While the Holland area may be better known to outsiders for its Dutch heritage and pristine Lake Michigan beaches, the locals know its economy is driven by manufacturing. The area suffered as manufacturing output fell by a third during the Great Recession. Unemployment exceeded 13 percent. But a strong rebound by auto suppliers, office furniture […]
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
Mapping Michigan’s growth in 2011
While Michigan has 83 counties and hundreds upon hundreds of communities, when it comes to economics, the only number that really matters is 14. That figure represents the “metropolitan statistical areas” defined by the federal government as cohesive economic units. Those 14 places – sometimes a single county, sometimes multiple counties – account for nearly […]
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How did your city’s economy do in 2011?
PICTURE OF PROGRESS: Downtown Grand Rapids and the rest of the Grand Rapids-Wyoming MSA posted a 2.3 percent growth rate in 2011, matching the statewide figure. (Bridge archive photo) The Holland-Grand Haven area had the best 2011 when it came to economic growth in 2011 – at least as it compared to 2010. Still, though, […]
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From the ashes of Hudson’s, finally a phoenix for Detroit?
NEW LIFE FOR SITE?: The J.L. Hudson store’s enormous flag was unfurled on its Woodward Avenue facade on Flag Day 1976. The banner, called the world’s largest at the time, now rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. At a policy conference in Detroit last week, Matt Cullen of Rock Ventures announced a proposal […]
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Michigan still using federal dollars to fund mortgage assistance programs
As she struggled to hold onto her home after her hours as a retail clerk were slashed, a 66-year-old Kentwood resident initially lost $1,300 in a scam run by a company that promised to help the woman and her husband avoid foreclosure. Then she found out about a state program that provided her with a […]
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$1 billion economic impact? That’s Pure Michigan.
Massachusetts resident Delia Marshall came to Michigan last summer for a family reunion at a beach house on the shores of Lake Michigan. A week later, she left as an ambassador for a state that claims to be home to “the perfect summer.” “We stayed in a house with a private beach and I just […]
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Plan calls for Pure Michigan to be big, too
The widely praised Pure Michigan advertising campaign has been credited with resurrecting the state’s tourism industry, putting Michigan on the national travel map and giving Michigan residents something to crow about. Now in its seventh year, Pure Michigan has even been called one of the best tourism promotion campaigns of all time. What could managers […]
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Next frontier for state tourism — the world
Sarah Nicholls said she observes an odd phenomenon every time she takes a flight from her native England to Detroit’s Metro Airport. “The vast majority of people coming from England are making connections in Detroit — very few are staying in Detroit,” said Nicholls, a tourism expert and associate professor at Michigan State University. Nicholls […]
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Road repair enjoys bipartisan support
On Michigan’s Right to Work law, labor activist Mark Schauer and business advocate Rich Studley could not have sought more different results. But when it comes to working on Michigan’s crumbling roads — an issue that’s arisen in Lansing nearly as frequently as winter potholes — the two have an identical goal. Schauer, a former […]
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What does an additional penny of gas tax buy?
For each penny of gas or diesel tax, Michigan gets about $45 million for transportation funding needs that include roads. There are lots of road cost variables, but that $45 million might buy, for example, 23 more lane miles of reconstructed roads or 75 additional lane miles of repaired roads. Or, it could enable the […]
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