At Business Leaders for Michigan, we regularly talk up the progress Michigan has made but also warn that there’s much more work to do to become a Top Ten state. One item that’s high on our to do list is leveling the playing field with competitor states by adopting stronger tools to attract and grow good paying jobs.
Michigan’s business climate is a lot better than it was in the 2000’s and it has led to creating over 400,000 jobs and growing incomes. But with average unemployment levels and per capita income $10,000 below Top Ten states, we need to do more. The fact is that many of the states we compete with have business climates as good or better than ours, plus they have tools we don’t have to grow good jobs. For example, we’re one of only two states with a corporate income tax and no tax credits that reward job creation. Further, our competitors spend up to seven times more than we do to incent job creation.
We can’t let Ohio and Indiana grow jobs that should be in Michigan because we got complacent. Let your state representative and senator know that you support making sure Michigan has the economic development tools to grow those high-paying jobs here. It could be the difference between our children and grandchildren staying in Michigan or looking for opportunity elsewhere.