ON TRACK: Students learn machinist skills in a Focus: HOPE classroom. The program is designed to put them on a career path to a middle-class income. (Courtesy photo) Craig Vanderburg will be the first to tell you that he’s worked hard for what he has, but caught a few breaks along the way. He came […]
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
Should two towns become one? Merger question moves to Saugatuck-Douglas
Former Saugatuck mayor Catherine Simon has invested $4,000 of her own money in the consolidation effort. “It is going to save money,” she says. “But I also think we would become more effective as one community. We want to have a voice that is competitive with other communities.” On paper at least, the match makes […]
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Merge governments? Sounds good, but not in my backyard.
In August 2012, residents of two quiet Manistee County communities faced a choice. They could vote to dissolve Onekema Village and fold it into Onekema Township, a move proponents said would save money, trim tax bills for village residents and streamline their modest government operations. Or they could keep it all the same. Status quo […]
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Breaker breaker one-nine, trucking jobs dying on the vine
With a fleet of some 60 trucks, Ottawa County-based Luther Logistics is primed to expand. If only it could find the drivers. “I could put four or five people in a truck today,” said Jordan Luther, the firm’s owner and operations manager. “It used to be that we would get four or five people a […]
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Military vets find civilian work behind the wheel
After 12 years in the Navy, John Kutrich was ready to try something else. Following his discharge in 2007, he worked for a military contractor in South Carolina for about 18 months until the work dried up. He moved to Michigan, got his commercial driving license and found work with Flint-based E.L. Hollingsworth & & […]
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Empty cabs: Are driverless vehicles the answer to Michigan’s trucker shortage?
With no obvious near-term answer to the shortage of truck drivers, could it be that science fiction delivers the final solution? Caterpillar is already operating driverless trucks in mining operations in remote parts of Australia, a move company officials say saves both money and mistakes. In July, a driverless car navigated the streets of an […]
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How a Michigan entrepreneur overcame pork politics
Marc Santucci’s long experience of working in international trade came in handy, strangely enough, when he stepped out of that world several years ago and became a Michigan pig farmer. His effort to import blond Mangalitsa pigs from Hungary to Haslett pulled him into lengthy talks with members of Congress and U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
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As vets find jobs contractors fight hiring preferences
Reconnecting military veterans to the workplace after they have served their country has been one the most talked about labor market issues by state and federal policymakers in recent years. After all, what could be more noble than helping veterans, many of whom have risked their lives during combat tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, find […]
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Vets fare better on front lines of job search
Despite a perception that veterans are having a particularly hard time finding jobs, the unemployment rate for veterans in Michigan is lower than for the overall work force. Unemployment rates for veterans and for all Michigan workers: YearVeteransOverall20057.0% 6.8%20066.0% 6.9%20074.9% 7.1%20088.0% 8.3%200915.0% 13.4%2010 15.9% 12.7%201111.2% 10.4%2012>7.9% 9.1% Source: Michigan Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic […]
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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 […]