An assessment of the economic impact of Business Leaders for Michigan members (January 2013)

Business Leaders for Michigan’s board members head up the state’s largest job providers, but our economic impact is far greater than the nearly 330,000 people that work directly for these enterprises in Michigan. This document outlines the findings of an independent assessment that define the scale of our economic impact on the state of Michigan.

Download the 2013 Economic Impact Report: Business Leaders for Michigan

 

Business Leaders Forecast: Michigan will continue to grow faster than U.S. economy

Long-term outlook better than short-term; More hiring planned for 2013

DETROIT, Mich., April 11, 2013 – Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state’s business roundtable, continues to forecast that Michigan’s economy will grow faster than the U.S. economy over the next six to eighteen months.  The forecast is reinforced by 43 percent of BLM members planning to increase hiring in Michigan in just the next six months. 

“Michigan’s business leaders continue to be more bullish towards the state’s economic outlook than the nation’s again this quarter,” said Doug Rothwell, President & CEO. “While Michigan’s business climate continues to improve, no significant federal policy reforms have been adopted amidst the slowdown in global growth.  The net result is that business leaders are more optimistic about Michigan’s economy short- and long-term and are backing that optimism up with continued hiring.” 

Highlights of the survey of Business Leaders for Michigan include:

• Almost identical to last quarter’s survey, business leaders (55%) believe Michigan’s economy will grow over the next six months and none believe it will get worse.  Yet 62% of business leaders forecast the American economy will be about same over the next six months.  Only about a 1/3 believe the American economy will grow over the next six months.        

• More Michigan business leaders (76%) believe the state’s economy will grow over the next 18 months.  Yet only 52% of business leaders forecast the American economy will grow in the next 18 months.

• Forty three percent of business leaders project that their companies will add jobs in the next six months in Michigan and about 1/3 believe they will make capital investments in Michigan.

The results reflect a survey of Business Leaders for Michigan’s 80 members, the chairpersons, chief executive officers, or most senior executives of Michigan's largest companies and universities, who represent nearly one-quarter of the state’s economy. 

Quarterly Economic Outlook Reports are available at businessleadersformichigan.com/research-and-reports.

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Download the press release. 

Business Leaders’ Insights: Michigan’s Workforce Strengths and Challenges

Download Business Leaders’ Insights: Michigan’s Workforce Strengths and Challenges.

A New Michigan: The 2013 Report on Michigan’s Progress in Six Opportunities

Download A New Michigan: The 2013 Report on Michigan’s Progress in Six Opportunities.

Download the New Michigan Appendix.

BUSINESS LEADERS FORECAST: MICHIGAN WILL GROW FASTER THAN U.S. ECONOMY

Most of state’s largest job providers add jobs in 2012; Plan more hiring in 2013

DETROIT, Mich., February 5, 2013 – Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state’s business roundtable, continues to forecast that Michigan’s economy will grow more than the U.S. economy over the next six to eighteen months.  The forecast is reinforced by 60 percent of BLM members planning to increase hiring in Michigan in just the next six months.  Nearly-two thirds added jobs in Michigan last year.    

“The avoidance of the fiscal cliff and slow, but steady domestic growth has boosted the overall economic outlook of Michigan’s largest job providers.  But they remain far more optimistic about Michigan vs. the nation’s economy by the largest margins we have seen since we started conducting these surveys in 2009,” said Doug Rothwell, President & CEO.  “The optimism of the state’s largest job providers for Michigan is based on progress made stabilizing the state’s finances, addressing long-term debt and structural budget deficits and improving the costs of doing business here.  These are the same issues they feel are not being addressed in Washington and are holding the national economy back from full recovery.  They demonstrated that optimism by adding jobs in Michigan last year and planning more this year.  Michigan is not an island and will be affected by slower national growth, but BLM members continue to believe we will out-perform the American economy over the next eighteen months.”

 Download the full press release

2012 Benchmarking Report (11-12)

Download the 2012 Economic Competitiveness Benchmarking Report

Business Leaders Forecast: Michigan's Growth Will Be Stalled By U.S. Economy in Next 18 Months

Continue to believe Michigan will be more resilient than U.S. economy overall

DETROIT, Mich., October 18, 2012 – Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state’s business roundtable, forecasts that Michigan’s economy will be stalled by slower U.S. economic growth over the next year or two, but continues to believe the state’s economy will be more resilient than the nation overall.  While the BLM CEOs believe Michigan cannot avoid being impacted by a deteriorating American economy, one-third still expects to increase their investments and hiring in Michigan.      

