Issue Position: Investing in Growing the Economy

Issue Position

As an economic development professional and a former Mayor, I know the importance of building an environment for businesses to thrive. We need to work with existing businesses in our communities to help them access the talented workforce and capital they need to succeed. We need to further invest in our community colleges and workforce agencies to provide people with the skills to transition to different jobs in the new economy. We need to support the technology transfer from higher education institutions to entrepreneurs so we can take ideas from the laboratories to the marketplace. We need to adequately fund all levels of education so our students are prepared to enter into a global workforce.

Michigan is uniquely positioned in a number of industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care, alternative energy, information technology and transportation, distribution and logistics and we need to build off of these assets to grow our economy and jobs. We need to support these businesses to become more competitive in the global marketplace.

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