Daniel Howes of the Detroit News had an interesting article last week about the challenges facing Michigan when it comes to being a leader in electric vehicle manufacturing. Here are excerpts from the article.
“We will dominate battery manufacturing by 2030. We in Michigan will go anywhere to bring jobs home. Our goal is to grow Michigan.” ,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised here at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island,
The auto industry is heading all-electric, and Michigan thinks it will lead the way.
If only it was as easy as the happy chatter would have it up here at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. But it’s not — not with more downbeat assessments of Michigan’s lagging educational attainment or concerns that “knowledge economy” jobs are growing faster elsewhere. Not with worrying trends of population loss exacerbated by incoherent immigration policy that makes foreign talent difficult to recruit, if not impossible.
Both can’t be true. Michigan can’t claim a credible lead in the global race to electrify the auto industry and woo the talent to do it if it can’t successfully educate its people. It can’t if its labor participation rate is comparatively poor, or if its assembly line culture doesn’t embrace the fundamental, tech-driven change transforming the industry and new expectations for its workforce.
Getting the basics right is proving elusive in Michigan, irrespective of who controls the governor’s office, the Legislature or both. The single largest growth engine of the auto industry is digital transformation (one reason, perhaps, that Bill Ford called Ford Motor Co. “a software company”), and almost all jobs are likely to require greater software and technical skills.
Meaning: if the state’s system of K-12 education (and beyond) does not create a foundation for Michigan’s would-be tech workers, the state’s claim to leadership in EVs, battery assembly and technological development will be a game of perpetual catch-up. That’s not a winning hand, and realistic business leaders here know it.
Now I compare this to a recent article in Bridge Magazine about the Columbus, Ohio business climate.
Ohio’s tourism slogan “The Heart of It All” could also describe its capital city of Columbus, a thriving metro with 50 years of growth and no signs that the pace of new businesses and people moving into the region will slow.
As Michigan struggles to keep young college grads and bring others into the state, Columbus stands out across the Midwest for its flourishing growth strategy.
Led by the arrival of a massive Intel chip plant, business growth in the Columbus region is now measured in the tens of billions, the city’s population is forecast to increase every year through 2050 and Ohio State University is overseeing a new semiconductor research center.
“We don’t have a beach. We don’t have mountains here in central Ohio,” said Kenny McDonald, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership, a regional economic development group.
What the region does have, however, are community and business leaders with an ability to anticipate industry trends, knowing the state’s top jobs recruiters and training programs will be ready to support new businesses that are most likely to grow, like semiconductors, aerospace and artificial intelligence.
And they know companies exploring Columbus will find people and business systems aligned to help them succeed, something that McDonald called “a ‘yes’ mentality.’”
That is the result, McDonald said, of the city, region and state mobilizing after the Great Recession to attract diverse employers and growing tech businesses — moves that in turn keep attracting more people to live here. Meanwhile, investment in amenities, like housing in the hip Short North area and a mile-long Scioto River park, kept them there.
“We wanted to control our own destiny,” McDonald said, “and actually get the business community more involved.”
Today’s payoff comes not just from Intel, the world’s second-largest chip maker which is building a $20 billion semiconductor factory in Licking County, just outside Columbus. It represents the largest economic development win in Ohio history. Google just announced its second data center in the Columbus region, which is now ranked 10th in the U.S. for data centers.
Across sectors — retail, distribution, financial services, housing — Columbus keeps attracting new, diverse investment. The Columbus Partnership pegs the value of these new investments so far at $34 billion.
“We’re now working with between two to three dozen direct suppliers who are coming here to produce materials that Intel will need,” Don DePerro, President and CEO of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce said.
The challenges facing Michigan abound. There are no simple solutions, but they are solvable if we all work together to address the issues of K-12 education, infrastructure development, and population loss. If Columbus and Ohio State can do it, Michigan can do it also.
Quote of the Day: “What Ohio is doing right is focusing on growth and anything that is oriented around the new economy that Ohio needs versus the old one.” Ann Arbor tech entrepreneur and Duo Security co-founder Dug Song
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Orchid of the Day: The Miami Heat. They were the last team to get into the playoffs, they have been underdogs in every series, but after two games they are tied with the Denver Nuggets 1-1 in the NBA Finals.
Onion of the Day: The Detroit Tigers’ bats. They went eerily silent in the series against the Chicago White Sox.
Question of the Day: If Columbus, Ohio can do it, why cannot Michigan also do it?
Image of the Day: Nikola Jokic’s 41-point performance in yesterday’s NBA finals. He is a special player.
Do you know why Michigan is shaped like a hand? Answer: so it can reach down and slap Ohio. Well, Ohio maybe the yes state, however, it is the NO state when it comes to a woman’s right to control their own bodies. New slogan for Ohio. Welcome to Ohio, set your clocks back fifty years. Jeff