The auto executive calls on business leaders in Grand Rapids to help improve the state’s business climate. Ford also said he hopes onshoring auto suppliers will help the state.
Paula Gardner
As Bridge Michigan's senior business reporter, Paula Gardner covers Michigan's business landscape, focusing on topics such as the auto industry, electric vehicles and economic development. She came to Bridge in 2020 after covering business and environment for MLive.com and previously served as editor of the Ann Arbor News and news director of the startup AnnArbor.com.
A metro Detroit native, Paula moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan and has called it home for more than 25 years.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Overflow crowd tells Lansing lawmakers: Stop secrecy around data centers
Michigan is awash in data center proposals, in part because of tax incentives. Many residents say enough is enough, calling for tighter regulations and to non-disclosure agreements with local officials.
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Michigan feared Cheboygan Dam danger for years before rains pushed it to brink
Records show state, local and federal officials tried for years to compel repairs that could prevent a flood, but its private owners didn’t act. Once again, regulators are finger-pointing about who is to blame.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan betting that space is next frontier to create jobs
Satellites, rockets and more are fueling a new ‘space race.’ Michigan has a piece of it but officials say more is possible.
Posted inBusiness Watch
A first for Michigan’s $2.4B SOAR business incentive program: New jobs
Companies say they’ve created 1,846 of the 14,559 jobs they originally promised in exchange for Michigan SOAR subsidies. They still have several years to meet their targets.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Neighborhood demolition to begin at $261M Michigan megasite despite holdouts
Dozens of homes are slated for demolition this month in Mundy Township. Some residents have refused to sell and move out of a neighborhood that officials want to raze for a potential large-scale development.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Locals to U-M: Your $1.2B supercomputer not welcome here
The project would include nuclear weapons research, prompting Ypsilanti Township to say that could be a community danger.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Homeowners ‘hijacked’ by Michigan megasite: Sell or live next to factory
In the shadow of Flint Bishop Airport, residents say they feel burned by a $261 million to lure a megafactory. A state lawmaker says the state ‘bankrolled a lose-lose situation.’
Posted inBusiness Watch
Genesee County leaders still bullish on megasite’s potential, despite setbacks
Manufacturing has cratered in the county since the early 1980s, and a huge site near Flint Bishop Airport could help ‘reverse decades of job loss and sluggish population growth,’ boosters say.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Inside Michigan’s secret $261M plan to raze homes for megafactory that never came
Documents obtained by Bridge tell the story of one of the biggest gambles of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s tenure. The taxpayer-funded project to lure a major employer to mid-Michigan kept residents and some lawmakers in the dark, demolished neighborhoods and so far has come up empty.