Address, the Governor called for creating three new financial tools to help businesses take root in Michigan and grow new jobs at every stage of development.

The administration will leverage federal and private dollars by creating the Emerging Business, the Venture Michigan, and the Small Business Growth funds to send a half-a-billion dollar message to entrepreneurs and businesses that Michigan stands ready to help them grow their business and new jobs in Michigan.

Granholm also is urging state lawmakers to pass another part of her 7-point plan for creating a powerhouse economy in Michigan by increasing the number of MEGA grants available, so the state can demonstrate more flexibility in its effort to support business expansion.

Granholm pledged the efforts of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to work with the city of Holland and said she welcomes the opportunity to show the state and the nation what the city can do in response to recent job losses.

"There isn’t a state in the nation that can compete against $1.57 wages paid in Mexico," Granholm said today. "But what we can compete for are the rights to be home to those 21st Century jobs and businesses that can make a difference in cities such as Holland, Kalamazoo, and Marquette."