June 04, 2010
June 4, 2010
Governor says she'll remain focused on these priorities for remainder of year
LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that Michigan must continue diversifying its economy and educating its citizens to be competitive globally. The governor's remarks came during her address at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual policy conference on Mackinac Island.
"The world has changed, and we must change, too, by continuing to diversify and educate," Granholm said. "Since the beginning of my administration, we've focused on diversifying our economy and creating jobs, educating our children and training our workers so they can compete in a global economy, and protecting people during this transition from the old Michigan economy to a new one. These will remain our priorities right through the end of the year."
Granholm said her economic plan has been to target and grow six economic sectors: new energy, including advanced battery, solar and wind manufacturing; advanced manufacturing; life sciences; homeland security and defense; film; and tourism. She said that, so far, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has assisted a total of 919 companies in these six sectors to either locate in Michigan or expand in the state.
"In just the last nine months, 38 companies have set up operations in Michigan in the fields of advanced battery, solar and wind manufacturing," Granholm said. "These investments in Michigan are projected to create more than 82,000 jobs in the next decade. We're steering Michigan from the Rust Belt to the Green Belt."
The governor said global competitiveness also requires unprecedented partnerships.
"Business, labor and government must partner together so we can continue to diversify and create jobs," Granholm said. "To compete, we must also cooperate."
Regarding education, Granholm said the goal remains doubling the number of college graduates in Michigan.
"Four years ago, we created a rigorous college prep curriculum to prepare every Michigan high school graduate for college or technical training," Granholm said. "Some people worried that the tougher curriculum would increase the state's dropout rate. But the dropout rate actually fell 3 percent from 2008 to 2009."
The governor said other key changes to K-12 education came with the package of reforms she signed into law in January as part of the state's Race to the Top application. She also cited encouraging numbers in the state's No Worker Left Behind job-training program and in community college enrollment.
"Enrollment is now 125,000 in our No Worker Left Behind program," Granholm said. "And we've seen a 50 percent increase in community college enrollment this decade."
Granholm said a new Michigan economy necessitates a structural change in government.
"Government must change, too, and we now have a smaller state government - the smallest since the early 1970s," Granholm said. "We've cut spending more than any other state, reduced the number of state departments by 25 percent, and have 11,000 fewer state employees than we did in 2001. Changes to public employee pensions and health-care benefits are reducing structural costs, and we're leveraging technology to make government services more accessible to citizens and businesses."
"Through our diversification and education initiatives, we have laid a foundation for the new Michigan economy," Granholm said. "We've put in place the best policies to promote Michigan's long-term economic health, and we must continue moving forward on this path."
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