2008 Press Room Archive
Detroit Free Press
June 1, 2008
Inspire grads to stay in Michigan
Lou Glazer hears it all the time.
The president and cofounder of the Michigan Future Inc. think tank will often be talking with an audience about what's right and wrong with the state economy when a parent in the crowd will complain that his or her newly graduated son or daughter had to leave the state to find work. Later in the same session, a business owner will gripe about not being able to find qualified young employees. (full artilce)
Oakland Business Review
May 30, 2008
Talent tops in Mackinac action plan poll
Talent rules.
Educational preparedness and the attraction and retention of talent easily emerged as the top concern of Detroit-area business leaders gathered at the Mackinac Island policy conference. The top five results of the poll, which was conducted with computer terminals spread throughout the Grand Hotel, were released Friday. (full article)
WWJ Newsradio 960
May 30, 2008
Mackinac Panel: Get Younger And Smarter Or Else
Any thought that this week's Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Conference would sugarcoat the region's deep economic challenges was quickly dashed by the event's first two presentations late Wednesday afternoon. (full article)Detroit Free Press
May 30, 2008
Get smarter about keeping grads in state
Here in a place that doesn't change by design, the conversation since Wednesday has been all about what Michigan must do differently. And there is a palpable sense of urgency about it at the Detroit Regional Chamber's 28th annual policy conference, spurred by a new report showing that new college graduates are fleeing the state in droves, convinced their future lies elsewhere. (full article)Associated Press/MLive
May 30, 2008
Business leaders want to keep Michigan's talented youths
Michigan businesses could use more Bruce McCullys. Raised on an Antrim County farm, McCully started a computer technology business while attending the University of Michigan a decade ago. He could have settled anywhere after leaving college, but chose his home state -- a decision too few of Michigan's well-educated young people are making these days.
(full article)Detriot Free Press
May 29, 2008
Leaders emphasize need to retain younger grads
The sorry state of Michigan's economy set a pessimistic tone on the first day of the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference as Edsel Ford II and other Michigan business leaders said the state hasn't made much progress in the last year. (full article)Ann Arbor Business Review
May 28, 2008
Internship program can help Michigan's economy, Detroit chamber says
The Detroit Regional Chamber is launching a $500,000 initiative designed to dramatically
increase the number of internships available to Michigan college students.
The program, funded through a $5 million "Wired" grant, will involve the creation of a main
Web site through which companies can post internship opportunities and students can connect
with businesses. (full article)Crain's Detroit Business
April 14, 2008
Report: Area needs more creatives to match vigor of other Midwest cities Southeast
Michigan needs to build a critical mass of at least 50 percent more households with young creatives and professionals — including a threefold increase within Detroit itself — to achieve the economic and cultural vitality of other Midwest cities, according to an upcoming report. (full article)
MIRS
April 7, 2008
Not All Unemployment Pain Is Equal
No joke. Michigan's unemployment rate is about 3.4 percent.
For college graduates, that is, according to 2006 U.S. Census Bureau statistics for workers age 25 to 64, which are the latest available. Those without high school diplomas, however, are staring at an eyepopping 17.4 percent jobless rate. (full article)Ann Arbor News
March 8, 2008
We must attract talent to Michigan to achieve goal of high prosperity
Obviously the Michigan economy has been dreadful this decade, primarily because the engine that still drives the Michigan economy is the troubled domestic auto industry.
Michigan has suffered an unprecedented seven consecutive years of job losses. Maybe most worrisome, per capita income is now at its lowest ever compared to the nation. (full article)Michigan Business Review
February 28, 2008
Seeding or ceding the future?
As a broader debate unfolds on how to pursue a better economic future for the state, the latest
initiative in western Michigan reflects a course already set down.
The basic premise behind InnovationWorks is to connect inventors with people who can take their ideas to market, ultimately creating new jobs for the region. (full article)Spinal Column Newsweekly
February 27, 2008
The Glazer Interview
Lou Glazer of Ann Arbor is the president of Michigan Future, Inc., a non-partisan, non-profit organization generating new ideas on how Michigan can succeed in the Information Age. Michigan Future Inc. is launching a high school designed to connect students to good-paying careers in the automotive industry, an employer-centered system for reducing chronic unemployment in Detroit, and developing an action plan for revitalizing Michigan's central cities, as well as a new agenda for a new Michigan. Glazer worked for former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard's administration from 1983 to 1990. (full article)Grand Rapids Business Journal
February 18, 2008
Study Says West Michigan Trailing In Talent, Income
The seven-county West Michigan area trails the state and nation in the concentration of college graduates, the single most important predictor of economic prosperity, according to a new study from think-tank Michigan Future Inc. (full article)Booth Newspapers - Peter Luke
February 17, 2008
State's focus on urban areas the right way to attract talent
It's a coincidence that the city of Detroit paid a reported $8.4 million in a failed attempt to keep Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's sex life out of the papers and that Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm's new budget recommends an $8.355 million increase in Detroit's 2009 revenue sharing payment. (full article)Detroit Free Press (Editorial)
February 15, 2008
Boost cities to help turn state around
Michigan's economic future depends on healthy cities, as successful states and regions have shown. That will require a new economic focus at the state level -- a big shift from arguing about raising or cutting taxes to making smart, targeted investments in cities and education.
