September 12, 2006 — Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said SOLUTIONS, a common agenda for building shared strategies in state government, is the right approach for Michigan’s 21st Century Workforce as part of the overall strategy to reshape and advance Michigan’s workforce. SOLUTIONS was developed and adopted by the Governor’s Council of Labor and Economic Growth.

“SOLUTIONS represents the critical, guiding values that will ensure that Michigan’s workforce is the best in the world,” said Granholm. “Adopting SOLUTIONS sends a strong message about Michigan to our stakeholders, partners and citizens. The vision and values that we hold are the compass that keeps us on track.”

Employers, industry associations, organized labor, community-based organizations, educational partners and others from across Michigan, signed on to SOLUTIONS at today’s meeting of the Council for Labor and Economic Growth in Traverse City. Signatories include organizations such as Michigan Works agencies from across the state, the Michigan Association of Counties and Three Rivers Health.

SOLUTIONS values are: innovation and creativity; diversity and inclusion; growth and attraction; employability and advancement; education and training; and business solutions.

Expected outcomes or benefits of SOLUTIONS include increased partnerships across organizations, alignment of resources, reduction in the duplication of efforts, and use of evidence-based practices to develop and evaluate programs.

“SOLUTIONS is like a corporate vision statement,” said Robert W. Swanson, Director of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. “CLEG will use SOLUTIONS as a guide when it reviews and approves state workforce system initiatives. CLEG will ask those seeking its support how their plan or proposal meets with SOLUTIONS vision.

Organizations that are interested in signing on to SOLTUIONS will be asked to use the vision as a guidepost in their work. Organizations are invited to post SOLUTIONS in a public area of their workplace and communicate the importance and relevance of following this vision with their employees and stakeholders.

Those interested in endorsing SOLUTIONS and receiving a copy for their workplace, may contact the Advisory Administration Unit (517-335-5928) in the Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

The Council for Labor and Economic Growth has oversight authority for the state’s workforce system and was created by Executive Order in December 2004 to focus on developing strategies to prepare Michigan’s workers for the 21st century. The 73-member board includes key leaders from business, labor, community colleges, universities, community-based organizations, local workforce boards, the K-12 educational community and government.

Read more Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth press releases.