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Field Hearings Kick Off in Traverse City for Growing Michigan Together Council Workgroups
August 30, 2023
Jobs, Talent and People Workgroup Convenes in Northern Michigan to Discuss Growing Michigan’s Workforce
Traverse City, Mich.—Field hearings for the workgroups of the Growing Michigan Together Council kick off this week in Traverse City. The Jobs, Talent and People workgroup is holding its field meeting from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31 at the Traverse City Opera House. The community is invited to tune in to the field hearing via livestream.
The field hearing will allow experts to answer questions and share data, policy solutions and lessons learned from across the state and country for workgroup members’ consideration as they prepare to share recommendations with the Growing Michigan Together council in October.
Experts include Creative Class Group Founder Richard Florida, Traverse Connect CEO Warren Call, Black Tech Saturdays Founder Johnnie Turnage, Michigan’s Chief Growth Officer Hilary Doe and the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance’s Director of Government Relations Henry Wolf.
“The Jobs, Talent and People workgroup will play a critical role in boosting Michigan’s population as they will discuss strategies to retain hardworking Michiganders, while also attracting new Michiganders to our workforce from out-of-state,” said Michigan’s Chief Growth Officer Hilary Doe. “Workgroup members were selected among a pool of highly qualified individuals to represent the unique needs and viewpoints of Michigan communities. We’re excited for the workgroup to engage experts from around our state and across the country to inform their work, and we look forward to seeing their recommendations later this year.”
The Growing Michigan Together council includes four workgroups, 1) Infrastructure 2) Jobs, Talent and Economy, 3) PreK-12 Education 4) Higher Education. The workgroup members were selected among hundreds of extremely qualified candidates to broadly represent diversity among Michiganders and aim to encourage a bipartisan voice to make important recommendations for the future of the state.
The Jobs, Talent and People Workgroup Chairs are Portia Roberson, CEO of Focus: HOPE and Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP. A complete list of workgroup members can be found here.
In addition to field hearings, the council recently launched the Growing Michigan Together Tour which includes stops at community events and regional forums designed to discuss local challenges and growth opportunities in communities across the state. Many events will focus on collecting additional input from young people—at work, on campus and online. The tour will also meet college students where they are—on campus—convening both traditional students and adult learners with stops at universities, colleges and community colleges. Engagements will include move-ins, on-campus listening events, homecomings and other youth-focused events across the State.
To learn more about Growing Michigan or to submit feedback, please visit growingmichigan.org.
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