MEDC spending soared during Whitmer administration, but critics say its results don’t benefit taxpayers or most businesses.
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
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
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.
Posted inBusiness Watch
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?
Posted inBusiness Watch
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.
Posted inBusiness Watch
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.
Posted inBusiness Watch
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.
Posted inMichigan Government
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.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Poll: Tariffs, grocery costs have Michigan residents sweating economy
Economic worries are often split along partisan lines, as is support for President Trump’s tariffs, according to a survey from the Detroit Regional Chamber.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan megasite plan sparks $40M school uproar after Sandisk exit
Swartz Creek Schools may sell Moorish Elementary for a huge site near Bishop Airport that’s being assembled with state tax dollars, even after the collapse of a semiconductor deal. The proposal has led to months of acrimony in Genesee County.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan legislators kill Gretchen Whitmer’s $2B cash-for-jobs program
After years of underwhelming returns, the Strategic Operating and Attraction Reserve is no more. The program was designed to lure mega companies but so far has created far fewer jobs than promised.