Michigan needs a strong and unifying governor to change its alarming trajectory, Business Leaders for Michigan says.
Paula Gardner
Paula directs the business reporting on Bridge, writing much of it and setting the strategy for how statewide business coverage fits into Bridge’s nonpartisan policy-driven editorial mix. Paula came to Bridge in 2020 after several years at MLive.com, where she covered the state on both business and environmental teams. Prior to that, she was editor of the Ann Arbor News and news director of online startup AnnArbor,com, and also focused on business news as an editor and reporter at Michigan Business Review. Born and raised in metro Detroit, Paula moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, and has lived in the city for 20 years with her husband, who grew up in their neighborhood. Paula also regularly visits East Lansing and Grand Rapids to visit her college-aged children. She can be reached at pgardner@bridgemi.com
Hope, anger on display at town hall as $261M megasite forges ahead near Flint
About 200 gather for a town hall hearing about what’s next for Mundy Township after Sandisk’s plans for a semiconductor collapsed.
Michigan has spent $261M on Mundy megasite. Now, the public weighs in
Opponents and advocates of the megasite will speak at a town hall in Flint on Thursday night. The public event will feature a Q&A on the state-funded $260 million project.
Michigan lawmakers: Eliminate economic development agency
MEDC spending soared during Whitmer administration, but critics say its results don’t benefit taxpayers or most businesses.
Tech giants announce $7B data center, Michigan’s first hyperscale campus
Three tech companies have announced plans to build a massive data center on 575 acres in rural southwest Washtenaw County.
Lawmakers: Michigan needs to disclose details of failed Gotion deal
The EV battery company was asked to return $23.5 million to the state, but other questions remain, a House committee heard Wednesday. Among them: what was the money spent on?
After Gotion and SOAR, Michigan eyes overhaul of corporate subsidy strategy
With failure of large-scale incentives, Lansing now looks to what could be effective job-growth tools.
Swartz Creek shoots down $40M offer to sell school for Michigan megasite
In another setback for economic development officials, Genesee County officials reject a deal to sell a school to assemble land for a huge project. Sandisk had eyed a multibillion-dollar semiconductor plant on the land.
Michigan: Gotion battery plant plan is dead after years of controversy
A proposed $2.4 electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids has been beset over by lawsuit and questions about its ties to Communist China. It’s the second big-ticket project to die in the past few months.
Federal shutdown hits Michigan telehealth, Head Start, environment, more
One researcher called the shutdown “a crisis in slow motion” and multiple officials said cuts will worsen if the shutdown drags on.