(full article)Grand Rapids Press
February 14, 2008
Keeping smart, young workers is key to growth
This region needs to get younger and smarter fast if it hopes to win the race for a fresh generation of well-educated workers.
That economic marathon is growing tougher for cities in Michigan, Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., told a small crowd at a midday news conference by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. (full article)Ann Arbor News
Our route to recovery is clear - education
February 13, 2008
A recent study shows just how far Michigan needs to travel to transform its economy.
Michigan Future Inc., an Ann Arbor-based think tank, analyzed the state's progress toward adding jobs in the "knowledge economy'' - fields that include technology, health care, education and finance. (full article)Kalamazoo Gazette
February 13, 2008
Massachusetts or Mississippi: What's our choice?
The Kalamazoo-Portage economy is a sturdy ship in a stormy sea, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research economist George Erickcek reported last week. (full article)
Battle Creek Enquirer
February 13, 2008
State's future prosperity hinges on education (Editorial)
The numbers provide a stark testimony to the benefits of a college degree: Between 2000 and 2006, Michigan consistently ranked 34th among the 50 states in the number of residents age 25 or older who held a bachelor's degree. Not a statistic to be particularly proud of, but not nearly as disturbing as personal income figures: For that same six-year period, Michigan fell from 16th in the nation for per-capita income to 26th. (full article)WWJ - Newsroom 950
February 13, 2008
Lou Glazer: Remaking Michigan Economy Starts with Changing Its Mindset
Lou Glazer says if Michigan wants to once again be a place that creates lots of high-paying jobs, those who live here need to change their thinking – radically. (full article)Lansing State Journal
February 13, 2008
Lansing can be economic engine, report says
The Lansing area can be one of the economic engines of Michigan if its leaders can figure out how to attract and retain the college graduates driving knowledge industries. (full article)WLNS TV-6 Lansing
February 13, 2008
Michigan Lagging Behind for Knowledge-Based Economy
A new study claims Michigan is lagging behind other states in transition to a knowledge based economy. The report by Michigan Future, a non-partisan research group, says the key to Michigan's economic growth is keeping and attracting more college graduates to our state.
Right now, it says Detroit and Lansing are not measuring up to other Midwest cities. (full article)MIRS
February 12, 2008
Report: MI's Knowledge-Based Economy Still Lags
A new report tells a familiar story. Michigan lags behind in the new knowledge-based economy and needs to adjust tout de suite.
The non-partisan Michigan Future Inc. had the same assessment today that it did in its 2006 report: The state needs an infusion of young college-educated young people, who are drawn to unique cities. (full article)Detroit News
February 12, 2008
Michigan lags in attracting educated workers
Big cities are emerging as major winners in the knowledge-based economy, but Detroit lags other major metropolitan areas in the race to attract the young and educated, according to a study released Monday that looks at Michigan's effort to remain competitive. (full article)Detriot Free Press
February 12, 2008
Young talent key for state
A new report on Michigan's economy made a compelling case Monday that the state and Detroit area need above all to attract more educated young workers to prosper.
(full article)Crain's Detroit Business
February 12, 2008
Report: Region must attract college-educated
Michigan dropped an unprecedented 10 spots to 26th in U.S. per-capita income rankings between 2000 and 2006, according to a report released today by Michigan Future Inc. (full article)Lansing State Journal
February 12, 2008
Report says Mich. lagging in creating
high-wage jobs
A new study says Michigan and three of its largest cities - Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing - are lagging behind other states and cities in creating high-wage jobs that require a college degree. (full article)Ann Arbor News
February 11, 2008
State's low rate of college degrees tied to job loss
If having an abundance of knowledge-based jobs and vibrant metro areas is a key to economic prosperity, then Michigan's future is in doubt, a new study says.
(full article)Associated Press
February 11, 2008
Report says Michigan lags in creating high-wage jobs
A new study says Michigan and three of its largest cities — Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing — are lagging other states and cities in creating high-wage jobs that require a college degree. (full article)Gongwer News Service
February 11, 2008
Report: Unless State Develops Intellectual Talent Economy Will Lag The states with the highest per capita income were those with among the highest levels of residents with college educations, and unless Michigan can boost its level of educational attainment among its residents the economy will continue to decline, a report released Monday said. Right now, the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing areas are lagging other major areas in terms of building education-based jobs, said Michigan Future Incorporated, but the state is seeing some growth in those types of jobs. (full article)
Detroit News
February 11, 2008
Education is key to economic growth
Mitt Romney, the once-and-former Republican presidential hopeful, won last month's Michigan primary partly by promising to reverse the evaporation of manufacturing jobs in his native state. (full article)Detroit Free Press
February 10, 2008
States know it's time to cooperate
There was a time when the big industrial Great Lakes states -- Michigan, Ohio, Illinois,
Pennsylvania, New York -- were so strong they could afford to be more chippy than neighborly with each other on the economic battlefield. (full article)
