Business Leaders Offer Plan to Fix Michigan
October 30, 2009Two generations ago, Michigan was a “Top Ten” state for economic growth. For the past generation, we have lagged the nation as we become economically poorer, smaller and less competitive.
Motivated by a desire to see Michigan thrive again, Southeast Michigan CEO group Detroit Renaissance with other CEOs and senior executives from across the state united to form Business Leaders for Michigan. We are all speaking in one voice around one goal: making Michigan a top-ten state in the long-term and an above average state in the short-term for job and economic growth.
In order to stop Michigan’s decline, we are proposing the Michigan Turnaround Plan to get our state back to being a top-ten economic leader. We believe that incremental changes to the state’s budget, tax and economic policies will be insufficient to grow the state’s economy. Only a holistic, transformative strategy will do the job.
The Michigan Turnaround Plan is a comprehensive strategy that lays out the case for change, sets achievable goals, identifies specific action steps and explains the impact of change. Business Leaders for Michigan is committed to developing, advocating and supporting strategies that promote the state’s economic competitiveness and accelerate the creation of good jobs. The plan will position Michigan for long-term, sustained economic growth through five strategies:
- Changing the way the state manages its finances. For the past three fiscal years, Michigan has over-projected revenues, in part due to the lack of sufficient input from a broad spectrum of economic advisors, resulting in chronic budget crises. Fiscal discipline could be enhanced through forming an independent forecasting council, adopting two-year budgets and prohibiting new programs unless revenues grow or others of like size are eliminated.
- Right-sizing and enacting structural budget reforms. Budget right-sizing is needed in the short-term and structural reforms in the long-term to achieve sustainable finances. Budget right-sizing should address public employee compensation and benefits, while long-term structural reforms should include corrections spending reductions, local government and school district service sharing and elimination of optional federal services or duplicative state programs.
- Getting Michigan competitive to attract and retain jobs. This would include developing a competitive business tax structure that reflects Michigan’s changing economy, providing a more predictable and stable tax environment for businesses and ensuring tax changes don’t make the state’s structural deficit worse. The short-term goal is to significantly reduce the tax burden of the MBT, while making Michigan a top-ten state for lowest business costs in the long-run.
- Making investments that create a great job environment: Michigan must set priorities and invest its budget resources in areas that will have the greatest long-term economic impact, such as infrastructure, higher education and urban development.
- Accelerating job growth through innovation and entrepreneurship: Michigan could benefit from shifting its economic development strategy towards supporting innovation and entrepreneurship across all sectors; increasing entrepreneurial education; and creating a university-business partnership focused on attracting business, growing sectors and retaining talent.
The Michigan Turnaround Plan is supported by Business Leaders for Michigan’s three pillars of work:
- Compete Michigan. Business Leaders for Michigan will work to improve Michigan’s business climate by advocating for fiscal, tax, regulatory and structural changes that make the state more competitive. This work will be guided by objective benchmarking studies conducted every year of peer regions around the globe.
- Innovate Michigan. Business Leaders for Michigan will focus on strategic initiatives to stimulate new business creation and job growth by supporting the development of a talent base with entrepreneurial skills, developing a distinctive university-business partnership, supporting entrepreneurial infrastructure and growing the pool of venture capital.
- Differentiate Michigan: Business Leaders for Michigan will strive to make Michigan a great place to live and work by championing the redevelopment of Michigan’s cities, leveraging key assets (e.g. Great Lakes and airports) and working to grow key business sectors.
It’s going to take the work of government, business and the civic sectors to turn Michigan around. But the business leaders of Michigan are prepared to put their energy behind a sustained effort to raise public awareness, offer leadership and expertise and closely monitor progress to ensure success.
Dave Brandon is chairman & CEO of Domino’s Pizza. Mark Murray is president of Meijer, Inc.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Tom White // Nov 1, 2009 at 7:59 am
This is very encouraging to see. You have outlined a laudable, thoughtful vision with some details. I hope that you will next write about the “how” we get these effort going. As regular Dome reader I hope you continue to tell us what you are doing, and how we can all work together.
2 gwoods // Nov 6, 2009 at 11:40 am
Have you read “Who Moved The Cheese” ? Michigan is in the same place the mice in the story found themselves: The cheese (the revenue streams that fund public services) is disappearing from its usual location. What do we do? Some mice in the story, like the Business Leaders quoted in this article, would just make do by doing less and less. Others, hopefully, will take the challenge and find new ways to develop new sources of cheese-I mean, revenue- so our state can grow, its services rebound, and people again see Michigan as a wonderful place to live and work.
3 classroom 13 // Nov 17, 2009 at 5:43 am
Great article and very thought provoking. My greatest concern is we don’t have the leadership in Lansing to turn Michigan around. Therefore, the need is now for the business community to step up and put their concern for political “correctness” behind and show some muscle to influence Lansing. What’s left of Michigan’s brain power isn’t in Lansing. Enough is enough!!!!!
4 Andrew Halonen // Nov 28, 2009 at 10:09 am
MI public university spending is out of control. Employees have premium benefits, with many weeks of vacation for new employees. Besides education, they are subsidized to offer housing, food service, clothing stores, etc. Instead of consolidating buildings, they build another one. Would there be significant cost reductions to the tax paying public & the students if universities offered only education & research? Private business could deliver the other services.
5 Tom Crawford // Dec 1, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Wholly one-sided. It’s as if you think business interests are the be-all and end-all to the economy, when in fact the business community has significant influence on both positive AND negative outcomes. Try the intellectual exercise of diametrically disputing the collective Chambers of Commerce dogmatic concepts, step outside the limited business mindset box, and look at quality of life concepts that will make people want to be here, instead of elsewhere…then, with people staying instead of moving away to anywhere, USA, maybe there will be an expanding base of people to bring their minds, talents and commitment to Michigan…in other words, let’s really reverse the trend. Otherwise, the business community remains hopelessly myopic. Maybe, if a profit motive is induced in this intellectual exercise, you’ll be able to justify the commitment of grey matter to this problem.
6 Mort (Westland) // Dec 13, 2009 at 1:16 pm
This is more hogwash from the right. Conservatives have controlled all or part of the state’s government since the state senate recall campaigns in 1983. While Engler was governor (12 years) they had free reign, cut taxes, decimated state programs and made Michigan more “business-friendly” insisting that we’d be better off. Now, we have the lowest taxes in the Great Lakes region and are headed for (if we don’t already have) the lowest standard of living.
We need a progressive income tax, a GST to replace our sales tax and common sense adjustments to our business taxes, like those promoted by Alma Wheeler Smith. We need to bring our schools, roads, mental health care system and other state services back from the abyss conservatives have put them in or on the brink of.
7 MI Native // Jan 8, 2010 at 9:44 am
Mort is just about correct. As usual, lower taxes will fix all. This is bull. Great arguments agaisnt this low road approach by Domios and other congolomerates can be found on the Good jobs First website. google Greg LeRoy and read his books. His analysis is dead on and progressive community rights is the tilt. I grew up in MI and it saddens me to see that the Engler crowd is alive and well and trying to pin this economic disaster tha ttheir mentality helped to create on workers and employers who pay good wages and benefits.
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