For those of us without jobs or uncertain that we will have a job to go to tomorrow, we are concerned about putting food on our families table, making next month’s mortgage payment or caring for our ailing parents and otherwise supporting our families. While receiving money to go back to school to be trained for tomorrow’s jobs is nice, it does not pay the bills nor does it put the bill collectors at ease. In addition, there is no guarantee that the jobs we are being trained for or will receive the money for will be in Michigan.
To ensure that the thousands of engineers, designers, line workers and others remain living and employed in Michigan, we need to work harder and together to attract employers to our state. We should forget about the barriers to doing business in Michigan and open our doors to employers looking to relocate, expand or open an office, plant or even headquarters.
This state has lots to offer. In its Pure Michigan campaign we celebrate what makes our state great. Yet, we need to work harder and become more aggressive in selling ourselves, in part to the barriers to do business. Sure, incentives and tax breaks help. Offering to training a workforce is enticing. Having such great cultural attractions is important and access to a solid infrastructure is vital -- But we need to do more.
Leadership is about action – It is the ability to bring people together around a common cause and single mission of working collectively for each other’s benefit. As many unions and workers throughout the state have made sacrifices with their jobs and with their salaries, our elected leaders need to make sacrifices too. This means putting their partisan philosophies and political agendas aside or perhaps even in a lock box, and work together as one Michigan, united to make a sustainable Michigan now and for our future.
