August 06, 2009
August 6, 2009
In radio address, governor says grants could create up to 40,000 new jobs by 2020
LANSING - In this week's radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said the U.S. Department of Energy grants for a dozen Michigan projects announced Wednesday by Vice President Joe Biden will support the development and manufacture of advance batteries and electric vehicles in Michigan and create thousands of new good-paying jobs.
"Estimates are that the federal grants will help lead to 6,800 new Michigan jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 jobs over the next 11 years," Granholm said. "The federal grants also support our continuing state economic diversification efforts. We want to diversify inside the auto industry and outside it. We want to establish in Michigan an entire advanced battery industry, with manufacturers and suppliers located here, creating new economic activity and even more new jobs here."
Granholm noted that her administration has worked for nearly three years laying the groundwork for this new economic sector.
"Back in 2006, we identified the advanced battery market as a key emerging industry that Michigan, already the global center of automotive research and development, was positioned to lead," Granholm said. "We developed an aggressive strategy to bring to Michigan the jobs and economic development created by advanced battery research, development and production."
"In the 20th century, development of the internal combustion engine led to the growth of a world-class automotive industry centered in Michigan and it created a broad, middle-class prosperity," Granholm continued. "In this century, advanced battery technology will be every bit as crucial to developing a new green auto industry and preserving the middle-class way of life that we enjoy in Michigan."
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 - Advanced Batteries
Full: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov209_Full_288228_7.mp3
Edited: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov209_Edit_288229_7.mp3
Quote: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov209_Quote_288231_7.mp3
Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Vice President Joe Biden brought extremely good news when he visited Michigan on Wednesday. The vice president announced that a dozen Michigan projects have been awarded more than $1.35 billion in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. These grants, funded by the federal Recovery Act, will support the development and manufacture of advanced batteries and electric vehicles in our state, and create thousands of new good-paying jobs.
Some of the companies receiving the grants are ones you know - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Others aren't household names yet, like A123 Systems, Johnson Controls, KD Advanced Battery Group and Compact Power - all companies that manufacture advanced batteries.
What does this mean for Michigan? Well, for one thing, it means new jobs - lots of them. Estimates are that the federal grants will help lead to 6,800 new Michigan jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 jobs over the next 11 years.
The federal grants also support our continuing state economic diversification efforts. We want to diversify inside the auto industry and outside it. We want to establish in Michigan an entire advanced battery industry here, with manufacturers and suppliers located here, creating new economic activity and even more new jobs here.
We've worked for nearly three years laying the groundwork for this new economic sector. Back in 2006, we identified the advanced battery market as a key emerging industry that Michigan, already the global center of automotive research and development, that Michigan was positioned to lead. We developed an aggressive strategy to bring Michigan the jobs and economic development created by advanced battery research, development and production.
That strategy included Michigan's first-in-the-nation advanced battery tax credits to attract the manufacturers of this new technology to our state. We now have issued nearly $700 million in credits, which are used by companies for such things as advanced battery vehicle research and battery pack manufacturing. These credits were crucial to several companies winning the federal grants announced on Wednesday.
The Centers of Energy Excellence are another part of our strategy. The centers are partnerships between government, cutting-edge energy companies and our outstanding universities, partnerships that accelerate commercialization of alternative energy technologies. We now have six Centers of Energy Excellence in Michigan, and two of them concentrate on advanced batteries.
In the 20th century, development of the internal combustion engine led to the growth of a world-class automotive industry centered in Michigan and it created a broad, middle-class prosperity. In this century, advanced battery technology will be every bit as crucial to developing a new green auto industry and preserving the middle-class way of life that we enjoy in Michigan.
Thank you for listening.
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