Picture Michigan as a video game player who kept leveling up factories and auto plants rather than building new skills. Now it’s running out of coins and saying, “Uh oh…what now?” That’s basically what’s going on: the state’s shifting big business-incentive money away and might need a whole new game plan to stay competitive.
Here are Five Fast Facts on Michigan's need for a new economic plan:
- 🤯 Manufacturing Job Losses - Nationally, the U.S. lost 78,000 manufacturing jobs since August 2024, and Michigan accounted for 9,000 of those.
- 📉 Income Rank Plunge - Michigan fell to 40th in per capita income, its lowest ranking ever, at about $63k compared with neighboring states like Illinois and Minnesota (both $74k). Is it any wonder consumer sentiment is a dumpster fire right now?
- ✂️ SOAR Snip-Snip - The Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund, Gov. Whitmer's 2021 brainchild born from Ford's $11.4 billion bolt to Tennessee and Kentucky for battery plants, got $500 million a year for three years from corporate taxes. This year...poof! Zero dinero in the new budget because cash giveaways don't equal new jobs.
- 🪓 That's Quite The Trim! - Business-attraction and community-development funding through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) also got slashed by about $41 million, just over 40% of its budget for 2025. The Going Pro Talent Fund was cut by $22 million, too. Consider the belt very much tightened!
- 🏢 Jobs are changing - Experts argue that chasing big factories is outdated because most middle-class jobs now live in services, labs, and offices rather than plant floors. Michigan’s workforce is shrinking and its business climate remains uncertain until the state adapts to the new reality.
🔥Bottom line: Michigan kept handing out “free money cookies” to businesses to get jobs, but the jobs didn't come and now the cookie jar is empty. With big cuts in business-incentive tools and problems with income and workforce looming, the state needs to switch strategies from “give money to build factories” to “grow smart services, skills, and tech.” It’s like realizing your old cheat codes don’t work anymore - you’ve got to learn new moves for the game to keep going.
What do you think the economic plan should focus on?
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