August 25, 2006

Upjohn study reinforces her plan is right plan for Michigan

LANSING – In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said her economic plan is already working to grow Michigan’s economy and create jobs, and that a study released this week by the W.E. Upjohn Institute confirmed her plan is the right plan for the state.
 
“We are working the plan and the plan is working,” Granholm said.  “We can’t leave our people behind if we want to grow our economy.”
 
The Upjohn study concluded the state must diversify the economy and invest in the education and training of its workforce, which is exactly what the governor’s comprehensive economic plan is doing. The study reinforced that Michigan’s economic struggles are the result of a struggling auto industry, not the state’s business tax climate.  According to the study, simply eliminating business taxes and slashing public services will hurt, not help, the economy. 
 
Granholm’s “Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow” plan is pro-business and pro-people, will help businesses grow and create jobs, and will ensure that families have affordable health care and great education for their kids.   The plan invests in Michigan by:
 
• establishing new standards for grades K-8 and the new rigorous high school curriculum raising expectations in our schools;

• providing a $4,000 new Merit Award scholarship so every student in Michigan will access to affordable education beyond high school, and;

• investing $2 billion in diversifying the economy through the 21st Century Jobs Fund, which targets cutting edge technologies, including life sciences, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy, and homeland security and defense.

The first round of funding from the Jobs Fund, totaling $100 million, will be announced in two weeks.  But Granholm’s economic plan is already seeing results, including the grand opening of AgSolutions, a biodiesel production facility in Gladstone, and the dedication of Presbyterian Villages in Redford, the state’s first Greenhouse style nursing home, in the past week.

“I will continue to work hard, going anywhere and doing anything to bring jobs to Michigan,” Granholm said.  “I will continue to invest the things that matter most – in our people and our future.”

The Governor’s weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.  The address will also be available on the Governor’s website on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.

Broadcasters Note: Governor Granholm’s radio address can be accessed through Sunday evening exclusively through the Members Only page of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters website.

Publishers Note: The text of today’s address is attached.