We issued the following statement in reaction to the Governor’s Budget Address today:

Business Leaders for Michigan is committed to supporting a comprehensive and holistic plan to transform Michigan’s economy and create jobs.  The Michigan Turnaround Plan we developed recognizes that no one action will turn around Michigan and identified five integral steps that are needed to make Michigan a “Top Ten” state for job & economic growth.

Fiscal, expenditure and tax reforms are the first three steps of the Michigan Turnaround Plan. We need to analyze the details of the Governor’s proposals, but are pleased she has proposed expenditure reforms.  While the Governor’s proposals represent a meaningful step in the right direction, they don’t go far enough to put the State on a stable long-term financial footing, but continue to rely on Federal stimulus funding that is likely to evaporate by next year. 

Click here to read the rest of our statement.

A copy of the budget can be found at: www.michigan.gov/budget

Business Leaders for Michigan’s quarterly survey of 70 of Michigan’s most prominent executives indicates that Michigan will continue to lag the nation’s economic performance over the next eighteen months, but modest hiring in Michigan should begin to pick up in the next six months. The executives represent a cross-section of industries across Michigan and are in a unique position to assess the direction of the economy. 
Highlights of the survey include:

• Most Michigan companies expect to perform better than their sector competitors.
• Approximately 42% forecast increased hiring in Michigan in the next 6 months.  Eighty percent forecast flat or lower capital investment in Michigan during the same period.  Both are improvements from the last quarter.
• 89% believe Michigan’s economy will be the same or deteriorate over the next 6 months, about the same results as the 3rd quarter survey.  100% think the US economy will be the same or get better. 
• 64% think Michigan’s economy will be the same or continue to get worse 18 months from now, while 100% think the US economy will be the same or better.  The Michigan outlook is the same as the 3rd quarter survey.

For more about the survey, click here. 

Later this month, Business Leaders will release its 2010 Benchmarking Report.

Two weeks ago, we announced our 2010 Legislative Agenda, which reflects the first phase of legislation necessary to implement the Michigan Turnaround Plan. These policy items begin to implement the first three steps of the Michigan Turnaround Plan – seen as the building blocks for the investment and economic development strategies that follow. 

Some of these goals may take longer to achieve, but Business Leaders for Michigan is committed to getting the legislative and policymaking dialogue process underway now. 

With Michigan’s 2011 deficit at almost $2 billion and growing through 2014, we believe structural budget reforms, like some of the items in our Legislative Agenda as well as others, must be passed and implemented as soon as possible.  We recognize that some of the needed legislation will draw robust debate, but we must find solutions to these difficult issues if we want to see our state turnaround.  This agenda is a framework. We will support these and other proposed solutions that support the Michigan Turnaround Plan.

We received another $200k appropriation from the federal government to launch the Detroit Creative Corridor Center this year. The Center will serve as the champion of the Road to Renaissance Creative Economy Initiative and will serve as a “hub” for the creative community by connecting creative businesses with business programs and services from around the region. This grant would not have been possible without the efforts of Congressman John Conyers, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin who all sponsored the bill. The funds will be used to help hire a director and fund the program for two to three years.