When Michigan legislators seek guidance for the state’s economic woes, they may want to look up … they may just catch a glimpse of the future of workforce development. His name is Dan Kilgore, a 31-year-old from Battle Creek. Working today as an electric line technician, Kilgore got his job by participating in a partnership between […]
Business Watch
Covering the intersection of business and policy, and informing Michigan employers and workers on the long road back from coronavirus. Our Michigan Economic Dashboard shows key metrics that show how the state is performing.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Certificates can buy middle-class lifestyle
While the path to the Michigan middle class will wind almost exclusively through college campuses, the journey will have some shortcuts, according to an analysis of job projections by Bridge Magazine. Some careers projected to have high demand require only a vocational certification — usually taking less than two years of schooling — and offer salaries comparable […]
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Jobs of the future: Where they'll be in Michigan
Jim Danielski tells horror stories, but not the kind shared with toasted marshmallows around a campfire. Danielski’s horror stories are the kind that should keep Gov. Rick Snyder awake at night. At his career counseling center in Plymouth, Danielski sees a steady stream of people who aren’t ready for Michigan’s new economy. Some have no […]
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Five fields that will still pay well
Michiganians looking to increase their odds of landing a full-time job with above-average pay should head directly to a hospital. Can’t stand the sight of blood? Maybe you would prefer being a financial analyst. Not good with numbers? Think about oil and gas. The job outlook in Michigan is projected to remain tight through 2018, […]
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Job prospects take on oily sheen
The list of the fastest growing jobs in Michigan is dominated by one unlikely industry – petroleum. Five of the six fastest-growing occupations are connected to petroleum and natural resource extraction through 2018, according to Bridge Magazine job projections based on federal data. The projections assume the same kind of explosive growth in hydraulic fracturing […]
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Law degree proves costly bargain
It’s been six years since Andrew Rockafellow earned a law degree from Cooley Law School in Lansing. He’ll be lucky to earn $20,000 this year, with no health-care benefits. For those doing the math, Rockafellow’s $100,000 law degree is the equivalent of five years’ pay. By comparison, those graduating with a one-year Cisco certification at […]
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Health costs decide health of Mich.
“Higher doctor fees drive U.S. health care costs, report finds” Well, no surprise there. And no, I’m not saying doctors should work for free or for a pittance. The story behind the story on this is why there’s such a fee differential between the U.S. and the rest of the Western nations. This story is […]
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Stomach-churning: Highs and lows in Mich. economy
Michigan has starred in its own disaster movie in the first decade of 21st century. The economic equivalents of F5 tornadoes and magnitude 9 earthquakes have battered the automotive industry and smashed construction work in the state. You knew all that, having lived here. But amid all the destruction there was surprising growth over the […]
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Agriculture's growth real, but not the stuff of myth
Late last winter, Gov. Rick Snyder officially dubbed March 17, 2011, as Michigan Agriculture Day. The proclamation lauds the industry as “the source of virtually everything we eat each day,” and says it plays a “key role in the growth and reinvention of Michigan’s economy.” It’s one of the ways that Snyder has singled out […]
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Economic shockwave flattens construction industry
Bloomfield Park, an abandoned mixed-use real estate project in Oakland County, stands as an eerie symbol of the construction industry’s collapse in Michigan over the past decade. Looking like the bleak setting of a “Mad Max” movie, the planned $2 billion development on Telegraph Road just north of Square Lake Road was to have featured […]