Radio Address: Governor Granholm Says 2007 Marked with Progress Despite Challenges

December 28, 2007

LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that 2007 was a year marked with progress despite the state's economic and budget challenges and pledged to continue investing in people and our quality of life in 2008. 

"While there's no question that we faced more than our share of challenges, especially with the budget, we spent the year working hard to create jobs, ensure a quality education for every child, provide affordable health care for every family, and ensure safe places for all Michiganians to live and play."

The governor highlighted some of the accomplishments during the past year, including:

• The state's Single Business Tax was replaced with the fairer Michigan Business Tax, which included incentives for research and job creation.
• The governor continued to go anywhere and do anything to attract and retain good-paying jobs in Michigan.  Investment missions to Sweden and Germany during the past year have already created or retained more than 1,000 jobs.
• Alternative energy was made a priority for its potential to create new jobs.  Already, these efforts have resulted in the nation's first cellulosic ethanol plant choosing to locate in Michigan and an historic agreement between a Swedish company and NewPage paper mill in Escanaba to work on making biofuel from the mill's byproducts.
• Through the governor's 21st Century Jobs Fund and other economic development tools, more than 160 high-tech and alternative energy companies chose Michigan or chose to expand in Michigan.
• The No Worker Left Behind initiative and the Michigan Opportunity Partnership helped thousands of workers get training or placed in jobs.
• More than 33,000 students started college or technical training with a $4,000 Michigan Promise scholarship, and thousands more students have the scholarship waiting for them at the completion of two years of college or training.
• Governor Granholm continued her fight to make health care affordable and accessible to every Michigan citizen, and thanks to this hard work, Michigan is tied with Hawaii for having the lowest rate of uninsured children in the country.

"There is much more to do," Granholm said.  "If we're going to create new, high-paying jobs in Michigan and succeed in this new economy, we need to continue our reforms, and we need to invest in our people and our quality of life.  And that's exactly what I plan to do in 2008."

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 ( 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 - Reflections on 2007
December 28, 2007

Full:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov125_Full_219489_7.mp3
Edited:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov125_Edit_219492_7.mp3
Quote:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov125_Quote_219493_7.mp3

As the year draws to a close, I want to wish you and your family a joyful holiday season and a safe, happy New Year.  As we prepare to ring in the New Year, it seems only appropriate that we reflect back on what happened in 2007.  While there's no question that we faced more than our share of challenges, especially with the budget, we spent the year working hard to create jobs, ensure a quality education for every child, provide affordable health care for every family, and ensure safe places for all Michiganians to live and play.

So in these challenging but productive months of the past year:

We replaced the state's Single Business Tax with the fairer Michigan Business Tax and included incentives for research and job creation.

I continued to go anywhere and do anything to attract and retain good paying jobs in Michigan. My investment missions to Sweden and Germany this year have already created or retained more than 1,000 jobs.

We made alternative energy a priority for its potential to create new jobs.  Our goal is to make Michigan a world leader in this emerging field.  Already our efforts have resulted in Mascoma, the nation's first cellulosic ethanol plant, choosing to locate in Michigan and a historic agreement between the Swedish company Chemrec and the NewPage paper mill in Escanaba to work on making biofuel from that mill's byproducts.

Through our 21st Century Jobs Fund and other economic development tools, we helped 163 high-tech and alternative energy companies choose Michigan or expand in Michigan.

We helped 7,800 displaced workers get training and placed nearly 50,000 citizens in jobs through our No Worker Left Behind initiative and Michigan Opportunity Partnership.

We saw 33,000 students start college or technical training with a $4,000 Michigan Promise scholarship to help them pay the cost.  And another 86,000 students have the scholarship waiting for them when they complete two years of college or training.

Also in 2007, I continued my fight to make health care affordable and accessible to every citizen. And today, thanks to this hard work, we are tied with Hawaii - Michigan is tied with Hawaii - for having the lowest rate of uninsured children in the country!

These are just a few of the things that got done in 2007.

But make no mistake.  There is much more to do.  If we're going to create new, high-paying jobs in Michigan and succeed in this new economy, we need to continue our reforms, and we need to invest in our people and our quality of life.   And that's exactly what I plan to do in 2008. 

For now, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm, again, wishing you a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year.  Thanks for listening.

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