Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s No Worker Left Behind program was a wildly ambitious effort to retrain more than 100,000 laid-off or low-income workers for new jobs as the state’s manufacturing base imploded. Although the $500 million program faced criticism for its effectiveness during its three-year run between 2007 and 2010, a new survey has found that […]
Rick Haglund
Rick Haglund has had a distinguished career covering Michigan business, economics and government at newspapers throughout the state. Most recently, at Booth Newspapers he wrote a statewide business column and was one of only three such columnists in Michigan. He also covered the auto industry and Michigan’s economy extensively.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Auto Future: A bounty of jobs and opportunity for skilled workers
Cole is chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. (Courtesy photo.) David E. Cole has worked in, studied, and invested in the auto industry for decades. At 76, he remains Michigan’s go-to expert in the state’s flagship industry. As the Big Three automakers have largely recovered from their near-death spiral of […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Wave of craft beer washes over Michigan
SAMPLING THE LOCAL FARE: Patrons of Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids enjoy some of the product of Michigan’s craft brewing industry, which continues to grow rapidly. (Bridge photo/Lance Wynn) Michigan’s craft beer industry is growing so fast that leaders of the trade association representing it can’t keep track of all the activity. “I […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
State government ‘spends’ $30 billion more this year than you think
(courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) Officially, Michigan’s state government is spending $48.2 billion this year on education, health care, prisons, transportation and all other spending programs. But the state actually is shelling out $78.9 billion — 64 percent more than the spending allocated through the state budget. It’s happening through something called “tax expenditures”—tax […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan good at making tax deals, but results of them aren’t clear
DETAILS NOT INCLUDED: While Michigan is good at tracking the overall amount of tax-break deals, say researchers, it’s not so great in showing whether the deals accomplished their stated goals. (courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) Michigan gets high marks from some experts on how it reports its billions of dollars in tax breaks to […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Look Ma! We’re doing it on three wheels!
THREE-WHEELIN’: TerraTrike employee Brandon Griffin, 29, of Caledonia shows off one of the firm’s creations on a trail through Cascade Township Park near Grand Rapids. TerraTrike is one of the 2013 “50 Companies to Watch” across Michigan. (Bridge photo/Lance Wynn) You can tell a lot about where the state’s economy has been and where it’s […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Living for the city: Vibrant urban cores lure young talent
FLYING HIGH: Milwaukee’s avant-garde art museum is a landmark on its urban waterfront. Such amenities are seen as key to lure young talent to metro areas. (Courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Detroit and Milwaukee have a shared history as blue-collar, manufacturing, shot-and-a-beer kinds of towns. In recent decades, the two Midwest cities also have […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In turnaround, suburbs lose business to Detroit after years of flight
(Bridge illustration by A.J. Jones) The Southeast Michigan office of Grand Rapids-based public relations firm Lambert Edwards & Co. had been located for years in a gleaming high-rise Troy tower, surrounded by a sea of asphalt parking lots and clogged highways. “You couldn’t walk out your door to get a sandwich,” President Jeff Lambert said. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Sewer overflows declining, but heavy rains still push sewage into streams
APRIL SHOWERS BRING …: Torrential rains across Michigan overwhelmed sewer systems, leading to the release of more than 1 billion gallons of tainted water into lakes and streams. (courtesy photo) Billions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage are still fouling the state’s rivers, lakes and streams, despite years of work by state and […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Labor belabored: MEA losing members, losing fights. Will it lose its grip?
(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Michigan’s largest teachers union is struggling to keep a toehold as change-minded foes with growing momentum seek to topple the MEA — one of the state’s traditional political giants. The 152,000-member union’s finances are deteriorating. Its growth strategy is uncertain. And it faces an unrelenting political offensive by opponents who see the […]