Business Leaders for Michigan Renews Commitment to Michigan Turnaround and Sustained Prosperity

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

About this release — and available now on our homepage at www.michiganturnaroundplan.com

• View video Blueprint for a New Michigan (YouTube)
• Download the entire 2012 Michigan Turnaround Plan and New Michigan booklet
• Watch 10 AM Eastern news event live (streaming video) from Ford Motor Company

Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state's business roundtable, announced today its 2012 Michigan Turnaround Plan (MTP), which includes a number of new recommendations for continuing Michigan's turnaround and revitalizing Michigan's economy and a new sixth step that lays out a 10+ year vision for a New Michigan. 

"Using our Michigan Turnaround Plan as a checklist, we can see how much has been done to strengthen our state," said James B. Nicholson, Chair, Board of Directors, Business Leaders for Michigan and President & CEO, PVS Chemicals, Inc. "Our state finances are managed better, our tax policy has improved and our regulatory environment is improving.  We are beginning to see real, measurable evidence that Michigan is on its way to an economic recovery. Now that our foundation is more solid, it's time to look toward the future."

The MTP is an aggressive agenda to make Michigan a Top Ten State for job, economic and personal income growth.  The new 2012 MTP identifies the progress that has been made in Steps 1-5, and adds an important new step– Leveraging Assets to Grow the New Michigan.  Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr. will champion the "New Michigan" strategy for Business Leaders for Michigan.

"There are so many possibilities that lie ahead for Michigan's future. What's so exciting is that these opportunities are not something we have to dream about. They are all here, and starting to happen today," said Bill Ford.  "Michigan is a great example of American ingenuity. We created a way of life by inventing and making things that improve people's lives. We've done it before, and we can do it again."

"The 2012 Turnaround Plan builds on the foundation set by steps 1-5 and lays out a vision for the 'New Michigan' economy based on Michigan's unique assets and strengths," said Doug Rothwell, President and CEO, Business Leaders for Michigan. "We've identified growth opportunities that we are confident will have the highest-potential over the next ten years to accelerate growth and create thousands of good paying jobs.  These are real objectives, grounded with research, and with prospects to dramatically reshape and strengthen Michigan's economic future."

Using data gathered from BLM's work with respected global management firm McKinsey and Company, Step 6 of the 2012 Michigan Turnaround Plan:

• Identifies existing Michigan assets and competitive strengths;
• Identifies corresponding "growth opportunities" that build on those assets that have the highest potential to grow good paying jobs quickly and change Michigan's economy in meaningful and lasting ways;
• Has potential to move Michigan to top 10 performance on output metrics like GDP growth, unemployment and GDP per capital;
• Provides a 10+ year vision for growing the "New Michigan" economy; and
• Has potential to grow up to a half million NEW jobs and increase personal income by $18,000 per person if fully realized.

The sixth step of the MTP, Leveraging Assets to Grow the New Michigan, identifies distinct Michigan strengths and their inherent opportunities for long-term economic growth in Michigan:

1. Grow and brand Michigan's manufacturing, production and talent capacity to develop an unrivaled reputation as the world's Global Engineering Village
2. Capitalize on Michigan's ideal strategic location and available resources to become the premier Gateway to the Midwest
3. Invest in a Higher Education Marketplace that boosts Michigan's talent base
4. Invest in and leverage Michigan's natural resources in sustainable ways to grow a Natural Resources Economy
5. Renew our commitment to and build on Michigan's  automotive heritage to become the Global Center of Mobility
6. Develop Michigan's  Life Sciences Hub based on our robust health, medical and bio-pharmaceutical capabilities

The announcement was made at Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, MI and included William Clay Ford, Jr., Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company; James B. Nicholson, Chair, Board of Directors, Business Leaders for Michigan and President & CEO, PVS Chemicals; Sandra E. Pierce, President & CEO, Charter One-Michigan; Charles G. McClure, Chairman, President & CEO, Meritor, Inc. and Hans-Werner Kaas, McKinsey & Company.

About Business Leaders for Michigan
Business Leaders for Michigan, 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 executives or most senior executives of Michigan's largest companies and universities, which 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.  For more information, visit www.BusinessLeadersforMichigan.com. 

SOURCE Business Leaders for Michigan