“Michigan’s largest job providers are very concerned about the direction our national economy is headed in,” said Doug Rothwell, President & CEO.  “They believe America’s economic growth is being severely impacted by unresolved policy matters ranging from debt reduction and taxes to new regulation and spending priorities.  The reason they believe Michigan’s economy will merely stall and not shrink due to national forces is because Michigan has addressed these same issues over the past two years.  We’ve done pretty well to grow as much as we have these past few years despite the slowdown of the American economy.”

Highlights of the survey of Business Leaders for Michigan include:

• Fewer business leaders believe Michigan’s economy will grow over the next six months (21% this quarter vs. 39% last quarter), but most (74%) believe the economic outlook will be stable and only 5% who believe it will get worse.  This contrasts to the 30% who believe the national economy will get worse over the next six months.

• More Michigan business leaders believe the state’s economy will be stalled during the next 18 months with less than half now forecasting it will grow, but only 5% believing it will shrink.  This contrasts with the 20% forecasting the American economy will get worse in the next 18 months.

The results reflect a survey of Business Leaders for Michigan’s 80 executives, the state’s largest private sector job providers that represent nearly one-quarter of the state’s economy. 

Quarterly Economic Outlook Reports are available at businessleadersformichigan.com/research-and-reports.

About Business Leaders for Michigan:

Business Leaders for Michigan (www.BusinessLeadersforMichigan.com), the state’s business roundtable, is dedicated to making Michigan a "Top Ten" state for job, economic and personal income growth. The organization is composed exclusively of the chairpersons, chief executive officers, or most senior executives of Michigan's largest companies and universities, which contribute nearly 25% of the state’s economy and provide over 320,000 jobs in Michigan, generate over $1 Trillion in annual revenue and serve over 135,000 students. The organization’s work is defined by the Michigan Turnaround Plan, a holistic, fact-based strategy to get Michigan’s economy back on track. Visitwww.michiganturnaroundplan.com for more information. 

Download the press release. 

New study affirms MI is a key player in logistics industry

Highlights existing strengths in air transport, importance of trade with Canada and need for investment in infrastructure

According to a study commissioned by Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), Michigan can grow its position as a logistics gateway by accelerating efforts to support and maintain its logistics base, increasing investments in infrastructure that support global product movement and identifying niche industry sectors to build upon.

“This study helped identify strategic priorities that would enhance Michigan’s ability to compete as a logistics center.  It reaffirms that Michigan has numerous opportunities to grow its economy by exploiting its position as a global gateway and by investing in infrastructure that will improve product movement  - especially with Canada, our number one trade partner, but also Europe and Asia,” said Doug Rothwell, President and CEO, Business Leaders for Michigan.  “Michigan’s proximity to Canada provides an advantage over Midwest competitors.  By increasing the capacity and reliability of transport in southeast Michigan, particularly by further developing the airport and building a new international border crossing, we can help protect this existing industry base.” 

View the entire report.

View the press release.

Business Leaders Optimism Toward Michigan vs. U.S. Economy Grows

DETROIT, Mich., July 26, 2012 – A survey of Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state’s business roundtable, shows that the state’s largest employers are more optimistic about the economy in Michigan vs. the nation over the next year and a half.  But the economic outlook for both Michigan and the nation are declining significantly due to fears about Europe’s fiscal crisis, slowing global growth and the lack of clarity to future American tax and spending policies.      

“Michigan’s largest job providers continue to be bullish on the state’s economic prospects and are backing it up with increased hiring and investment,” said Doug Rothwell, President & CEO.  “Business leaders relative optimism about Michigan’s economic outlook versus the nation’s is at a three year high and nearly a third of the largest job providers are planning increased hiring and investment in the next six months.  But Michigan is not an island, and global and national economic issues are clearly dampening the rate of growth these business leaders expect to achieve.”

 Download the full report. 

Michigan Emergency Manager Survey - May 2012

The telephone survey of 800 registered voters was conducted by the Glengariff Group, Inc., from May 19-22, 2012 in the Michigan cities of Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint and Pontiac – all cities in Michigan that have an Emergency Financial Manager.  The overall survey has a margin of error of +/-3.5 percent with a 95% level of confidence.  The survey results for each individual city have a margin of error of +/-6.8 percent with a 95% level of confidence.  

 Download the May 2012 Michigan Emergency Manager Survey PDF here.