It looked like the end of the millennium would also be the end of Michigan manufacturing. The state lost 47 percent of its manufacturing employment, nearly 423,000 jobs, between 2000 and 2010 as the U.S. auto industry went into a frightening decline. But like a patient who surprisingly wakes up from a years-long coma, manufacturing […]
Pulse quickens in Mich. manufacturing
Posted inBusiness Watch
Marquette ski builder dodges cost moguls
David Ollila, a serial entrepreneur who has started seven companies, took on a tough personal challenge in launching one new business in 2009. Ollila, 42 and of Marquette, came up with an idea for a ski-snowboard hybrid that he hoped could be built profitably in Michigan — not in China, which he’d relied on for manufacturing […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Guest column: Silent invaders threaten our waters
By Patty Birkholz/Michigan Office of Great Lakes During these cold wintry days, you may not be thinking about invasive species. Maybe you should be. While we await warmer weather — the type conducive to walking beaches, boating or swimming on our inland seas — invasive species are being shipped around the world; they are stowing […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Perks are the point in 'amenity-driven' growth
When Dawn Barry and her husband, Mark, decided to sell their townhouse and buy a house eight years ago, they had a few criteria common to couples in their early 30s. It had to be affordable on their teacher salaries, located in a safe neighborhood with good schools for the children they planned to have […]
Posted inTalent & Education
We already did your college report card, Mr. President
Speaking at the University of Michigan today, President Barack Obama blasted rising college costs and called for a “report card” that families can use to check the true cost of attendance. Michigan families now have that information in a special report on college costs published in Bridge Magazine earlier this month. Obama echoed the findings of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
AG office offers details on '4 strikes' thinking
As readers of this post know, Attorney General Bill Schuette’s proposal to add a “four strikes” provision to Michigan sentencing law has folks in Lansing doing some quick calculations on what this would mean for prisons and prison costs. Today, Rusty Hills of Schuette’s staff outlined what the AG’s Office did prior to the proposal’s […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Capitol vote won't guarantee lower auto insure rates
An array of groups allied to defend Michigan’s “no-fault” system of auto insurance claims and payments for catastrophic injuries resulting from auto accidents has filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. This quasi-public entity calculates the projected costs of paying for catastrophic care and levies an annual fee against auto insurers — which […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Schuette may need big taxpayer bucks to get tougher on crime
Editor’s Note: This post, originally published at 8 a.m. on Jan. 26, was updated at 1 p.m. the same day, 10 minutes after Bridge received new estimates from the Michigan Department of Corrections. A summary of the original estimates provided by MDOC are in this updated post. “AG asks Michigan to spend big to get tougher […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Feeling unloved, skilled public employees are hitting the exit
Michele Glinn loved her job, and she was good at it. As the only Ph.D toxicologist working in the Michigan State Police toxicology unit, she analyzed blood samples for alcohol and other drugs — and crisscrossed the state testifying in court. Frustrated by unpaid furlough days, a shrinking staff and a negative public perception of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
An 'eye-opening experience'
As readers of Bridge Magazine today may know, the last Ph.D toxicologist working for the Michigan State Police resigned in November, leaving the state with no one who can offer expert testimony interpreting the results of alcohol and drug tests. That’s bad news for the state, but it could be good news for Rep. Bob […]