Michigan’s Creative Economy Gets a Boost

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 8th, 2008 in Companies, Creative, Design, Digital, News, Talent

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We all know how important - scratch that - vital it is to cultivate Michigan’s creative economy. Doing so will allow us to retain and attract the type of dynamic young people our region needs to turn itself around, and will help our great state get away from its reliance on an outdated auto industry. Once these things start happening, capital and talent will follow and Michigan will attain a prominent position in the global economy.

This shift towards a creative economy will not happen overnight, but bills like the ones Governor Granholm signed last week will help get us there faster.

The four-bill package, which was sponsored by Senator Tony Stamas (R-Midland), Senator Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac), Senator Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit), and Senator Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit), reform the state’s major business incentive to allow more flexibility in meeting interstate and international competition for business investment. In other words, a company that is retaining or creating a minimum of 50 jobs can qualify for a MEGA Michigan Business Tax credit, a move that paves the way for small, high-tech businesses in creative class industries like architectural design, music and film production services and digital media companies. Businesses meeting the criteria of the new bills, which went into effect immediately, will be eligible for the MEGA allowances, which work as credits against the Michigan Business Tax. The new law also removes a requirement that a company prove it had received competing, lower-cost offers from other states or countries to be eligible for the incentives.

One of Detroit's biggest cheerleaders, Jaime Pfeffer moved to the Motor City from suburban Detroit five years ago. She started a blog, Girl in the D, in September 2004 to promote the positive aspects of Detroit and hasn't stopped touting Motown's good side since. Jaime left corporate America in 2007 to pursue her first love, writing.