Your Guide to Reinventing Michigan

by Nettie Boivin

March 3rd, 2008 in Advice, Art, Careers, Creative, Energy, Events, Green, Lifestyle, Newsletter, Talent, The Reinvention Issue

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Sorting through the news around the state, a rising tide is pushing Michigan closer to reinvention. From young professionals and arts organizations to corporations and nonprofits, thousands are taking Michigan’s success personally. The final nudge toward the tipping point — you.

Here’s a primer on where we stand and how you can help.

Flickr ID: Kaddy

Michigan’s Future: The Current Situation

You may remember the MiLife MiTimes report on the Myth of the Brain Drain. Certainly, Michigan wants to attract and retain as many talented, upwardly mobile people as possible.

Here’s the key. Those people want five things: the arts, research universities, mass transit, downtown and near-downtown neighborhoods, and green or outdoor spaces.

Each of these desires is highlighted by Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future and one of the state’s most valuable urban planners. In a recent Free Press interview, he urged that “[Michigan] needs a new agenda. We’re not working on the talent part of it.”

Glazer’s recent study, “Michigan’s Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy: First Annual Report” revealed that Michigan dropped from 16th to 26th nationally in per-capita income earnings — a telling plunge of 10 spots while remaining 34th in percentage of Americans with a four-year degree or higher.

Translation: High-paying jobs for uneducated workers are disappearing and the playing field is correcting itself.

However, as in the perpetuation of the brain drain myth, many headlines overlooked part of the report.

Between 2001 and 2005, Michigan added about 47,000 higher-paying jobs in the health care and higher education industries. About 30,000 of those were in metro Detroit with much of the remainder near Grand Rapids.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

This video of Glazer offers a great download on Michigan’s potential.

He points out that Google, the “coolest company in the world,” chose to move its AdWords HQ to Ann Arbor for a reason — talent. Feels good to have a company that’s practically closing in on world domination attracting and employing so many bright minds right here in Michigan.

The Knowledge Economy - Rise of the Left Brainers

To build a knowledge economy, we need to educate and retain those brains. So it seems logical that the State should put a huge spending priority on higher education, right?

Here’s some disturbing news. The Pew Center just reported that Michigan is one of only four states that spends more on prisons than higher education. More of our thinly-stretched budget ($2 billion dollars worth) is spent on keeping people behind bars than upholding the excellence of our 15 public universities. (Ugh.) To her credit, Gov. Granholm did address this unfortunate disparity in this year’s budget as she proposed trimming $50 million from the prisons and asked state leaders to take a closer look at Corrections reform.

Meanwhile, the University Research Corridor — comprised of MSU, WSU and U-M — is taking the state’s economic future into its own hands by investing a combined $1 billion a year to attract businesses in rapidly growing industries such as life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing and information technology, creating nearly 70,000 jobs in 2006 alone.

While the State tries to figure out how to spend more on our universities and less on prisons, other groups are at work to keep the well-educated through internships and creative careers.

One such group is MORE (Michigan Opportunities and Resources for Entrepreneurs). Executive Director and Detroit-native Jessica Pfeiffer has a lot to say on the topic of retaining college graduates. She’s creating connections between Michigan’s talent and the state’s most innovative companies, as seen in the upcoming Entrepreneurial Opportunities Day on March 19 at the University of Michigan.

Then there’s the responsible, philanthropic foundations like the 10 community organizations who’ve together pooled $100 million in eligible grants called the New Economy Initiative (NEI). Nonprofits and government agencies can apply for up to $1 million through 2015 or as long as funds are available.

“This is the single biggest pooled investment that a consortium of foundations has ever made in urban America,” said Rip Rapson, president of the Troy-based Kresge Foundation, in an interview with Model D Media.

Share your thoughts on how to move the region forward and learn about the NEI grant process here.

The Creative Economy - Rise of the Right Brainers

Imagine it. Silicon Valley in California. Research Triangle in North Carolina. Next up: Creative Corridor in Michigan.

Detroit Renaissance, an organization of Detroit’s top-brass business leaders, is putting mega bucks into the development of a few miles of Woodward Ave. with plans to market it nationally as the Creative Corridor. The $80 million “Road to Renaissance” project aims to attract the best, brightest and most creative companies to a strip that already includes Wayne State University, Detroit Institute of Art (DIA), Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), and the College of Creative Studies (CCS).

“For younger professionals especially, it’s important they know they don’t have to go to Chicago or New York. There’s a tradition of creativity right here,” said Mary Kramer, the Crain’s publisher awarded the project to create an asset map of creative companies.

Then there’s ArtServe Michigan, the statewide organization that advocates for artists, cultural institutions and K-12 educators. Under new president Neeta Delaney, the nonprofit works to offer resources, connections and funding to Michigan’s vital arts and culture community.

Approaching their annual Arts & Culture Advocacy Day in Lansing on March 19, Delaney envisions a marriage of arts and culture supporters and environmentalists to conceive a stronger sector with a united voice. The goal is to ensure that the state’s natural and cultural resources maintain priority seating in Michigan’s agenda for a competitive edge in the new economy.

Also in the mix, there’s the combined star-power of Mitch Albom, Jeff Daniels and Mike Binder who took their filmmaking experience to Lansing and set forth a plan to import millions of dollars from Hollywood to Michigan.

Albom and Binder presented to a Senate Committee on January 22, leading to a fast-tracked proposed incentive package that would give filmmakers a 40% tax break. Up from today’s 20%, this would make Michigan the most attractive location to shoot TV and film productions.

Senate hearings on the package begin on March 4. See several related articles from MiLifeMiTimes.com here.

Finally, anyone who cares about the success of our cities should look forward to the Creative Cities Summit 2.0 in October at the Renaissance Center.

“We are thrilled to bring this event to Michigan, in particular to Detroit, where these ideas are already underway,” said Peter Kageyama of Creative Cities Productions, the producers of the event. “We saw this as an opportunity to use the metaphor of Detroit as the epitome of the American industrial city that is creatively remaking itself in the 21st century.”

Topics will include place making, talent attraction, retention strategies and best practices for economic and social development. Planners also are developing a unique event specifically for the young and talented to share their voice and vision for Michigan’s cities of the future.

What Can You Do?

Take the day off and join the movement for a creative economy at ArtServe’s Arts & Culture Advocacy Day on March 19.

Join the Creative Cities Summit 2.0 Facebook Group to get updates on the event.

Support the Film Incentive Package by getting involved with Creative Energy Alliance and the Michigan Production Alliance.

Include your company on the Creative Corridor’s Asset Map.

After a five-year stint in Chicago, Nettie returned to her native Michigan to discover the state's infinite production of creativity. As editor of MiLifeMiTimes.com and Media Mix Director for BrainGain, Nettie spends her time writing about and promoting Michigan's reinvention through its outstanding arts, culture and creative talent.