Michigan is the comeback state, but we can’t be content or complacent. Our work is not done.

As our economy continues to recover, we still need to do a better job of connecting workers with job opportunities. Despite an unemployment rate of more than 8 percent, there are thousands of unfilled job openings in our state.

A great resource we have developed is MITalent.org. It is a place where job providers can post openings and where job seekers can go to find a job that better matches their talent and skills.

Today there are more than 62,000 job openings listed on MITalent.org. If we were able to fill all of those openings, it would make a significant impact on Michigan’s unemployment rate.

We must continue our efforts to do that. 

We also have a number of great educational institutions, from universities and community colleges to skilled trade training programs that are producing very talented individuals who are ready to enter the workforce.

Michigan needs to do a better job of matching the supply of talent with the demand for talent. I like to call it the “Three Cs” --

• Collaborating with the private sector to see where our needs are for today and tomorrow;
• Creating talent in terms of working with educational institutions to prepare students in ‘STEM’ careers as well as the growing need of skilled trades; and
• We must then work to connect that talent with the needs of job providers.

We are striving to be the leader in the country in this effort, but we must work together to achieve this strategic advantage.

It starts with our Economic Summit in March, followed by an Education Summit in April to bring these worlds together and focus on the “Three Cs”.

We are the comeback state, and together through relentless positive action we can reinvent Michigan.

Learn more about the 2013 Governor’s Economic Summit.